COUNTRY: India
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Care Work
WRITTEN BY: Ashleigh Barnes
The last two weeks went past faster than a Goan could say “chai”. We barely had time to stop and think between work placement, weekend get-aways and a whirlwind of other activities. We can all say that we worked hard and well. Our motivation saw two projects being completely revamped, a team of dedicated painters transformed the government school and the fisherman’s school. On the first day of painting the rusty swingset and monkey bars a crowd of 60 Indian men and women swarmed on the footpath. “What are you doing?” “But why?” “But why are YOU doing it?” “Where are you from?” The Goans could not understand the generosity of a few motivated Australian students who wanted to create a better learning area for the children. They had never seen such colour and vibrancy on a play ground but their confusion quickly gave way to enthusiasm.
Above and beyond aesthetics, the children and women that we worked with have all grown and learnt. We went into this trip knowing that you cannot teach a language in a month, you cannot change India and you cannot hope for too much. We are each a link in a chain but each link has its triumphs. I was proud to hear the children at the Fisherman’s school using English manners of their own accord. I was excited to see them using and caring for the exercise books that we purchased and filled with worksheets. For those in Women’s Empowerment and Drop Out Girls, the Aussies were so excited to tackle head on issues of hygiene, abuse, budgeting, the daily requirements of a woman living in a slum. Jade and Helena who study nursing and occupational therapy in Sydney gave a presentation to hoards of primary and secondary students on hygiene. The children also taught us things in return, they taught us hindi and sign language, they taught us much more creative henna designs than we could come up with and new songs and games to keep ourselves entertained.
It came as a shock when all of a sudden the mass of faces which had made up our classrooms, orphanages, hospitals, on our first few days had names and ages and stories. We knew our students’ strengths and weaknesses and in learning theirs we had also learnt more about our own. For instance, a month in India has taught us a whole new meaning of the word patience. It was these faces which we were dreading saying good bye to, and which had us planning picnics, making countless shops to Oscar’s, our local supermarket, and helping (aka watching) the chefs make 300 gulgule (Indian doghnuts!!).
We also had to say goodbye to the staff at camp who had cared for us so well. The drivers who fulfilled our every last minute request. The kitchen staff who made delicious (although slightly repetitive) meals. And of course the gorgeous Simi who made sure everything ran smoothly.
Perhaps worst of all was saying goodbye to each other. We had lived together, laughed and learnt together. We had gone for early morning runs, shopped til’ we dropped, devoured tubs of nutella when lentils stopped being appetizing, traveled 9 hours in a van to see ancient monuments for a weekend getaway, bartered haggled and compromised. We had been high and low. We learnt more about each other in a month in Goa than we may have in a year in Sydney. Our last nights were filled with games, sarees, photos, music, cocktails and stories as well as planning convoluted road trips around Australia to ensure everyone gets a visit!
Goa 2013, what an adventure!
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