I also met the teacher that will be replacing me when I leave, who was actually taking the spoken classes before I arrived but she had to take 2 months leave. I have seen some good progress with many of the kids, but those that have not attended regularly have not improved as much, clearly because they have not been practicing their English. As a result, I was very keen to share what I have been doing with the teacher and stress the importance of creating a purely English speaking environment and to encourage her to use some of the methods that I have used. I have not been perfect whatsoever and there were many things that I could have done better, but I have had good feedback from several of the other teachers and the children also. The fact that they have improved a lot must surely mean I was doing something right. I have built very good connections with these children and I know they can do very well if they are taught well, so I really do not want them slipping behind again because I know how well they can do. So, in a way I have been a bit anxious about how the classes will be carried out once I leave – there needs to be continuity for the children to keep progressing and I wanted to stress this to the teacher coming back. However, when I did talk to her about this I found her attitude was not the best. It seemed as if she was very possessive over the class asking me, “Are you the one who has been teaching my children?” and when I told her what I had done and how I had done it all she kept saying was that she had also done everything that I said to her. Clearly this could not have been the case as their level was much lower than it is now, so I must have done something different to her – again I am not saying what I did was better than what she did but that is what she seemed to think I was saying and seemed rather defensive – she seemed to see it as a case of me vs her rather than working together to teach the students as well as we can. I talked to Dharmender about this and he had a word with her so I do feel now that she will take some of it into consideration. What I have suggested to Dharmender is to actually sit down with the kids and ask them what they think works well for them – for me, this is a great way to improve the teaching methods and if the children feel they have some input this can only increase their motivation to learn even more.
I have also decided to but the centre a webcam. The children kept telling me not to leave and were saying that I would forget them and never come back (like all the others) so I thought a good way to keep in contact with them would be to set up a Skype account for them. They loved the idea once I explained it to them and they want to meet all my friends and family via the webcam. I thought it would be a great way to stay in contact with them, convince them that I do care and I won’t forget them, keep an eye on their progress, and also to enable them to practice their spoken English with me. I may have to get used to early mornings though given the time difference!
On Monday and Tuesday, we had a very interesting visitor to the project, a French businessman called Vincent. He is a friend of a donor of the project and came to see the project and see how he could help. We showed him the project, the land where planet why shall be built and also the boarding school close to the land. Luckily, while he was here, the survey that had been carried out to assess the feasibility of planet why came back with very positive results, stating that the guesthouse was feasible and potentially very lucrative. Vincent seemed very positive about the project and hopefully he will be able to help raise at least some of the funds for the project, which in total will cost around $1 million. We were anxious before his arrival about whether he would want to help but he was so enthusiastic about the land that he suggested we buy the plot next to it also to have a spice garden! I really hope Planet Why can realise its potential, as it is the least Anou deserves after the 10 years she has put into this project – Planet Why will enable the whole project to be sustainable and not reliant on donors month by month as it is today.
The latter part of the week saw a lot of rain in Delhi – it is the monsoon season but for several years now Delhi has not had much rain even in these rainy months. On Thursday there was so much rain that most of the boys did not attend the centre at all, and I was quite worried that the same would occur on Friday – I finished at the centre on Friday and we had a party with all of the children planned. Luckily, despite the rain, most of the children came to the centre and we had great fun. There are so many children in the primary section (128 in total) so we decided to have two parties in the morning for the boys and two parties in the afternoon for the girls – the first party was 2nd and 3rd class, and then the second was 4th and 5th class. We played party games, danced to some Indian music, ate samosas and cookies, and there were balloons and bubbles etc. It was actually quite emotional at the end of each party and the kids just kept telling me that I should stay in India and not go back to England – in many ways I would actually love to stay here.
In the party for the older girls, I turned around to get things out of my bag for the rest of the party and when I turned to face them again they were right up close to me with lots of gifts in their hands for me! It was so sweet, they had individually wrapped pens and toffees, and one of them even put a chocolate bar in a nice little box and wrapped it up with such care. Some of the girls had got me plastic flowers in cellophane wrapping and they had written their names on the petals of the flowers, and all of them were shouting and demanding that I opened their gift first.
At the end of the parties, I allowed one of the students to come up to the front and open the webcam and they were all really confused as to what it actually was. Dharmender acted as translator and I explained to the kids that I will miss them, and if they want they can talk to me on there and they can meet my friends and family and practice their English. They were all very excited at the prospect. Dharmender then asked them whether they wanted to say anything to me – most of them were just saying that they would miss me and they wanted to know when I would come back and see them all (making me promise!). One said that I was the best teacher and thanked me for teaching her lots (Jyoti 5th class) to which I responded honestly that it had been a pleasure meeting and teaching them all because they are such great kids and I thanked them, but Kajal in 5th class would not accept my thanks and said that they were so grateful to me because I had come all the way over from England just to help them and they all really appreciated it – must admit was quite emotional to hear that from a 12 year old – so mature. I really am sad to be leaving the project and I will miss them all, it really is like I have now got over 120 Indian siblings and I am looking forward to talking to them on the webcam lots when I get back. Hopefully I will be able to come back next summer, and maybe even before then. The children have had a really positive effect on me and I just hope that I have had a positive influence on their lives and I really want to see them push on and succeed even more than they have done so already – they are really bright kids and sometimes you forget what they actually go through every day living where they live and in the conditions that they face – all of them are an inspiration to me, and I am very proud to have built relationships with such amazing young people.
Anu and Abhilasha
Mukesh
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