Deakin Michaela in India

Last week reflection



Week 7 came around much quicker than I would have expected back in
week one. Where in week six I was very much looking forward to coming
home, week seven was the total opposite. It made me realise that even
though I didn?t always enjoy my time in India, it was going to be sad
going home and getting back into the swing of normal life.

Monday started like any normal day with a whole lot of teaching in
front of us. With the usual teachers back, Steph and Emma were left to
teach the intermediates together and I had the juniors all day. When
the other teachers finished at lunch time, Steph continued with the
intermediates and Emma went on to the seniors. Luckily, with the days
of painting and other days we had missed out on, Steph and I still had
work sheets remaining. This was a huge positive as the boys were going
through the worksheets fairly quickly. They were doing a very good job
concentrating on learning English for four hours each day. After
lunch, we had a discussion with Mr Ali about sponsorship as well as
general life philosophy which was quite a surprise for Steph and I as
we had never before had a proper conversation with him. This was a
side of Mr Ali that Steph and I had not yet witnessed.

Tuesday was very much the same as Monday, including another discussion
with Mr Ali. This was our last whole day of teaching, which was
another odd feeling. Even though we knew it was one of our last days
there, it was hard not to get frustrated at the boys who seemed to be
particularly restless.

Wednesday was one of the best days in India. After some original
confusion about what we would be doing on our last day and when our
last day would be, Wednesday turned out to be half teaching, half fun
and games. Also before lunch, we finished finding out the necessary
information needed for writing profiles on all of the boys, which we
had begun on Tuesday afternoon. After lunch, we played games with the
boys. This was left until after all our teaching duties had finished,
as we would have lost the respect of the boys according to Mr Ali.
Playing cricket with the boys and teaching them new games was an
absolutely amazing experience and so much fun. It was great to be able
to show the boys that although there are times when we have to be
serious, there are also times when we can have fun.

Thursday we went to school pretty much to just say goodbye. Steph and
I put together our photo board on Wednesday night and transported it
(with difficultly) to Kamshet. We didn?t really do that much with the
boys, just hung around with them outside. We also had another
discussion with Mr Ali, where we were able to find out more personal
details about the boys for their profiles. That evening we were
invited to Amanda?s school as a farewell for us all. Although it was
very nice to be invited, the night went much longer than we were
originally told and not knowing the children personally and already
being very tired made the night drag.

Friday was pretty much just spent packing. Mr Ali came over in the
morning with his daughter and with gifts for us, which was very kind
indeed. We had a good chat and once again, saw a different side to
him. Jayshree also came over to say goodbye, which was very nice of
her considering the journey she had to take (in the dark and also
pregnant). That night we ended up having a number of guests around so
we had a big dinner.

All in all, India was a tiring but great experience. I would be lying
if I said I woke up every morning wanting to get to our placement as
quick as possible, because that is far from the truth. And with the
days being long and challenging, I probably didn?t appreciate them as
much as I do now looking back on them. I am very glad I went to India
and would love to go back again one day.