“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a
miracle, you can live as if everything is a miracle.” Albert Einstein”
Week two begins.
Raining again as Shankha headed off to the Grace School
Sherie and I went to Assisi St. Thomas Hospital to meet with Sr. Rexline, the medical
director and head of Assisi
In the afternoon Sheri and I continued our classes with the
first through fourth graders at Grace
School
Tonight at SEAMS we met with students we had not worked with
during the first week. They just love to look at the books and sit quietly on
the bunks while we are working with an individual student. The day went quickly.
The monsoon rains and drainage problem have caused the road
outside the guesthouse to collapse in a number of spots with deep holes. Steven now meets us at the corner but the way
is made a bit drier with dried palm branches to ease the way.
Eileen
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in
moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge
and controversy.” Martin Luther King Jr.
The cyclone missed us, the holiday is over and we are back
to our regular schedule.
Eileen and I went to Assisi
Shankha spent the morning at Grace school where he truly
enjoys teaching 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade. He
also spent some time conversing with the teachers.
After lunch, Eileen and I went to the Grace school. I felt more prepared this time but the
thirteen 1st graders are a challenge. My four 2nd grade girls are eager to learn and a real joy.
We picked up the energetic, smiling, Roshan, Stephen and Sheeba’s son, at his
kindergarten. This private school with
spacious grounds, is K-12th grade with approximately 1000 students
and more on a waiting list.
We later, continued our daily work at the Seam Home.
Sherie
“The best way to cheer
yourself up is to cheer somebody else” – Mark Twain
We were getting ready to do our usual routine in the morning but Stephen informed us that the school classes had been called off in Chenai due to a Cyclone that was heading this way. We were disappointed but we had to change our plans and I went to Assisi Orphanage with other volunteers as the home children would be there and need help. The rains have been fairly regular so the roads are still a bit difficult but our driver Stephen has been doing well to get us wherever we want to go. There were many children at the orphanage. We worked one on one with a child to help their English comprehension. Later we got them busy doing some coloring which they like a lot and then played some games with them.
After lunch we went shopping downtown at the Government owned Cottage Industries store. It was a good place to get Indian products of good quality.
The last activity was our usual stop at the Seam Orphanage where we teach individually students English reading and spelling. As mentioned earlier these kids really need attention to improve their reading skills. We tried our best to have them pronounce words correctly and read simple sentences without coaching.
Shankha
Wednesday - October 26, 2011
“I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts then
there is no hurt, only more love. “ Mother Teresa
Deepavali, Chennai 2011
Well the firecrackers started before four in the morning to
make the most celebrated Indian holiday. Neither monsoon rains, deeply muddied
roads or endless exploding fireworks in the path of the Tata could keep us from
our assignments for Global today.
At Assisi America
At SEAMS this afternoon, each child had a separate new
outfit and were very pleased to show us.
No two shirts or dresses the same.
Everyone was special. We
continued to help them with their reading skills which are really very
elementary. Using basic flash cards and
very easy reading books and lots of praise for small accomplishments seems to
be the way to go. The children greet us
as soon as we arrive and are really eager to work with someone just to
themselves. The ride back to the guest house was harrowing with live fireworks being set off right in front of the car but as usual Stephen our
driver was determined to get us through so we could have dinner and prepare the
next day’s lessons.
Eileen
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the
service of others” Mahatma Ghandhi
‘It’s raining-it’s pouring’ Today we woke up to a downpour
but because of our efficient driver, Stephen (Stephen/Raja brother) we were
able to go to the Assisi
We had some free time in the afternoon since the Grace School
In the late afternoon we went to the Seam Home, to work
individually with the children. We felt
we were better prepared since we had some of the same children and we had
brought materials which met their level. The children were very excited for
tomorrows holiday when they can wear their new clothes bought for them from the
community.
Sherie
“Life is like a
bicycle, to keep your balance you must keep moving”
After a delicious breakfast we went
on our separate ways to our respective work.
I went to the Grace school which is a primary school from KG
to 5th grade. It is a small school with about 60 students. I met the
Principal and the teachers and toured the classes where I was greeted in unison
with a loud remark-Good morning. I was assigned the grades 3, 4 and 5. I taught
English using their textbook to the 3rd grade first. We practiced
reading in simple sentences and asked each student to spell out words. I also questioned
them about words that they read and asked them to use these in sentences. It
was a joy to teach these bright kids. Next I had the 4th grade kids.
There were only 4 students today. Again it was English lessons and I used their
textbook to go over some pages that they already had studied. It was fun to see
students trying to answer out of turn and trying to help the one on the spot.
After a 15 min break I went to teach arithmetic to 5th
grade class. There were six students and one was supposedly absent. They had no
textbook so we practiced simple additions, subtractions, multiplications and
divisions. Some of them were quite adept at these exercises and would answer me
even though it was not their turn, so eager and wanting applause. They did
listen to my requests and were well mannered. It was a fun morning. I also
spent some time with teachers as they wanted to speak better English. We
exchanged our life histories and our family details. Not surprisingly their
ultimate goal was to be a good teacher,
Sheri and Eileen visited in the
morning the Assisi Illam which is a daycare facility. They were dealing with
2-4 yr old kids. They liked the experience a lot as the children were lovable
but Sheri described it as a “challenging” task. They read books to them and
sang songs to them. In future coloring of books may be a regular task for them.
Raja suggested that we should have 4 or 5 half hour
activities for these kids to keep them busy, such as book reading, songs,
physical activities like playing ball, etc., coloring books and maybe practice
alphabets on the wall blackboard. He also suggested that we should take breaks
once in a while.
In the afternoon (after lunch) Sheri and Eileen went to the Grace School
Later we all visited The Seam Children’s Home which is a
home for poor and orphaned children. We had been there the evening before and
seen their enthusiasm toward us. We each had a child to go over individually
some practice in English reading. It was clear that these children did not have
the competence to read simple words from lessons that they already had gone
over. They need lot more practice in reading. They are understaffed at this
place so the help that Global Volunteers provide can be of great help in
remedying their English.
It was a rewarding and memorable day for all of us.
Shankha
Orientation Day
"If we are to come together
in peace, we must come to know each other better." Lyndon Johnson
Our team of three, Sheri,
Shankha and myself under the kind and very informative Stephan had our day of
orientation beginning with breakfast. Stephen introduced us to the projects
that the volunteers currently participate including the SEAMS Children’s Home,
Assisi Illam and the Grace
School
Stephan helped us to formulate
team goals for the week to focus on helping the children learn better English
skills as well as gaining a better understanding of the Tamil culture of South India . We reviewed the schedule for the week which
will involve working at three community projects with children from age two to
twenty. We know that we serve as the
guests of the host.
We took a walk through town this
afternoon and met a number of families who were out with their children as it
was not a workday. The children were
quite eager to have their photos taken.
We practiced a few of the Tamil greetings Stephen shared with us in the
morning.
This evening we walked to the
SEAMS home and met the lively cheerful residents who were very eager to
serenade us with local songs as well as to show off their dorm rooms. We promised to return nightly for more
stories, conversation and games.
Stephen was ever so patient with our endless questions as we tried to absorb as much of the information of this new, busy bustling culture. After only twenty four hours it seems that this time will just fly by.
Eileen
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