My good experience in Bangalore, India
I volunteered to teach English and was privileged to attend a school that had developed a philosophy of education where they try to follow the interests and imagination of the teachers and students. The first two days, I watched Shashi Rao teach and saw that no matter how small an idea from a student or teacher, Dr. Rao can make a life lesson from it.
The smallest children are a challenge for volunteers because these little ones don't know any English. I came prepared with 3 handicraft projects which were very successful. The older students enjoyed making "friendship" bracelets. The school library had some donated books on science and other information books. They also had Dr. Suess, a favorite. I brought a Pictionary, a picture Thesaurus and a Children's Encyclopedia book. The students had such a high degree of English, that I bought some easy fiction for them to enjoy.
It was wonderful to watch the other teachers lead group activities. I taught 2 songs. You are My Sunshine and This is the Way We Wash Our Clothes. The children have a setting that allows them to play among themselves in small groups under the coconut palms. Obviously, it has taken work to have them so well educated and well behaved considering the horrible situations they have at home each weekend.
My good experience in Bangalore India is entirely dependent on the work of three wonderful individuals.
Mohan, director of Global Crossroad
I had many questions about Global Crossroad and India . The director was on frequent trips to far away countries during the time I was researching the possibility of joining his organization. He responded quickly to my e-mail and phone calls. Therefore, I was reassured about taking this trip.
JR Dwarakanath Naidu of Bangalore
Naidu, the head of Global Crossroad in Southern India , is an amazing person who is rescuing children who are at risk of prostitution, or other bad things. He has placed 800 volunteers and remembers all of them. They mostly came from Denmark and Korea . He has 6 office workers and 40 coworkers that he can call on to work from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. From March 2005 to present, he has had 150 volunteers and he works for 4 organizations. Through these organizations he is personally responsible for 40 children -- mostly girls because they are the most vulnerable. He personally visits each child once a month to check up on them. He loves playing with the children and always finds something to teach them. When parents bring a child to ask for a sponsor, they must promise not to stop the education and now to marry off the young girl.
Mr. Naidu is much is informal and approachable. He completely takes care of his volunteers. He has placed 800 volunteers and remembers all of their names and faces. His e-mail account at Christmas is overflowing with well wishes. He reads more than 60/day during the holidays. Every year he gets chocolates from Switzerland and a Danish girl bakes him cookies and sends them to him. Every day of the year he gets an e-mail from some former volunteer. He says the mosquitoes never bite him. I think it is out of respect.
Shashi Rao, director of Ananya
I work with Dr. Shashi Rao, the director of Ananya Trust. Ananya Trust has a mission to provide educational opportunities for underprivileged children and enable them to become productive members of their families and society at large. They have 15 teachers in training and 50 children enrolled. I stayed at her house on weekends and at the school with the children during the week.
There is an article about her in a woman's magazine Jan 18, 2006, so she has national fame. Shashi wanted a school for children who were not accepted, even at schools for poor children, because there wasn't enough room, or else they were poor academically as well as from their family background. She started 1998 with 1 teacher and 2 students in her living room.
One story Dr. Shashi told about Ananya was when they were having trouble with children getting beaten up. There was always someone crying. So Shashi gathered the children to solve this problem. She asked, "Who here has been beaten?" Many children raised their hands. Then she asked, "Who has beaten up someone?" And of course no child admitted to that. "Oh," she said, "No one here has ever hit another child. That is good. Congratulation. Wonderful. That is the kind of peaceful, loving behavior that we encourage in Ananya." Then she says, "Something is not quite right. Many children raise their hand that they were beaten up, but no one raised their hand to admit beating someone. Perhaps the teachers have been beating up the children. Teachers, raise your hand if you have beaten a child." No teacher raised their hand. "Oh, so someone is lying. Teacher have not been known to lie. Therefore, some students must have done it." She explained that at home they may see people hitting other people, but at Ananya they are being taught other ways of handling disagreement. She encouraged those who had done some beatings, to raise their hands and slowly they did. So she talked to them about if they are angry and want to hut someone, they should hit themselves on the back of the head. After all hitting someone just because you can, is not showing your best behavior.
Jeanie Snell
USA
Experience in Bangalore
My name is Sarah Muhlenberg and I decided to see and experience India as well as help as much as I can I volunteered at the Mother Teresa's Orphanage as well as a little bit at CREST which is a project for the Girl Child.
At first I went to Mother Teresa's Orphanage I though I was going to cry. It was during summer so the children that were not handicapped got to go to families for the holiday. But for the ones that were severely disabled. The first day I had to wash and feed these children and no one was around to help because they were busy. But you will get used to it and things start getting easier. The orphanage need more help and you might catch yourself thinking of reasons and how to fix the place but really the sisters do know what's best for the children and what is needed is you help. You will find many other volunteers and probably make a friend or two.
Now crest is another story it has a good heart but you'll feel it is all talk sometimes. The idea behind the project is wonderful but you will find yourself being forced to do things when least expected.
The children are mostly from the slums and love meeting new people and learning about new countries, so you may enjoy it but, will give you a heads up, it is very religious and pro-life.
The coordinator J R Dwarakanath was wonderful and answered every question I asked. Don't be afraid to tell him how you feel because he loves honesty and wants to help us as much as he can. He can tell you places you should go and he will try to find the best accommodation for you. CREST isn't that wonderful to stay in since it's kind of far from everything but it still is a place to sleep. Don't be afraid to say no and learn to ask questions as well as bargain. You should prepare yourself to see some corrupt things in Bangalore and see many poor situations. But you will feel wonderful to make the children smile at the orphanage and you will leave a stronger, more patient, more aware person.
Expect to live in rough situations sometimes but realize everywhere in India there are people who have it worse. Trust J R Dwarakanath and trust yourself - you will have an experience you will never forget.
Sarah Muhlenberg
Overall the program was amazing
During my stay at John's School I taught English to children between the ages of 3 and 14. I organized games for the children and participated in games, coloring, drawing, and language classes. I helped in other classes other than mine when I was needed. I helped in aiding children when they were hurt or sick.
I learned many skills while I was working there like patience, independence, understanding, and acceptance. The program helped me strengthen my career goals and my academic outlook. I now know that I love to teach and work with children so now I have a goal in life and can start looking for more opportunities in my field. My academic outlook has changed because I never truly appreciated as much as I do now my opportunities that I have been given to still be in school. I will use the skills that I have acquired in all of my future endeavors. I will use them towards my academic career by being more patient with things that I do not understand right off. I will also put them towards my future career. I plan on working with children and this experience has given me future knowledge of what to do in some situations. It has also led me to start my own journal that will keep reminders of what I can do later in life. All of my objectives were achieved and even more. Before I did not even think about helping out after the program, but since the experience I hope to still be involved and help the project.
Overall the program was amazing. It was well organized and thought out. The host family was very welcoming. The children were wonderful. Mr. D helped us in the culture aspect and made us feel very welcome to India . The strength was that there was always something to do and help with. The only weakness that I would change would be to show us around the village we were at. We did now know where anything was like restaurants or the movie theatre or places to buy water.
Thanks,
Sabrina Henry, South India
I am entirely grateful for being given the chance to have experienced all of this
During my recent weeks spent at the project school of St. Johns , I performed many duties that were asked of me with great pleasure. I attended the UKG Kindergarten class in the morning, collected homework, graded this homework and then proceeded to write the children's homework for the next day as well. I would also write in-class work on the board and grade the children's books once they had completed the assignment. They usually appreciated stars, boats, flowers and suns drawn on their work as a sign of my approval! After lunch, I would attend the third standard class and do different activities that involved basic English conversation such as: reading a story to them, having them read to me or writing sentences on the board while leaving blank spaces and having them choose the correct word to fit in the blank. In the afternoon, I would play in the courtyard with the fourth and fifth standard classes teaching and organizing games with them such as duck, duck, goose, red rover, soccer or tag.
During this project I was able to learn such skills as patience, appreciation and humility. I learned the value of a friend and the worth of a smile from someone you care about and only want the best for. These children were able to teach me a lot more than I think I was able to do for them in the short time period that I was present with them. Language was a definite setback in the entire overall process, therefore I felt like I wasn't making as big of an impact that I wished I could have. But I definitely was able to learn from this project that I want to help people in my future career endeavors. I wish to go into some form of humanitarian/international law and now I know this for sure. This trip was definitely beneficial to my future plans and how I will go about accomplishing any goals I have set for myself.
The strengths of this internship include the submersion into another culture, the people that we were surrounded with and their caring nature and the glaring realization of the bigger picture in life. I was able to see how 80% of the world's population lives from day to day and how much this greatly varies from the other lucky 20%. Accommodations during this experience could be seen by some to be a negative aspect. But in my opinion they were one of the biggest and more important factors in how this internship impacted me. We are a very lucky people and it's very important to realize how the majority of our world makes it through their daily tasks without complaint or even the slightest notion that anything is wrong with what they have.
One of the only negatives that I could express here is the language barrier. I just believe that we as volunteers could have been told sooner about what language we would be encountering most of the time and I feel as though I could have better prepared myself. Also, I believe the volunteers should also be prepped for how difficult and shocking the experience at the school is at first. They will experience this for themselves clearly upon arrival, but I just believe one could have been more prepared for the difficulty when it came to dealing with discipline and curriculum in this very different atmosphere.
Overall, I am entirely grateful for being given the chance to have experienced all of this. I shall never forget all that you as an organization and host did for us. I know that Sabrina and I both look very much forward to working with you in the future on all of the great plans that you have in store for those that are very deserving of your help.
Janell Nagel