Harwood students to share documentary from India trip at Zenbarn on Sunday

May 28, 2025  |  By Waterbury Roundabout

Students and teachers from Harwood Union High School who traveled to India in the fall will host a free presentation about their experience this Sunday at Zenbarn in Waterbury Center. 

The event will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. for the group to share stories and a documentary film that offers insight into the culture they experienced. 

The film highlights the collaboration between the Harwood students and peers from the Himalayan Inter College in Chaukori, India. “We've entitled this film ‘Ekta,’ which in Hindi means ‘unity and oneness,’” explained teacher Tedin Lange, one of the trip’s chaperones. 

The presentation is the conclusion of the school’s second travel-study trip to India that took place in November. The first Harwood group visited India in April 2024. 

Chaperone Erin Dezell said the group chose a different time of year for the second journey to have clearer views of the Himalayas. “April is during the fire season, when the mountainsides are plagued with wildfires (that was a featured component in last year's documentary focused on land preservation and conservation),” Dezell said. 

Five seniors made the trip in the fall, and the group spent most of its time in the northern state of Uttarakhand at the partner school where Harwood students visited on the first trip. 

On Sunday, students will present their film and answer questions from attendees. The event is free with food and beverages for purchase.   

Dezell said the travel-study program hopes to visit India again in the 2025-26 school year.  Harwood’s abroad programs are funded through family contributions and fundraising.