India keeps surprising us......Claire and Amelia's FEGG Internship adventures Part four

Somehow we knew we had stumbled into somewhere very special which stirred a sense of wonder in us.



India keeps surprising us. The last week has held a very special experience for us: the sort of experience where we both get delighted shivers and exchange a look that says it all.
After an exhausting but rewarding couple of days working to meet a deadline we found ourselves whisked off to the Tribal Belt. Not knowing where we were going we enjoyed rumbling along in the bus accompanied by a few goats, young men in tight jeans, old guys in turbans and leather Aladdin shoes, and tribal woman in all their finery with heavy jewellery, bare midriffs and gypsy skirts. We found ourselves envious of their style although we are not so sure about the chunky plastic bracelets they stack all the way up their arms to their shoulders - surely it can’t be comfortable!
We were dropped in a little village and with the wind whipping through our hair we motorbiked through rocky desert splashed with greenery, palms, bright yellow blossoms and trees with leaves dripping from the branches. It was by far the poorest and most foreign place we have ever seen. Somehow we knew we had stumbled into somewhere very special which stirred a sense of wonder in us. We were taken aback by this incredible effect.
Babies cried in fear of our white faces and women stopped to watch us pass with mouths open, seemingly oblivious to the massive loads balanced on their heads. This area is home to many of India’s diverse ethnic minority groups, often amongst the most marginalised in society. We arrived in schools to find children studying in dusty school yards or packed together with other classes in small rooms, having to share one teacher between eight grades. Despite the poor conditions the schoolchildren displayed an eagerness to come to school and learn. They proudly showed off their maths skills, doing sums in their heads to calculate which number we had picked from the magic number square. We were very impressed! In one school a confident but humble Bal Sabha (girls’ council) leader lead a group of girls in a traditional song which stayed in our minds for hours afterwards.
We were inspired by the sheer perseverance and resourcefulness of these teachers. It was obvious they really believed in the potential of their students and the importance of education. Whilst sitting with Gafendea he told us that he wanted the children to learn how to learn. Talking to him, a city man and a scholar of Sanskrit, we realised the reality of his everyday struggle and his willingness to take it on. We began to grasp the significance of a relationship between FEGG and this one small school. The exchange deepened our appreciation of FEGG’s mission and their role in building on local networks and supporting these communities. We could see how our work writing website content, documenting FEGG’s activities and creating training materials is connected to the everyday reality of people living in this area. Our visit to the Tribal Belt was yet another important experience that enriches our work and adds to our understanding of FEGG. Beyond our placement we know that we will continually draw on what we are learning here.