Heya! OK I no doubt have a massive backlog of emails to send – I haven’t really been on the computer doing that stuff in ages – it was basically most of the time I had to phone home once in a while lol. So I will first catch y’all up here and then send my multitude of emails, promise!
Well I think the last time I wrote, we were still a twosome in the flat – that has now developed to four. Orlagh came two weeks ago now and Ellie, Jon’s friend, arrived about four days after her. They started work on Monday in Ekta Vihar near the ASHA HQ. They were told that they would be getting young students with little English like us. What they got was 16-20 year olds who need a lot of polishing, which was a little surprising! However, on Valentine’s Day they did get them to write love poetry and the results were hilarious: “My love is like mutton” and “Love is life, husband is wife, and another knife” were two of my favourites lol!
Valentines day at Zakhira and Mayapuri were a bit less advanced – we got them to make Valentine’s cards, some of which were very creative – the ones from the boys class will go to the girls and vice-versa. They had fun making them anyway and it was a fun way to get to know the kids a bit better – albeit through our low levels of enlgish and hindi – and a hindi dictionary lol. I am really fond of them all – especially in Zakhira though – but I do worry that the differing ages (we have 9and 16 year olds in the same class) will make difference in how much they can be taught. We don’t want to leave some behind but I would like to help push the better ones even further…
We took a trip around the first area of the Zakhira slum on Wednesday 2 weeks ago as well. It’s a really interesting slum to look at – a bit like Kalkaji. It is set by the railway – which we saw from the roof of the support centre – and runs right along the track for a kilometre I think. It was more interesting because the kids took us round the slum so it was great to actually meet their families and see the community through their eyes. As usual everyone wanted to feed us, so we got unlimited amounts of biscuits. I will put some of the photos up sometime. We watched one of our kids called Haider Ali cut up the straps of sandals from the original factory rubber– the women in the slum get 1 rupee for every dozen they cut out – and it was amazing just how skilled and quick he was at doing it. O and we saw goats wearing cardigans, which was rather cute lol! It’s going to be strange going round Mayapuri because it is hard to see where the industrial area ends and the slum begins. We have about three hours of lunch time in Mayapuri and so I asked some of the workers if they wanted any time to learn some English – I didn’t quite bank on the idea of teaching reported speech, so I will have to look into that; however I am so glad that I feel I can help them too. One of the girls (well about 20) Natasha, gave us roses on Valentines day, so we made her a card with the kids – it was lovely! We also had three English teachers, who are starting permanently past time as part of the new literacy programme with us this week. Neeti, Aarti and Archana were apparently told that we were *dynamic* teachers and were to try and learn something from our teaching style. That seemed more than a bit weird to us as we have never taught before. But it was great having them there. They helped us translate a lot of stuff that we needed and also helped us communicate with the children a bit better. I think it moved us along definitely. Archana did have a mouth on her though – she would do well in Ireland…There was a hilarious moment when she was going on about the hospitality of the Indian people – “They are very hospitable, the Indian people, they will take you into your home and hospitalise people.” And she also gave Jon and very long and interesting history of Bollywood, and Hollywood. Very long. Anyway, they start work at the same place as Ellie and Orlagh on Monday.
We did the second part of the Personal Development course on Saturday, which was really interesting and trying to fit seven people in Sanjana’s car was fun. The next day we managed to get locked out of the apartment, which we also managed again today, except locked in this time. The door has the most annoying security system in the whole world.
I am pretty sure that I am missing out a lot of stuff but I won’t go on in much detail. The kids in Mayapuri during lunch are really cute and do not let us go a day without playing. The first class also wrote up on Friday “We missing Orlagh.” Highly cute. Half way trough almost and I still feel I need to make a big difference but I have loved getting to know them better. I wish in a way I could just spend a bit more time with some of them and push them on. We shall see. Anyway to bed soon, I was very tired today and I think we are going to Old Delhi tomorrow which should be very cool. Love to all, talk soon.
G
Saturday, 16 February 2008
Sunday, 3 February 2008
"make a decision from a position of knowledge, not a position of ignorance"
So! today was a bit of a break from the norm - we actually did something and it wasn't teaching or planning! Lol!
Not that we are tired or anything...
Sanajana - if I haven't posted of her before she is a friend of a friend of a friend of Jon's - promise it isn't that complicated - took us to the Lotus Temple, a Baha'i House of Worship, away from the tourist times for morning prayers. It was beautiful and so peaceful inside. It is in the shape of a Lotus flower and built partly of marble - in the morning haze it was a spectacle to behold!
We then went on to a Personal Development course that she had invited us to in the Baha'i House in the centre of Delhi - also set in really beautiful grounds. It was a bit of a hit or miss thing for all of us because we didn't know much about it, but actually it was really interesting. The man was Baha'i but it had something for people of any religion or athiestic beliefs. It was certainly something different from what I had been doing in Delhi up until this point. Anyway, despite leading Sanjana round a bit of a wild goose chase getting Jon phone cards and petrol and stuff, it was a great day and we promised to thank her with dinner after the course completion on Saturday - she really was great!
And from her we went to Freedy and Kiran's house to yet more amazing Indian hospitality. Despite turning up late, being held up by big Hindu weddings causing the traffic to become choc-a-blok, we went over for dinner. They really make you eat and don't take no for an answer! Like really! It was great fun, though Freddy, bless him, was exhausted. They really must work so hard that pair, it is riduculous that they spend time with us. But it is so much appreciated!
Anyway I am up here now, waiting for Orlagh's plane to arrive in (at 1.25 AHHHHHHHHH!) and then off to Zakhira for a new week. I really like Zakhira and can't wait to see the kids - and learn a bit mroe Hindi of course! Peace friends,
Duff
Not that we are tired or anything...
Sanajana - if I haven't posted of her before she is a friend of a friend of a friend of Jon's - promise it isn't that complicated - took us to the Lotus Temple, a Baha'i House of Worship, away from the tourist times for morning prayers. It was beautiful and so peaceful inside. It is in the shape of a Lotus flower and built partly of marble - in the morning haze it was a spectacle to behold!
We then went on to a Personal Development course that she had invited us to in the Baha'i House in the centre of Delhi - also set in really beautiful grounds. It was a bit of a hit or miss thing for all of us because we didn't know much about it, but actually it was really interesting. The man was Baha'i but it had something for people of any religion or athiestic beliefs. It was certainly something different from what I had been doing in Delhi up until this point. Anyway, despite leading Sanjana round a bit of a wild goose chase getting Jon phone cards and petrol and stuff, it was a great day and we promised to thank her with dinner after the course completion on Saturday - she really was great!
And from her we went to Freedy and Kiran's house to yet more amazing Indian hospitality. Despite turning up late, being held up by big Hindu weddings causing the traffic to become choc-a-blok, we went over for dinner. They really make you eat and don't take no for an answer! Like really! It was great fun, though Freddy, bless him, was exhausted. They really must work so hard that pair, it is riduculous that they spend time with us. But it is so much appreciated!
Anyway I am up here now, waiting for Orlagh's plane to arrive in (at 1.25 AHHHHHHHHH!) and then off to Zakhira for a new week. I really like Zakhira and can't wait to see the kids - and learn a bit mroe Hindi of course! Peace friends,
Duff
Friday, 1 February 2008
A whiter shade of pink
Bout Ye
The Bucket of Happiness – what does this imply? Ha! A theorem that Jon and I thought up featuring the Jon Bell spring of happiness and sensitivity and the Graham Richardson springback function. For anyone who cares I will explain sometime!
Well, it has been a long week, but we have got through it thank goodness! Last Sunday was a great day. We read and went to the park (exercised!) and then went out to meet a friend of a friend of Jon’s called Rochelle and her friend Sanjana. Not having spoken to many people socially for a while was quite amusing and I’m sure we seemed so random but it was fun! They are Bahai’is working in Connauaght Place up in north Delhi. Anyway, it transpired that Sanjana was interested in working with ASHA and getting her kids that she taught to meet with some of the kids in the slum. And we are also going to the Lotus Temple, the Bahai’I house of worship, which looks beautiful, on Sunday for morning prayers. Cool!
The Southampton team then left on Monday night and spent the evening with us which was really nice and quite sad. Having only met them a few times, it was quite sad to see them go! God bless guys, hope to meet you again soon!
Class this week was harder, inevitably in some respects. English is a darned confusing language! Basically, we didn’t realise just how many fiddly bits we were trying to teach them and as a result got a bit messed up in Zakira – it just wasn’t as exciting as last week I guess. And we both got tired, while I managed to loose my voice. But the kids in Zakira are great. The guys are maybe a bit over zealous sometimes, but they are fun. It is amazing though how much kids can repeat, and then completely forget very soon. The tests proved that much anyway. There are a few kids who are doing well though and we have started to give them extra work so hopefully they can pick up. We are even being taught Hindi during lunch times in Zakira, which is hard, but starting to get through!
Mayapuri is still good too, but still very polluted. I really can’t imagine living there. The first class are good fun and pick thigns up quickly. However, the second are really very inattentive and noisy. A few of them didn’t show up today to watch the cricket. It seems amazing to us that out of possibly 3-4,000 kids, the ones who wanted to learn English, volunteered, didn’t show up. Though it was the minority, it just annoyed us. Then Dr Kiran visited Mayapuri today and after the lessons, we really got into some dancing – I have the photos to prove it unfortunately. They don’t take no for an answer, but I don’t think either of us tried very hard to say no! Dr Kiran is great with the kids, they really do seem very bright and knowledgeable about their own issues now, which is something ASHA manages really well. Paul and Rakesh translated her talk with the Baal Mandal (childrens group) to us and then there was a party lol. It was fun and great to see the kids enjoying themselves. We managed to start a mega game of “What’s the time Mr Wolf” again – and literally all the kids want to hold your hand, they fight over it. It is ahumbling experience in the slums. Everyone makes sure YOU get fed, and YOU get a seat. It seems mad when they are the ones who we are there to try and help and we should be the humble ones. The staff are amazing too, they really work hard at a ground level and are very good to us. They always have a smile, and a supply of sweet teaJ. Mmmmmm…
We also had an amusing run in with a rik shaw driver. He tried to charge us 80 rupees, so we took him down to fifty or panchass. Then half way through he said panchass = 60. “No…panchass is fifty.” After some friendly banter it was all fine though lol. That was a random story to tell but it was funny! Bill martin is also staying with us on and off at the moment, Freddy’s brother. We had a huge conversation with him last night. Jon and I had decided that romance and common courtesy was dead until we met him lol. He is an amzing guys, and his and Freddy’s story is a real rags to riches. They came from a village on the tip of India up to Delhi and made a living out of nothing. He now lives in Canada and has a great big family. He talked a lot about a healthy character. In Canada he had a shop, and a guy came in once and started mounting off to him about white people and coloured people. So he set a sheet of paper on the wall and asked him and any of his friends who could stand beside the sheet of paper and say they were white. They are now the best of friends apparently! I don’t know if that story made any sense, but it was one of the most interesting conversations ( and funny) that I have had for ages!
I must go now, I am tired, but I hope that has kept you a bit in touch with me. Two weeks here have flown by in many ways, I feel properly like I am living here atm! Scary!
Miss you all loads!
Duff
The Bucket of Happiness – what does this imply? Ha! A theorem that Jon and I thought up featuring the Jon Bell spring of happiness and sensitivity and the Graham Richardson springback function. For anyone who cares I will explain sometime!
Well, it has been a long week, but we have got through it thank goodness! Last Sunday was a great day. We read and went to the park (exercised!) and then went out to meet a friend of a friend of Jon’s called Rochelle and her friend Sanjana. Not having spoken to many people socially for a while was quite amusing and I’m sure we seemed so random but it was fun! They are Bahai’is working in Connauaght Place up in north Delhi. Anyway, it transpired that Sanjana was interested in working with ASHA and getting her kids that she taught to meet with some of the kids in the slum. And we are also going to the Lotus Temple, the Bahai’I house of worship, which looks beautiful, on Sunday for morning prayers. Cool!
The Southampton team then left on Monday night and spent the evening with us which was really nice and quite sad. Having only met them a few times, it was quite sad to see them go! God bless guys, hope to meet you again soon!
Class this week was harder, inevitably in some respects. English is a darned confusing language! Basically, we didn’t realise just how many fiddly bits we were trying to teach them and as a result got a bit messed up in Zakira – it just wasn’t as exciting as last week I guess. And we both got tired, while I managed to loose my voice. But the kids in Zakira are great. The guys are maybe a bit over zealous sometimes, but they are fun. It is amazing though how much kids can repeat, and then completely forget very soon. The tests proved that much anyway. There are a few kids who are doing well though and we have started to give them extra work so hopefully they can pick up. We are even being taught Hindi during lunch times in Zakira, which is hard, but starting to get through!
Mayapuri is still good too, but still very polluted. I really can’t imagine living there. The first class are good fun and pick thigns up quickly. However, the second are really very inattentive and noisy. A few of them didn’t show up today to watch the cricket. It seems amazing to us that out of possibly 3-4,000 kids, the ones who wanted to learn English, volunteered, didn’t show up. Though it was the minority, it just annoyed us. Then Dr Kiran visited Mayapuri today and after the lessons, we really got into some dancing – I have the photos to prove it unfortunately. They don’t take no for an answer, but I don’t think either of us tried very hard to say no! Dr Kiran is great with the kids, they really do seem very bright and knowledgeable about their own issues now, which is something ASHA manages really well. Paul and Rakesh translated her talk with the Baal Mandal (childrens group) to us and then there was a party lol. It was fun and great to see the kids enjoying themselves. We managed to start a mega game of “What’s the time Mr Wolf” again – and literally all the kids want to hold your hand, they fight over it. It is ahumbling experience in the slums. Everyone makes sure YOU get fed, and YOU get a seat. It seems mad when they are the ones who we are there to try and help and we should be the humble ones. The staff are amazing too, they really work hard at a ground level and are very good to us. They always have a smile, and a supply of sweet teaJ. Mmmmmm…
We also had an amusing run in with a rik shaw driver. He tried to charge us 80 rupees, so we took him down to fifty or panchass. Then half way through he said panchass = 60. “No…panchass is fifty.” After some friendly banter it was all fine though lol. That was a random story to tell but it was funny! Bill martin is also staying with us on and off at the moment, Freddy’s brother. We had a huge conversation with him last night. Jon and I had decided that romance and common courtesy was dead until we met him lol. He is an amzing guys, and his and Freddy’s story is a real rags to riches. They came from a village on the tip of India up to Delhi and made a living out of nothing. He now lives in Canada and has a great big family. He talked a lot about a healthy character. In Canada he had a shop, and a guy came in once and started mounting off to him about white people and coloured people. So he set a sheet of paper on the wall and asked him and any of his friends who could stand beside the sheet of paper and say they were white. They are now the best of friends apparently! I don’t know if that story made any sense, but it was one of the most interesting conversations ( and funny) that I have had for ages!
I must go now, I am tired, but I hope that has kept you a bit in touch with me. Two weeks here have flown by in many ways, I feel properly like I am living here atm! Scary!
Miss you all loads!
Duff
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