IGE Diary - Pallavi Gill

The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award held its 50th International Gold Event in Prague, the Czech Republic from the 25th to the 30th of October. I was fortunate enough to represent the International Award for Young People, India at this meet.

Beginning with the opening ceremony, to the finale closing ceremony, my journey at IGE has been a huge learning experience. My team of six and I worked on the Project named, ‘Let’s overcome barriers!’ We worked on how the Award could be incorporated to improve the lives of individuals with spinal cord injuries. The organization that we visited for our fieldwork was Centrum Paraple. The world-class facilities and peaceful ambience at the organization was overwhelming. Studying their organization and also playing wheelchair rugby and football taught us of the challenges one faces on a wheelchair. And, after our hours of dedication into the project, our project was selected among the three winning project proposals! From gulping down breakfast at 6:30 am, to rushing to hop on and off the local transportation in the city, to late night discussions on project presentation and report, IGE has taught me so many valuable virtues such as teamwork, leadership, time management and most importantly, to have fun and challenge myself.

I would like to thank The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation for providing us, the Gold Award Holders of various countries, the platform to enlighten ourselves with various skills during the IGE; The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Czech Republic, for their undivided care and support that made our stay throughout the IGE comfortable; and IAYP India, for providing me with this opportunity to represent the organization.