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. 

Random Highlights

I know I’ve been really bad about keeping my blog updated for the past 2 weeks, so I’m going to try and make up for that now. There have been lots of random stories that have occurred so I’m cramming them into this post!

First off, I’d like to mention my current wada pav withdrawal phase. I haven’t had it for like 3 weeks (which is a record). Now the craving is really hitting me so I’m probably going to have to get a wada pav soon. But our YFS Coordinator (Manik Tai) introduced us to this fantastic new food called rolls. It’s basically a wrap type thing made with roti and filled with a variety of yummy spices and vegetables.

On a completely random note, we needed to seriously wipe down our entire hostel room and had to use this cleaning solution called Lizol. We definitely pronounced it as Lee-zol for a while, but apparently it’s pronounced just like our normal Lysol. So confusing. But we still refer to it as Lee-zol just for kicks.

So due to a surprise situation and me being sick we stayed mostly at Manik Tai’s house. But that gave us access to a real kitchen and a chance to cook. I didn’t actually cook anything because I was sick, but everyone else cooked a wonderful feast of pasta with mushrooms in alfredo sauce, garlic bread, stuffed mushrooms, and chocolate cake frosted with nutella. Probably shouldn’t have eaten all that, but hey, it was some good comfort food. We’ve just made so many unforgettable memories at Manik Tai’s house because me, Rhucha, Manik Tai, and Ketki (her fantastic 10 year old daughter) are all so dramatic and punny. We’ve had many serious conversations, but equally as many sessions of insane laughter. It’s probably one of the top 3 things that I’m going to miss when I go back. But I try not to think about that. 

Slow Down

So I realized that I’m already done 6 weeks of my India trip and I really just want to slow down time. I feel like I’m on the home stretch of YFS and at this point I really just want to stay here forever and work with these NGOs. But for some reason or the other I didn’t end up getting completely focused on my project until the end of this week. So most of the week was spent in recharging which means either working at the office or chilling at home.

Probably the most interesting thing that happened this week was when coming back from a vasti on a 3 inch nail decided to puncture the tire of the motorcycle we were riding on! Oo but actually, more interesting than that was some of the food we ate this week :) First was Subway which definitely tastes so much better with paneer on it. I just love how putting a little bit of Indian touch into regular American food makes it amazing. Then I had the most magical drink ever called CadB. Basically it’s like an ice cold, super duper chocolate-y milkshake. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water…and now I really want another one!

But thankfully by the last half of the week I got my head straight and did some intense project planning and have a game plan for the next 5 weeks :) So hopefully my next posts will be far more interesting! But I also wanted to thank all of ya’ll who have been reading my blog. It makes it so much easier and fullfilling to write knowing that someone’s interesting in reading what I have to say :)

Orientation

So this week of orientation has been absolutely fantastic! There are a total of 8 interns out of whom 3 will be in Bangalore, 1 in Hyderabad, and the rest of us will be in Pune. We’ve all bonded so much just after one week and I’m bummed we aren’t just working in the same city this summer. There were way too many things we did and fun stories to write about all of them. So that’s why the stories in this post don’t really have a logical flow. But over one week we got to learn about and visit a variety of NGOs, understand the idea of sewa (selfless service), learn how to approach our projects, and hear about experiences of other volunteers.

The first talk was an overview of the history of India and the evolution of thought and ideas in the country over time. One point that really got me thinking was that Indians always go abroad to study or work and then don’t end up coming back. But in the end we’re still Indian and the idea of universal brotherhood ties us together. It’s our duty to come back to serve our country in some way. Just a little something to think about :)

One of the evenings we split up and had dinner with a host family and I had pani puri for the first time during this trip, and it will definitely not be my last time! But it wasn’t from one of those awesome little carts on the side of the road; it was made with mineral water from a restaurant. But obviously still amazing :)

We went to help out at the schoolkit drive 3 times during the week. And I’m pretty sure I built a lot of arm muscle from moving hundreds of backpacks and school supplies. But we collected over 25,000 bags, but more importantly provided over 25,000 students with smiles and the basic needs for the school year.

We had a few speakers on various NGOs and got to visit some as well just to get an overview of the different areas that sewa work is being done. But the one visit that had the most impact on me was Chaitanya Mahila Mandal. They have a home on the outskirts of Pune which rescues girls/women from human trafficking, abuse, and abandonment. It was so difficult to hear some of the horrifying stories of what these women had to go through. But they are in a much better place at the institution where they stay for about 3 years and receive counseling and are trained in various skills to make them financially independent and mentally strong when they go back into the real world. Next we went to a night care center for children of commercial sex workers right in the middle of a red light district. The children are dropped off there at 6 p.m. and stay till the morning and it provides a safe environment where they can learn various songs, play, and interact with other children. All the kids wanted was someone’s attention and care from another person. At some point I had 3 kids on my lap and 1 on my back playing and talking to me. For the hour that we were there I completely forgot about the kid’s situation and spending time with them was one of the happiest experiences of my life. But after we left I got some time to think and it just made me so incredibly angry to see and hear this. Why do people have to live like this, why does this situation exist here? We’re always boasting about how great our countries are and how mankind is so advanced. But I really don’t think we have any right to say that until these problems are fixed.  

After lots of muscle building at the Schoolkit Drive

The crazy animal faces of the YFS interns of 2012!

A Quick Catch Up

I’ve actually been super busy for the past couple days so now I have to play catch up again! So last Friday was just a regular day with going to Ram Nagar, interacting with volunteers at the office, and visiting a vasti. Even though this sounds like a pretty standard day there are some things that I want to share that made it quite interesting, but I’ll have to come back to that sometime later :)

So we’ve been going to Ram Nagar for about 2 weeks now and are now friends with the kids there. They’ve also finally realized it’s time to make lots of fun of my accent when I speak Marathi. I’m just going to take it as a sign that we’ve reached a good level of bonding and forgive them. Then Saturday afternoon, we went to the office for a meeting with all the shikshaks (teachers) from the abhyasikas. We had met all of them at the shibhir from 3 weeks ago and it was great to see them again! After discussing details for the schoolkit distribution and feedback from the shibhir (along with goofing off of course), we headed to a local volunteer’s home for dinner. Now this wasn’t just any normal dinner, his mom made us puran poli which is this amazing sweet stuffed paratha and a Maharashtrian specialty. I was afraid the motorcycle would topple over on our ride back because we left like 10 pounds heavier than we came! After this exhausting day we had to come back and finish up some planning for the official YFS orientation week. I knew that the week was packed with activities and helping the other interns adjust was not going to be easy, but I’ve just been so busy and tired…hence the late posts!