Rosie Wallace returns from a volunteering trip to India with fond memories, though remains disturbed and saddened by certain views on diversity; and the fact so many people in her region ideolised having whitened skin...

This is Salim Khan (pictured), he is nearly two years old.

I had the pleasure of teaching him at Soron Ki Dhani village nursery, situated in the middle of the Thar Desert in Rajasthan, while living and working there for ten weeks. Salim holds a place close to my heart, yet my memories with him are tainted with regret; as only recently I was informed of a cultural practice which I wish I had been aware of. This affected Salim’s life and I hope to raise awareness of it now so that if you ever come across a situation like mine you will act upon it.

'... it is culturally preferred in India and other Asian countries to have white skin. Skin-whitening adverts pervade the media, resulting in the citizens of these countries being exposed to the disturbing ideology that it is bad to have skin anything other than white'

The nursery Salim attends is a lot more basic than the ones we know in the UK. They had no books, no paper, no pens, no chairs or tables. Nothing. Just cement floors and walls.

Salim would be brought to nursery nearly every day by his mother, who would drop him off on her way to the village well to collect the day’s cooking, bathing and drinking water. He often preferred to laugh at his mother’s attempts to rid the well of frogs rather than be left at nursery. Salim loved frogs. Remember the baby dolls we all had as a child, that laughed aloud when you pressed a button? That was him.

His laugh was cuter than that. This innocence at a serious water issue in the area broke the tension whenever women struggled to pull out water without frogs. Every day we would have a drawing session with the children, sharing out chalk boards and breaking chalk into pieces so that enough could go around.

Salim would ignore this opportunity and prefer to roll around in the sand that dominated the village, or waddle after wandering goats.

Another thing about him - his face would frequently appear covered in chalk. I thought it was absolutely adorable and took photographs of Salim pulling faces whilst wearing this ‘chalk’. I noticed a few children covered in this white substance and enquired with our project supervisor as to what was going on.

Translating the words of a local woman, we were told this was a ‘medicine’. Two weeks after my return to the UK we attended a three day residential workshop event with Platform2.

When discussing our experiences someone mentioned their shock at the frequent use of bleach on children’s faces in India, to which I retorted, "No, no you’re wrong. That’s medicine."

'I wish I had been aware that practices of skin whitening were so extreme. We need to move towards cultural acceptance that it does not matter who you are or what the colour of your skin is'

A number of other volunteers and Platform2 staff then proceeded to tell me otherwise - it is culturally preferred in India and other Asian countries to have white skin. Skin-whitening adverts pervade the media, resulting in the citizens of these countries being exposed to the disturbing ideology that it is bad to have skin anything other than white. Many skin-whitening creams contain harmful amounts of hydroquinone, a skin-bleaching chemical, yet unfortunately these practices are widespread.

Now something clicks.

I remember how most children acted unfavourably towards black volunteers and sometimes would not even speak to them. I was upset by this reaction and felt helpless as others were side-lined based on their skin colour.

On several occasions the children would make comparisons between me and a fellow volunteer, saying it was better to have white skin than black. I tried to encourage a realisation that this was not the case but these attitudes run deep in India and across the world.

One day when reading a children’s book with pictures of babies in, a village mother turned to a picture of a white baby and held it up against her child’s face saying, “Good! Good!”

Salim and our other children at the nursery are all so beautiful. I wish I had been aware that practices of skin whitening were so extreme. We need to move towards cultural acceptance that it does not matter who you are or what the colour of your skin is.

No one is superior to anyone else.

I will never forget this image of Salim and the other children who frequently wore powdered bleach. We need to respect diversity and move away from homogeneity.

Words and photo: Rosie Wallace. Rosie is a returnee from the Platform2 overseas volunteering programme.

Note: Platform2 enables 18-25 year olds from the UK to make a real difference to the lives of those in poor countries, through volunteering abroad and raising awareness of development issues back home. Volunteers spend 10 weeks overseas, living and working in local communities in South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, India, Nepal or Peru and are encouraged to highlight development issues on their return to the UK. Platform2 is funded by UKaid from the Department for International Development and run by Christian Aid and BUNAC. For more information, please visit www.myplatform2.com