No Official Plan

My one week countdown began August 8 after YFS ended. It felt so weird to only have tasks like shopping on my to-do-list. Which was such a change from the busy 3 months I just had. This was the first time my India trip had gone until August so I got to see 2 festivals in India!

The first one I got to celebrate is Raksha Bandhan where the sister ties a string to symbolize the bond between brothers and sisters. So I got to tie rakhis to my cousins and eat good food. The second festival I got to see is Janmashtami. One part of it is dahi handi where people form a huge human tower and a little kid is all the way at the top and breaks open a pot of dahi.

The rest of my week consisted of shopping on Laxmi Road 3 days, eating awesome food (like gulab jamun, missal pav, pav bhaji, bakarwadi), visiting people, and spending time with friends and family. It was so nice to have a week to relax despite the long list of little tasks that I had to get done before I left.

I also used most of this week to get ready to go back home. So in 7 days I repacked 4 times. Making 3 months of stuff plus all my newly bought clothes and food fit was no easy tasks. I had to buy another suitcase :)

This entire week was filled with so many emotions. It was fun going around Pune and spending time with family and friends. But then having to say bye to people and the city was so difficult. I know that I’ll end up coming back to India but still so hard to leave my motherland. Goodbye Summer 2012, I’ll never forget you! :)

VSSV

I’ll pick up right where I left off in the last post, because my trip is literally planned out so that I end YFS at 11:59 p.m. on July 20 and go into VSSV mode at 12:00 a.m. July 21. After some frantic packing we left to catch our bus to Hubli at 1:30 a.m. The bus decides to come an hour late and we finally left at 2:30 a.m. Thankfully Shrish Dada was with us or I don’t even know what Rhucha and I would have done at that late hour roaming around Swargate.

I fell asleep right away after getting on that bus so I could try and make up for the lack of sleep I’ve had for the past week. As we neared Hubli, there was another delay on our way to VSSV. There was a major accident on the road and we waited an hour in the middle of the road. But then our amazing host family who we had never met drove 30 kilometers, picked us up, fed us lots of yummy food from Karnataka, and let us sleep until we had to leave for the varg.

After all this we made it to VSSV expecting a campsite like we have back in the States. But instead we were welcomed into a huge marriage hall with music, flowers, and lots of smiles. I immediately felt like I was at home. The next 15 days were very exhausting but I learned so much. The coolest part was definitely meeting so many people from different countries. IT was interesting to learn about what life is like in 7 other countries (UK, Kenya, Trinidad, Mauritius, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and India) and how they blend in their Hindu traditions with the country they live in.

The varg ended the morning of August 6 and everyone packed up their stuff and headed their separate ways. There were a couple of us with bus tickets in the night so we slowly watched the hall become empty as we said goodbye to our new friends. By the afternoon it just started to get really sad being in that empty place so we walked out to the closest place with shops. Our eating adventures began with veg puffs and Limca. But then I went on to accomplish one of my goals for this trip: eating pani puri from a roadside vendor. After a lot of hesitation and anxiety we each ate 2 pani puris. Probably one of the riskiest things I’ve done this summer, but also one of the most fun memories. Our eating frenzy ended with the yummiest paan I’ve had (probably because it was also from a roadside stall). After all this we caught our bus in the night which came an hour late of course and arrived 1.5 hours late in Pune.

I just barely made it through the rest of the day with the weird incomplete sleep I got on the bus. In the afternoon we headed to our last visit to the Sewa Sahayog office and were reunited with our fellow YFS interns from Bangalore! It was so great to see the after such a long time and hear about all their stories from this summer. After our project presentation s in the evening, YFS 2012 officially ended :( 

Mixed Feelings

I was super busy for the last month of my India trip so I’m really sorry that I couldn’t give updates on time. But here’s what I had written but never got the time to post from July 8-20!

When I started YFS, 10 weeks seemed like such a long time. But they flew by crazy fast. These past 2 weeks have been so busy and fun and stressful and sad and unforgettable all at the same time. We’ve spent the past couple days going around to different vastis and said goodbye to all the karyakartas and kids from the abhyasikas that we had met and worked with. One of the funniest and most memorable stories was during the last week when we visited a vasti we ate far too much for dinner and had to get back to the hostel on time. There were 5 of us and 2 motorcycles. So I got to be sandwiched in between Rhucha and Bapu Dada (the coordinator of Samutkarsha). One of the most memorable and bonding motorcycle rides I’ve had this summer!

Along with this fun in the last 2 weeks of YFS the thing that was keeping me insanely busy was my project! I ended up working on designing a program which connects corporate volunteers with vastis every week for 40 minutes to teach science. They will use a handbook that I’ve designed based on the 7^th-10^th grade school syllabus, which guides them through an effective science lesson. The 40 minutes starts off with the volunteer clearing up all the basic science concepts for that day’s topics through discussion and interactive learning. After this, the student’s will apply this knowledge through a hands-on experiment which uses materials that are found in slums so that kids can see how science is all around them. The last section is an interactive discussion on science in everyday life based on inquiry-based learning. 

Packed Weekend

Yes we do actually work in the office :)

This past weekend was definitely one of the most exhausting couple of days I’ve had this summer! It all started on Friday when I did a ton of planning for my projects and visits to vastis and worked on my handbook. The new program that Sewa Sahayog is designing consists of implementing a weekly 2 hour session in vastis where corporate volunteers will teach science, computer skills, English, and music. So I’ve adjusted my project to help this new initiative and I am creating lesson plans that are consistent with the school syllabi and include hands-on experiments and lessons on science in everyday life. This handbook will have enough material for volunteers deliver for the entire year. The idea is to recruit corporate volunteers and provide them with readymade lesson plans and a science tools kit that they can use teach every week.

Then the first half of Saturday was a very ‘Puneri Day.’ Rhucha had some work to do in Tulsi Baug, so we figured we would get some shopping that we needed to do as well while we were there :) We shopped and roamed around the very crowded Laxmi Road and Tulsi Baug. Then for lunch we had the best samosas in the world and a cream roll from my favorite Green Bakery! It has the just right amount of actual food quality, dirt, and oil to be amazing. That sounds gross, but these are the 3 necessary qualities that make India’s street food the best. Then we had mastanis from the famous Kawre shop! Unfortunately we only had about 3 hours to do all this, or else I probably could have spent the whole day shopping around. Afterwards we went back to the office for our last Samutkarsha meeting with all the abhyasika shikshaks and coordinators and presented our projects.

Next I headed to Ambedkar Nagar with two other volunteers expecting to conduct activities for 2 hours like telling stories, singing, teaching a science lesson, and teaching self-defense. But instead, we had about 40 kids packed into the little abhyasika room in almost complete darkness (because the lights had gone out) ready with a whole different plan. We did the regular checking of good personal hygiene and told a story. Since I’ve been going there almost every day for the past 2 weeks to teach self-defense I’ve gotten very close with all the girls. I had so much fun just sitting there with them and listening to them sing songs, tell jokes, and tell me about their day. Then all the kids had brought dinner from home and sat in 2 circles and took one bite from their tiffin and passed it to the next kid. Half of them wouldn’t start without at least one of us shikshaks taking the first bite. Just seeing them make the most of what little they had just made me so happy :)

Sunday morning craziness at Ram Nagar

Sunday morning started off with our regular activities at Ram Nagar. We’ve been working on giving the older kids there some experience with taking the activities there for the past 2 weeks and it’s nice to see their leadership skills develop in such a short period of time. Then for lunch we went to this place called Peter’s Pan where they have an assortment of foods like waffles, mashed potatoes, burgers, pancakes, fries, and nachos. It was so yummy. But the whole time I was thinking this needs some spice. Some chilli powder would have definitely helped my roasted vegetables! After a nice lunch we headed to the office to work and I had meetings with volunteers helping with the science project.

Despite the crazy amount of exhausting this was one of the most memorable weekends I’ve had during YFS :)

Lot's of Laughing

I only have 2 more weeks of YFS left. So you would think that I would be wrapping up my project. Actually, my science project might be taking a new direction and I’m so excited :D I’ll be sure to update ya’ll soon!

We’ve been doing some serious work on our projects, but too bad our personalities can’t handle seriousness for too long. Earlier this week Rhucha, Shrish Dada, and I ate a fantastic dinner of pani puri, sev batata dahi puri, papdi chat, and chana bhatura (yes that was all in one meal) while being that obnoxious table at a restaurant. The nonstop laughter got us lots of stares, but what’s important is that we had a great time :) What’s also important to know is that this isn’t the first time that this has happened, and it won’t be the last.  

So I’ve heard that summer is hitting really hard back home. I’m a little glad I’m not there because the weather in Pune is the complete opposite right now. Everyone is pulling out their sweaters because the rainy season has finally started. When it’s raining, it’s pretty yucky. Walking around in that humidity and mud is terrible. But when it’s not raining, it’s absolutely wonderful. The bursts of cool air are so refreshing! This has just been the weather for the past week. There is definitely evidence of lots of sun before this from my farmer’s tan and sandal tan! 

Alrighty that’s all for now. Time for a full day of working! 

IST

So we’ve been making a list of top risks for a YFS intern in India. One of them is operating a vehicle on the road (only 2^nd to drinking the regular water here). This has led to a lot of interesting experiences with public transportation :)

The public bus system is the most cost efficient way to travel around here, but that doesn’t mean it’s the easiest. For some reason, sometime last week I had an especially off day for bus travel. We got to the bus stop at 9 a.m., which is rush hour, and waited for 40 minutes. In that 40 minutes, about 12 buses went by that could’ve taken us where we needed to go. Why didn’t we take them then you ask? Well basically there wasn’t enough room to jump on. There were literally people spilling out of the bus. No matter how much we pushed, we just could not get on those buses. Then when I was coming back from Ambedkar Nagar, I had to wait 30 minutes for a bus because the complete opposite happened. There were just no buses coming to the stop that I was at.

Thankfully we didn’t have an exact time to get to the office, or else we would have been in big trouble. But this is my theory on how IST developed. People here just don’t end up getting to places on time because of the unpredictability of public transportation. And now even though people have their own cars and bikes, their just so used to being late that it’s just normal to not show up on time.  Now I’m not complaining about IST, it’s just one of the many amusing realizations I’ve had here. 

My Projects

In my last 2 posts I mentioned that I sat down and did some intense project planning but it’s about time I told ya’ll some details of what I’ve been doing.

The exact title of the project I chose was “Developing tools and approaches to teach science in rural schools.” I didn’t actually understand what that meant until like a month into YFS. My focus has been on improving science teaching in the abhyasikas. The standard education system here is based on memorization, so the creativity and application-based teaching that we use in the States is not common. Back home we have easy access to a lot of supplies that are useful to show basic science concepts through hands-on activities. So my work has to do with improving the supplemental science teaching done in abhyasikas. But while finding experiments for my science teaching handbook, I realized that even simple things like baking soda and vinegar are not found in every home. So I’ve been working on using all the resources I have to find experiments that make the most effective use of materials found in vastis.

The first science demonstration I did was showing how oil and water don’t mix and then explaining that this is one reason why we need to use soap. It’s such a simple thing that we saw in elementary school, but the kids were fascinated by it and so eager to learn about why this happens. Their interest made me even more enthusiastic to explain the science behind this!  

Along with this science education project, I’ve started going to Ambedkar Nagar where they face issues such as low water supply, dropping out of school, poor hygiene, and sexual abuse and harassment. My focus is tackling the issue of safety of teenage girls in the vasti. Back home we learn martial arts for personal development. But the teenage girls in this vasti actually have a need to learn self-defense for their personal safety. Before going to teach them I was a little unsure of whether my time constraint of one month was sufficient for them to learn and make an impact. But I’ve only been 4 times so far and I can already see a change in them.

On the very long bus ride home on Monday, I basically could not stop smiling. Never have I ever felt such happiness after teaching. I’ve felt happiness after mentoring or teaching or tutoring in the past, but this was just something totally different.