I’ve been meaning to upload some videos from my time teaching on the Street Children Education Program in Jaipur for a while now but my internet connection has been slightly uncooperative so just managing to post these today. I’ve uploaded a selection of my most memorable moments here which should hopefully give a good flavor of what a typical teaching day at school was like.
I can honestly say that this was one of the best experiences
of my life and really taught me a thing or two about appreciating just how
lucky I am. If you’re interested in finding out more about the kids and school life
you can have a read back over some of my older posts.
Opening up School in the Morning
The children are usually waiting outside the school for us
and when our van pulls up they all cheer and rush over to greet us. This
routine never gets old and it's great to get such a warm welcome every single
day. It really makes me laugh
when they all run over to help us push up the metal covering and open up the school,
even the littlest ones jump in to help. This happens every day and again never
gets old, many hands make light work (-:
A Typical Break Time
This video shows a very typical break-time. A lot of activity,
rough and tumble and cuddles. As they don’t have a lot of toys the kids play lots of
games and muck about with each other. Also very popular is the cricket ball and bat
with the boys and skipping ropes for the girls, as well as old fashioned simple toys like the old tyre and stick game.
Kids from another Village
Sadly for every child that comes to our school, there are literally hundreds upon hundreds of others who don't have this opportunity. Many are kept home to mind babies or sent out to help bring in an income for the family. These kids have a huge amount of responsibility on their young shoulders and will most likely never learn to read or write and as a result the cycle of poverty is likely to continue again into the next generation.
This video shows a group of kids from another village (the kids
waving in a group) who come and stand outside the school, these children don’t
attend school at all. One day I brought some ABC books with pictures out to
them and watched as they stood mesmorised looking at the colours and pictures,
repeating the letters after me. This was probably one of my saddest moments
because it was so obvious that they were absolutely dying to learn and join in with classes but
because of their poverty they are denied an education. It really is so sad when
you see just how intelligent these kids actually are and the potential that
will never be fully realised. Without an education they will be forced to work
in low paying menial jobs with long hours and little opportunity for
advancement. You can see very clearly how an education really is the key to a better life for these children.
Saying Goodbye at the end of School Day
Probably the biggest thing the kids get at school is the attention and affection often denied to them at home simply because their parents are so focused on survival and putting food on the table. Every day at school from the moment the kids arrive is a massive cuddle-fest, they absolutely adore the volunteers and every morning when we arrive at school will greet us with enormous smiles, hugs, cuddles and requests for swings in the air. Home-time is no exception and we usually spend a good ten minutes or so just on farewells and cuddles at the end of a school day. 'Diddy, Diddy, what the kids are calling us in this clip, roughly translated means older sister and is the equivalent of teacher, teacher.......at home.
Leaving School – Kids Chasing School Bus
Ha!, I absolutely love this video, it captures perfectly a
typical home time with all the kids full of beans and energy chasing after our
van. They sometimes do this in the morning as well if we pass them by on the road walking
to school. The ‘houses’ at the end of this clip are where the kids live,
hard to believe.
Namaste from India,
Arlene x
