Gap Blog for Katrina Pluss : Experience In India

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Katrina Pluss

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Experience In India

Posted By Katrina Pluss on 23 Apr 2008

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Volunteer Teaching Slum Children,

Bangalore , India

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Firstly, School! It has been quite hectic recently, the kids have been studying for there end of year exams, we have been conducting reading assessments within 2 schools and we have helped with a creative writing competition. The reading assessments were good and gave us a lot of contact time with the children so we got to no them more as an individual rather than just a child from a certain class. We had to test their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. We started by asking them to read books up to the highest level they could achieve and then asked them several questions about themselves and their families. It was nice to get to know the children and they liked coming out of class. They also had to write a paragraph/sentence depending on their age describing their school. Some of the things that the children wrote were really special. Most of the older ones were thanking the school and their “Akka’s and Anna’s” for all the help they had given them, and thanking them for the free education and the food that they received. One of the children from Mars class wrote “I like my school very much because they don’t beat us”. Once we had completed all the reading assessments for 200 children from one school and 200 from the next school we all knew the books off by heart, so did the children!

The next challenge we were given was to help one of the other volunteers with the creative writing competition. Mon, the guy I work with, and I took 4 classes, Venus, Mercury, Sun and Earth. Each class had named a Teddy differently and we had to tell them a story about this teddy. The first class we did was Venus class; they had named the teddy Sweety. They all went crazy when they saw the teddy and listened intently when we told a story about Sweety going to the Zoo. They enjoyed the story very much. Individuals came to the front of the class and told their own stories to the rest of the class. They all did very well. After each child had told us a short story they had to write it up on the competition paper and then colour it in. Once they had completed the piece we collected them in and gave them all a sticker to say well done as they had all done very well. The absolutely loved the stickers and were very proud of them. We did exactly the same with mercury and Earth class but changed the story depending on their capability. Mercury class did very well and listened well, however Earth class did not do so great and managed to talk most of the way through ‘quiet time; they were difficult to control and even the teacher struggled to keep them quiet. With sun class we just took 3 students from the class and got them to write a few sentences about their favorite fruits. The child I was working with, Priyanka, wrote about “srobri’s’ (strawberries). She was very sweet and her spelling was very cute. We were not allowed to help with the spelling but you could read most of the writing if you used phonics which is how the children spell. We had an award ceremony in assembly were the wining 3 children from each class received a certificate and a prize. The founder of the school came along to help present these. Myself and Mon had to choose the winners from each class which was very difficult as all the children had done very well.

The last thing that we are doing in school before we finish is Child Profiles. We are currently doing sun class. We have to speak to each child individually and ask them questions like “what job does your father/mother do?” “Who do you live with?” “Do you have any brothers and sisters?” “What do you do after school?” “What is your favorite lesson?” e.t.c. Some of their answers are really sweet but some of the children don’t understand us as their English is quite poor. We have to write up a little story about them once we have interviewed them which will help them to get sponsored. Apart from being at school a lot of things have been going on since our Mysore trip!

Unfortunately our group of friends is now splitting up a little and people are going home or to other parts of the world to continue their travels. Alison is now back in England, Stu has gone off to Thailand and many of the people I met when I was travelling around the north have now gone their separate ways. I can’t believe I only have 3 weeks left until I go home- there is still lots of things to get done though.

Since Mysore I have been up to the north on 2 pre-arranged Gap guru trips. One was called Himachal and the Golden temple and the other was the Riches of the Desert. The first trip was absolutely amazing!!!! There was 10 gappers plus the Chennai Gap guru coordinator who was an absolute legend. We went to many places, Pathankot, Palampur, Pragpur, Dharamsala, Mcleodganj, Amritsar e.t.c. We saw many places of interest and the golden temple was absolutely amazing. There were quite a few good shops as well so we all spent quite a lot of money on shopping!! We had very good food and there was lots of laughing. Unfortunately 2 of the boys got rather bad Delhi belly but managed to continue with the trip as long as we were within close distance to a bathroom!!! It was really nice to meet other gappers from Delhi and we all got on really well. There was no aspect of the trip I would have liked to be different. The hotels we stayed in were absolutely amazing, mostly 4* plus! We were all in shock when we got to the first hotel. It was nice to have nice proper showers and no bucket baths at the hotels, and we had proper duvets as it got quite cold at night as we were by the Himalayas. The whole trip was amazing and so many funny memories- Irish snap!!! And of course the fabulous drivers we had!

The second week was equally as good, however there were a lot more people so it was less personal. However everyone got on really well and it was nice to have a big group. The only person we were missing was Mandira- the Chennai coordinator! We saw so many amazing things including the Taj Mahal which I still can’t believe I have been too!!! It was amazing and something I could see over and over again and still find it as amazing as the first time. We saw many forts and temples and had many more nice hotels. One of the highlights for me was the camel rides and also Holi festival- something in India not to miss out on! Holi was crazy and got absolutely covered in multi-colored paint and even one week later my hair still has hints of pink and green in it and my stomach still resembles a pinky colour. I look a little like a typical sun burnt Brit at the moment. The 2 weeks were both amazing and so many memories I will never forget.

My evenings in Bangalore have still been very eventful! After school we try and do something a little cultural, we have visited Isckon temple (where we got the giggles) and a few other places like parks. We have been to the cinema twice now, firstly to see Taare Zameen Par and secondly to see Race. I understood the first film really well but the second film, as it was in Hindi; I struggled with but enjoyed the music and the dancing. We also tend to go out clubbing on Wednesday nights in Bangalore. We have made friends with some Indians who text us and tell us when and where the next big party is and we can normally get in for free. We have been to 2 parties with free bars which have been the best and the other nights have been awesome too. If we don’t go out clubbing we sometimes just all meet up in town for a drink or sometimes just down the road at the ‘family’ bar as girls aren’t allowed to the street bars as it is too dangerous.

Now I only have 2.5 weeks remaining in India and I am very sad about this. However I do still have many things planned, tonight I am off to Kerela for 5 days with the guy I work with which should be fun, next week I am back to school for 4 days and then its goodbye to the kids which is going to be really sad. Then its off to Goa for some rest and relaxation before its time to return home and tell everyone all about what I have been up to and show u all my photos- the 1000’s that I have!!!