In February of this year I crammed into my suitcase countless maxi skirts, boxes of malaria medication and enough Hydralyte to last me a lifetime and headed off to rural India for a month.

I began my trip at the Hotel Empire in Bangalore. It wasn’t too different to home. There was a western shower, a western toilet and a Starbucks just around the corner so I wasn’t too worried.

A few days later, I and eight other students moved into a small house in Chikkajala, a rural village in India about an hour north of Bangalore. The illusion Bangalore had created came crashing down, and I had to fast adjust to a squat toilet, a bucket shower, and six people crammed into one tiny bedroom.

You’re probably wondering what led me away from the luxuries of Bangalore when its nice hotels and western branded shops were a mere hour away.

Well, I was over there as part of the ‘40K Globe’ program. It’s an initiative that sees Australian university students spend a month in India setting up a social business to employ and empower local women to earn incomes they can then spend on food, water, healthcare and education for their families.

The profits generated from the business are re-invested into ‘40K Plus Pods’, which teach rural village children English and maths every day for two hours. Over the month I gained a small insight into the workings of microfinance and how it can help give families a hand up out of poverty.

As you can guess, the realities of poverty and life in a developing country hit me. I realised being able to brush my teeth without turning into a hypochondriac was a luxury. It was also the first time I had seen such widespread inequality, with wealthy Bangalore surrounded by struggling villages. It was confronting and challenging to experience all this, especially in such a short period of time, but seeing the impact that employment and education can have in people’s lives made it all worth it.

I also managed to visit one of the local Plus Pods – and whilst the children often got distracted by taking a million selfies on my phone, I could see the effort they put into learning and the impact it was having on their lives.

One month was all it took to give me perspective and inspire me to join the global movement to end poverty. That’s how I ended up spending three days a week interning here at Opportunity.

The work Opportunity does is amazing – the stories I read on a daily basis are so inspiring. From Ana who spent years foraging for food in rubbish tips before getting a loan to help her set up a grocery store, to Myrna who was forced into the workforce at 16 and struggled to provide for her daughter until a small loan helped her grow a vegetable farm.

I’ve learnt about the devastating truths of poverty and how we as an international community can band together to fight it. Donating to Opportunity ensures you are playing an active role in giving families a sustainable means of breaking the poverty cycle in their lives.

A year ago I was cruising along in my double degree of Commerce and Arts, getting ready to leave my bubble of overdue essays and parties and enter the corporate world. Now, I’m ready to see where my new-found passion for international development and human rights takes me…