wrysprygoat (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} wrysprygoat) wrote,@ 2006-01-18 14:41:00 |
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January in Delhi
Back in Delhi we had new students and a new volunteer, Andy, who had just joined us from the UK. Andy worked alongside me in my class because he was supposed to be taking it over. I was sad that some of the students from before the New Year hadn't stayed on, but the classes were still good. On Friday 13th we had a lesson about the supernatural and got a good debate going - does it exist? The plumbing in the house is quite erratic and the water supply is linked to a pump, so the water will come on only when the pump is turned on. There's a tap in the kitchen which someone had left in the 'on' position when the pump was on; during the lesson someone turned the pump on downstairs and the water started flowing in the classroom of its own accord - surely a poltergeist! I managed to set up the same trick for the afternoon session too :-)
We had quite a hard-working ten days as some of the others were away on holiday. While we'd been away the two advanced classes in the evenings had been proving tricky and Modgala decided to amalgamate them - a fair decision, but a shame especially for Alison who'd done a lot of work with the drama group.
In the outreach work, Alison and I took the lead at Ashok Nagar - leaving Joy to focus on a new group she had established nearby. This was a group of 'pavement people', who live in tents on the side of the road. They're actually very skilled, producing stonework and carvings, but their standard of living is very low and most of them are illiterate even in Hindi. Perhaps we'll be able to recruit Indian volunteers to help them with basic literacy. It was quite impressive how Joy managed to get the group going - she's an incredibly energetic woman and built up a relationship with them by saying 'hello' each time she went past after teaching at Ashok Nagar.
Ashok Nagar is a local Buddha Vihara in a rather poorer area than where we live. It's a small temple - just one room about the size of a large living room in the UK. Each Sunday around 80 children aged 4-8 cram into it to learn English. They're chaotic and you can't do a single thing with them for longer than ten minutes, but they're very good fun and keen to learn. It's also very rewarding because they really need the teaching, and it's very much appreciated. We do lots of nursery rhymes, Simon Says, heads-shoulders-knees-and-toes, and when we're finally too knackered, colouring in. The teaching at the main project is rewarding too but it's helping the lower middle classes rather than the poor. However, some of our students are idealistic and want to use what they learn for the good of society; we have some who want to be social workers and honest police officers - honest police officer being a near oxymoron in India. They're not all so worthy - one of the most popular occupations they cite is 'a rich man/woman'! There's an urgent desire to become richer amongst many lower middle class people in India, and given the very real difference that more money can make to your standard of living here, it's completely understandable. Whatever the overall impact of the project, I really enjoy the teaching and talking to the students, and if it has a few good knock-on effects for some poor people here, that's all to the good!
We also did some work at the other new outreach, in Harsh Vihar. This was similar to Ashok Nagar but with some teenagers as well. There was a mix of backgrounds here, and it became a problem because the children from the richer backgrounds were able to do the work a lot more easily; eventually we decided to turn away those from English-medium schools. Harsh Vihar was initiated by some students of ours at the main project and we went round to their house after teaching there one Saturday. It was fascinating - the area was incredibly poor, but they were clearly from one of the most influential families. When we arrived all their relations gathered round and someone got out a tabla (Indian drum); we ended up singing them English songs and they sung us Hindi ones.
Then it was time to board the 36-hour train to Tamil Nadu.
Back in Delhi we had new students and a new volunteer, Andy, who had just joined us from the UK. Andy worked alongside me in my class because he was supposed to be taking it over. I was sad that some of the students from before the New Year hadn't stayed on, but the classes were still good. On Friday 13th we had a lesson about the supernatural and got a good debate going - does it exist? The plumbing in the house is quite erratic and the water supply is linked to a pump, so the water will come on only when the pump is turned on. There's a tap in the kitchen which someone had left in the 'on' position when the pump was on; during the lesson someone turned the pump on downstairs and the water started flowing in the classroom of its own accord - surely a poltergeist! I managed to set up the same trick for the afternoon session too :-)
We had quite a hard-working ten days as some of the others were away on holiday. While we'd been away the two advanced classes in the evenings had been proving tricky and Modgala decided to amalgamate them - a fair decision, but a shame especially for Alison who'd done a lot of work with the drama group.
In the outreach work, Alison and I took the lead at Ashok Nagar - leaving Joy to focus on a new group she had established nearby. This was a group of 'pavement people', who live in tents on the side of the road. They're actually very skilled, producing stonework and carvings, but their standard of living is very low and most of them are illiterate even in Hindi. Perhaps we'll be able to recruit Indian volunteers to help them with basic literacy. It was quite impressive how Joy managed to get the group going - she's an incredibly energetic woman and built up a relationship with them by saying 'hello' each time she went past after teaching at Ashok Nagar.
Ashok Nagar is a local Buddha Vihara in a rather poorer area than where we live. It's a small temple - just one room about the size of a large living room in the UK. Each Sunday around 80 children aged 4-8 cram into it to learn English. They're chaotic and you can't do a single thing with them for longer than ten minutes, but they're very good fun and keen to learn. It's also very rewarding because they really need the teaching, and it's very much appreciated. We do lots of nursery rhymes, Simon Says, heads-shoulders-knees-and-toes, and when we're finally too knackered, colouring in. The teaching at the main project is rewarding too but it's helping the lower middle classes rather than the poor. However, some of our students are idealistic and want to use what they learn for the good of society; we have some who want to be social workers and honest police officers - honest police officer being a near oxymoron in India. They're not all so worthy - one of the most popular occupations they cite is 'a rich man/woman'! There's an urgent desire to become richer amongst many lower middle class people in India, and given the very real difference that more money can make to your standard of living here, it's completely understandable. Whatever the overall impact of the project, I really enjoy the teaching and talking to the students, and if it has a few good knock-on effects for some poor people here, that's all to the good!
We also did some work at the other new outreach, in Harsh Vihar. This was similar to Ashok Nagar but with some teenagers as well. There was a mix of backgrounds here, and it became a problem because the children from the richer backgrounds were able to do the work a lot more easily; eventually we decided to turn away those from English-medium schools. Harsh Vihar was initiated by some students of ours at the main project and we went round to their house after teaching there one Saturday. It was fascinating - the area was incredibly poor, but they were clearly from one of the most influential families. When we arrived all their relations gathered round and someone got out a tabla (Indian drum); we ended up singing them English songs and they sung us Hindi ones.
Then it was time to board the 36-hour train to Tamil Nadu.
