Kate goes to India!

COUNTRY: India
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching
WRITTEN BY: Kate Renehan

My name is Kate and I am writing the blog for the Antipodeans Gapbreak India program 2013. We have been here for about a week and a half now and it has been nothing short of incredible. The seven of us arrived on Sunday morning in Udaipur, India on a 5:30am flight from Delhi airport - needless to say we were just a little bit exhausted! The group of us were greeted by Himanchu and Pankaj (our Antips In-Country-Partners) at Udaipur airport and taken to our volunteer accommodation, in which three British volunteers were already present.

On Tuesday morning we had our first experience of the orphanage in which we would be teaching every afternoon when we visited to celebrate Raksha Bandhan festival (celebrating the bond of a brother and a sister!). Since we are known as "Didi" to the boys (meaning 'big sister'), we celebrated by presenting each boy with a bracelet, a sweet and a 'tikka' sign on their forehead. Whilst at the orphanage we were also given the opportunity to be show around the place, including the boys living spaces. This was quite a confronting experience, as many of the rooms were incredibly basic and many were without basic bedroom items many of us take for granted, such as cupboards.

On Wednesday we got our first experience of the school we would be teaching English in every morning. The school is quite rural and very basic in terms of supplies and classrooms, but the kids themselves are so incredibly keen to learn and very enthusiastic! High fives and handshakes are common welcomes from the kids every single morning, which combined with their incredible enthusiasm can be an overwhelming welcome at times to say the least!


On Wednesday we were also given the opportunity to look around the village in which the school children lived. Whilst walking through the village we witnessed the way in which the villages access water and the basic levels of agriculture they use to make a living. Perhaps the most shocking was the visit to a house which was literally just one room in which 10 people lived every day. This was an eye opening experience for all of us, as the kids who are so happy and enthusiastic every morning in the classroom have such a poverty stricken lives outside the school.

On Thursday we had our first experience teaching in pairs at the school and the orphanage. This was definately challenging for everyone, as the language barrier is very distinct and there was definitely a great challenge in teaching a classroom of kids with minimal training. However, although there is still difficulty in the classroom, after just a week there has been a distinct improvement from everyone here and we are definitely all starting to feel more confident and comfortable with the kids in the classroom. Hopefully we will continue to improve our teaching as the kids continue to improve their English!

Although we have definitely been working hard, we have had down time whilst we've been here in which we have been able to relax and explore the city. Market trips have been great ways to explore Udaipur as a group, with haggling attempts and finding quirky little stores in the bustling market place a constant source of entertainment. On Wednesday night we also went out for a meal at a stunning restaurant overlooking the lake in Udaipur, which was a great way to relax with the group of volunteers and show off some of the clothes we had bought at the market. In coming weeks we can use weekends to take trips to other places in India, such as Agra and Jaipur to see the Taj Mahal or Jodphur to ride camels on a Desert Safari. These trips are very exciting to all of us and give us some incredible things to look forward to in coming weeks.