Swinburne University in Delhi!

COUNTRY: India
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Women's Empowerment and Street Children
WRITTEN BY: Qiqi Chen, Swinburne University

Namaste everyone!

This is Qiqi checking in on behalf of Swinburne’s 2014 Antipodeans Abroad Delhi group. I think you’d be glad to hear, so far so good! We have survived our first week without any drama, and out of reach of the notorious Delhi belly *fingers crossed*.

Since our arrival in Delhi last Saturday, it’s safe to say we have utterly fallen in love with this vibrant city. Everyday presents itself as a new treasure to behold; we are either eating something new, seeing something new, smelling something new, or learning something new. What a pleasure to our senses! The buzzing energy of the city, markets and streets, where the seemingly wild and chaotic traffic (which somehow works) bemuses even the greatest skeptics, including myself.

Our accommodation is situated in the affluent Kalaish Colony in South Delhi, within walking distance from shopping and dining amenities located at the local M-Block market- a square court with a park containing various stores hidden within it's nooks and crannies- where we are able to do most, if not all, of our essential grocery shopping. This also includes getting relaxing massages after our placements, of course!

Our in-country team has been amazingly hospitable, ensuring our daily comforts are met and providing knowledge of the local area so we feel familiar, informing us of the best places to go, prices for purchases and Rickshaws and even how to haggle so we don’t get ripped off (what a bonus!). Our weekday placements would definitely be the highlight thus far. Although we expected this, never in our wildest imaginations could we imagine the true extent of it's impact. The 13 of us are split into 4 different centres, each with it’s own unique style of teaching and focus. Despite these differences the stories we share with each other over meals reveals a significant fact: the children are the hidden gems of the very city. Their laughter, their smiles and the gleam in their eyes, whilst greeting us joyously every morning, “Hello Didi” (hello big sister), brighten our day from the moment we step into the centres.

Here is a rough account of our daily activities at the Street Centre. There's always variety in our days, but the following is an account of our day last week:

8:30am- Breakfast consisting of oatmeal, roti, butter, jam, chai and nectarines. Get ready for our day ahead at placements.

10:00am- Picked up by our placement co-ordinator Dheeraj. The Pigeon Markets (where my Street Centre is located) are approximately 5km away, so a one-way trip could take from 20 to 60 minutes depending on the time of the day.

10:40am- We arrive at placement, and are offered glasses of Masala chai (with beautiful notes of cinnamon, ginger and also other spices) by Apruva, Raju and Irfan, the co-ordinators of the centre. We head upstairs to the rooftop, soaking up the morning sun while waiting for the day to start just as the children finish eating breakfast.

11:00am- Each of us are appointed and provided with materials to teach a group of children, assembled according to age and capabilities. For contrast, the younger 4-6 group work on counting from 1 to 100 and alphabets (Hindi and English), the 13+ age group work on trigonometry and algebra, which they work on at home at the end of the day.

12:30pm- Lunch is served. We head off to a local eatery Halidram’s (notable Indian franchise) in Central Chandni Chowk, catering a variety of Indian cuisine from all over the country with the likes of Northern Thali, Masala Dosa, or Raj Kachori from Mumbai.

1:00pm- When we have time we are taken to tour and explore Chandni Chowk guided by Dheeraj, a very busy district in the heart of Old Delhi, surrounded by a world heritage listed site The Red Fort (built in the 5th Century), the biggest Sikh Temple in India, and the famous Spice Market. On this particular day we took a look around the Spice Market, taking in the various sights and fragrances it had to offer.

2:30pm- We arrive back at our placements, and finish off the day with drama games. We head home from placement at 4:30pm, chauffeured by Dheeraj.

6:30pm- Dinner is served by Shankar. The two houses get together to break bread, sharing stories from their day at placement.

After dinner we usually head out as a group to explore the treasures Delhi has to offer.

I hope this gives a slight insight into our adventure in India thus far!

With lots of love,

Qiqi and the Delhi Crew! xox