The Asiatic Lions were declining in numbers every year due the fact that there were approx 1500 open wells and every year 10-15 Lions die after getting trapped inside the wells. The Lions who hunt at the night, run into such wells as the wells get camouflaged in the night and the Lions fall inside the well. This issue is not just for Lions but also for other animals. We as a grade wanted to address this issue identified by the Rural pleasure. We were going to make frames to cover the open well. I had 2 goals.

• I wanted to learn how to handle the tools which were going to be used throughout the period of 3 days.
• I wanted to learn the safety precautions which are needed to be followed.

It was difficult to achieve my goals but somehow I managed to achieve the goals. The ratio of tools to people was not legitimate, the work was minimal as there were a lot of people. I faced problems while seeking work for myself due to a lot of people. It was hard for me to seek work, it was also hard for me to learn how to handle the tools because I would get a chance to cut metal pipes once in an hour. This time limits for performing activities were very low per person, it was not enough for one to be proficient at performing it and personally I do not like to wait a lot for my chance to come so many times I went to the places where there was not a lot of waiting. This was one of my major weakness which I identified and I do not feel any change after knowing this weakness because this weakness helped me diversify myself as if there is no space for cutting I would rather go to welding. However, I talked to the instructor who was guiding us about how to use the tools and he explained me every single bit. This mainly helped me to achieve the first goal even after receiving less opportunities to perform.

Welding was quite challenging for me because welding is to be done with a safety mask and we have to amalgamate our eyesight and hands to be able to do welding. If you lose the eyesight of the place where you want to weld than it would not be possible to weld. I have never done welding before so it was burdensome for me to overcome this challenge however instead of using the mask I asked for an alternative from the instructor. I used sunglasses instead of the mask and then I was better performing the activity. We went to Savarkundla, Amreli ,Gujarat and our campsite was at a place where network was the same as food for a beggar. We were not allowed to bring any electronic devices with us and we had to stay without it for 3 days. This required commitment for me because I use my mobile daily and it was quite hard for me to leave my mobile at my house and come to the trip. We had to sacrifice mobile phones in order to accomplish the main purpose behind the whole trip so I kept this in my mind and I kept on going.

It was a group task but I usually prefer individual tasks as I do not like to depend on anyone else as there is no guarantee that they will do their work with full enthusiasm and also that their work is upto the mark. I can take my decisions anytime and I don’t need to take anybody’s approval for it. I find it difficult to work in a group as it takes a lot of time to coordinate and come up to an idea so I find it easy to be individual as I can take my decisions. By doing this activity I understood that group is also necessary in certain cases. I developed the skill of how to work in a group. It is very important to work in a group on this task as this task was quite time consuming and so having more people working will decrease the work.

Asiatic Lions are only found in Gujarat, India and are said to be endangered species. The numbers are decreasing and if this continues Asiatic Lions will go extinct which means nobody will be able to see them ever again. This is a global issue because India will lose one of its famous Lions. I have become more active these days after getting to know a lot of information about current affairs and global issues. It makes me feel satisfied and a good citizen as I am trying to help address some issues.

Overall, this experience helped me develop my skills like coordination and perseverance. This activity brought me out of my comfort zone and I learnt to adjust with whatever tools/facilities we have and how to focus on my aims. I would have the zeal to go to this trip again and save our rare Asiatic Lions.

These are some glimpses from the trip: