GLOBAL EDUCATION

PRACTICUM

Teaching in India 2016

Report

Place: Varanasi, India Date: 2 – 23 January 2016

Group leader: Katarina Kilibarda

Students:

Susanne Doelman (22) – Amsterdam University College

Irene Marcic (20) – University College Roosevelt

Selina van Luik (18) – University College Roosevelt

Maike Jager (19) – Erasmus University College

Kenzy Kalamaway (20) – Erasmus University College

Kalina Stoyanova (19) – Erasmus University College

Myrthe Minnaert (19) – Erasmus University College

Fabienne Reedijk (19) – Erasmus University College

Vera Neven Scharing (19) – Erasmus University College

Schools:

Little Stars School, Asha Pandey

AshaDiya Foundation, Anne – Lauren Chanteloup

Accommodation:

Host families:

Neetu & Manish Pandey (Myrthe, Irene, Selina, Kenzy)

Santosh Mishra (Susanne, Maike)

Manish (Fabienne, Vera, Kalina)

TEACHING

Little Stars School

Monday – Saturday (9.00 – 11.30)

Selina & Vera – Class IV a (35 students)

Kalina & Fabienne – Class VI (36 students)

Irene & Kenzy – II b (34 students)

Maike & Myrthe – Class V b (31 students)

Susanne – Class IX (35 students)

TOTAL: 171 students

AshaDiya Foundation

Mondays, Thursdays, extra Wednesday, 13th January (16.00 – 17.30)

Selina – 1 student (Saraswati)

Vera – 2 students (Neelam and Aarti)

Kalina – 2 students (Mona and Anita)

Fabienne – 2 students (Susmita and Kajol)

Irene – 5 students (Menka, Aarti, Tina, Pooja and Somya)

Kenzy – 3 students (Priyanshi, Muskan and Munita)

Maike – 1 student (Rinki)

Myrthe – 2 students (Lalitam and Asha)

Susanne – 3 students (Anjum Rishika and Pinky)

TOTAL: 21 students

Teacher Training at LSS

Monday – Saturday (13.45 – 15.00)

Susanne, Myrthe, Vera – group 1 (teachers for lower elementary level)

Katarina – group 2 (teachers for upper elementary level)

The report on the Teacher Training will be published in a couple of weeks as it needs to be

send to RaboBank who gave a donation for it.

TOTAL: 31 teachers

PROJECT DATA

Teaching hours (per project / volunteer)

Little Stars School – 16 lessons (2.5 hours / lesson)

AshaDiya Foundation – 7 lessons (1.5 hours / lesson)

Teacher Training – 16 lessons (1.5 hours / lesson)

Preparation and Teacher Portfolio – 16 lesson (3 hours / lesson)

TOTAL: 123.5 hours

Workshops (per project / volunteer)

Hindi – 3 lessons (2 hours / lesson)

Culture – 3 lessons (2-3 hours / lesson)

Ayurveda medicine – 3 lessons (2 hours / lesson)

Meditation – 3 lessons (1.5 hours / lesson)

Bolywood dance – 3 lessons (1.5 hours / lesson)

Cooking – 3 lessons (2.5 hours / lesson)

Yoga – 10 lessons (1.5 hours / lesson)

TOTAL: 52.5 hours

Trips (per project / volunteer)

Guided tour – 5 hours

Silk Factory – 3 hours

Sarnath, BHU, Ramnaghar – 8 hours

TOTAL: 16 hours

Meetings (per project / volunteer)

Welcome meeting – 3 hours

Monday to Saturday – 16 x 1.5 hours

Weekly evaluation on Sundays – 2 (3 hours)

TOTAL: 87 hours

WORKSHOP TEACHERS

Hindi classes – Binit Mishra

Culture classes – Binit Mishra (caste system)

Seema Mishra, Shikha Tripathi (love / arrange marriages)

Setu Tripathi (Hinduism)

Yoga – Madhu

Meditation – Madhu

Ayurveda Medicine – dr. Mukta Tripathi

Bollywood dance – Raj Shah

Cooking classes – Seema Mishra & Shikha Tripathi

VOLUNTEERS’ FEEDBACK

Myrthe, EUC student

Only now, after the project already finished, I start to realise how special the past three weeks have been. While being in India, it all seemed to be so normal. The smiling children, the enthusiastic teachers, the staring men, the cows and their shit, the monkeys and the pushing rickshaw drivers were just part of everyday life. It feels as if it was some sort of setup summer camp to keep us busy, but this is how life is for these people, and we helped them.

It was amazing to be part of the Global Education Practicum. Not only the teaching, but also all the workshops, Hindi, Indian culture, meditation, yoga and Ayurveda medicine. I didn't really have free time, but when I finally had some more time, I decided to collect all the exercises we made, so next year's group can use them, that shows how much I liked it.

See you in the future, Varanasi!

Kalina, EUC student

Stuck at the airport because of the flight delay, I am thinking about the last three weeks and

trying to find the right words to express myself. Coming to Varanasi has been an unforgettable

journey which I could fully enjoy thanks to the most amazing group leader and guru - Katarina,

that looked after us and taught us all the tricks one needs in order to survive in India. Honestly,

I cannot imagine coming back here without her and the other girls! For sure, there were some

less happy times but we were always there for each other!

The programme involved teaching English to the kids of Little Stars School. As their teacher I

learned a lot. They taught me patience, dedication and being true to yourself. What I really

liked though was that apart from teaching we could also experience Indian culture by living in

host families and by having different workshops like Ayurveda medicine, Bollywood dancing,

meditation, yoga and cooking. We could also learn some Hindi, which was very practical, since

it made the communication between us and the kids easier.

Every day was different and brought something new! Being a part of this project is one of

those experiences that stay with you forever!

Maike, EUC student

I can't believe how fast the last weeks have passed. But time flies when you're having fun! It

was an amazing experience for all of us. Seeing the happy faces of the kids every day and

seeing them improve was a great thing to see. And we learned so much about the culture, the

people, the country... The opportunity to live inside the house of an actual Indian family taught

us more than any book ever could. The people that gave us the workshops were fantastic and

thanks to them we learned even more.

Our farewell party was great! We all wore a sari and got the chance to see everyone for the

last time and to thank them for everything. And ofcourse we had a very nice Indian dinner.

I will never forget how open, friendly and welcoming the Indian people were to us. Our trip

was one we will never forget!

Susanne, AUC student

Teaching in India was an incredible experience. Looking back on these past few weeks, I am

very happy and surprised with what we were able to achieve in such a short time. The time

flew by, and even though it was an intense program (not only teaching, but also doing

workshops and taking classes ourselves as well), I enjoyed my time here thoroughly and I am

going to miss all the rickshaws, the cows, and mostly, the children and teachers that I gave

class to. They all did an incredible job and showed a lot of enthusiasm; they made my time in

India very rewarding and memorable.

Irene, UCR student

It all went so fast. One day we arrived and we started teaching and now we are at the airport

again to fly back home. Yesterday we ended the program officially with a Farwell party at the

school. It was a very cool evening, with everyone wearing sari's, funny anecdotes, and good

Indian food! The past weeks in India have been the most amazing experience, with the perfect

combination of activities. First of all the teaching went great. We had young students who at

first did not understand everything we told them but they were eager to learn and they

enjoyed our exercises, games and songs. I was surprised that even the naughty boys in the

back made us goodbye cards and said that they were going to miss us. I will also miss the

students, the teaching, the yoga, meditation, and Hindi classes.

In the end I enjoyed almost everything in India. The air and the streets are very dirty, but the

people are extremely nice and hospitable, and the animals are mostly friendly and add to the

atmosphere!

I really hope that I can come back one day.

Vera, EUC student

We now are on our way to take our flights. Some of us are heading home others are going to

explore India further. Yesterday was a weird and sad day. Leaving our class was hard. When

we entered class 4a for the last time the children welcomed us with a surprise. They had

made amazing cards for us. In India beauty into the details is very important. You can walk in

a filthy and old street and be amazed by the beauty of a temple.

In the beginning I had a little aversion for Indian streets because of the chaos. Now I can feel

relaxed in the middle of this chaos.

I will miss all the cows with their bad ass attitude, the goats with their shirts and the little

puppies . European street will be so boring!

First the teaching seemed like a huge challenge since we hadn't any experience and we

didn't know any Hindi. After a week it seemed a bit more natural. Not knowing any Hindi

made the lessons more interesting since the students wanted to communicate with us.

This journey was long, there were some less rhappy days for everyone (thank you Indian

sickness). Katarina was relieved she didn’t have to solve any girl fights. I would recommend

this programme with commitment and eagerness to discover. I cannot imagine a nicer way

to discover India than with Katarina. She was an excellent guru.

Kenzy, EUC student

The three weeks I spent in Varanasi were absolutely enriching! I formed a strong attachment

to the city and to everyone I met, especially my host family and my students. Saying goodbye

was really horrible. I will miss everyone and everything so so much. I am already dreaming of

my next visit to Varanasi...

I learnt so much in such little time. Every workshop we did, from yoga to Ayurveda to

cooking to Hindi to culture, I learnt from. We were there to teach but I have learnt so much

more from my students in class 2B and from the city in itself. I am definitely taking back so

much more than I have given.

The busy schedule we had really pushed me to work more efficiently and to be more active

in all aspects of my life. We were always out, whether at the school or at a cafe together or

just wandering through Varanasi. I had so much energy, just by being there, despite how

tiring it was at times. That's definitely one of my highlights: how great it felt to really put my

time to good use!

Being in a different environment and really immersing yourself in it is an amazing feeling.

Walking by the Ganga every day, watching the different rituals of the people in Varanasi,

hopping on and off tuk-tuks, bargaining everywhere, being surrounded by cows and

monkeys, greeting everyone in the street, smiling at strangers just because you can, and all

the cute puppies and goats everywhere you looked! Getting to know the culture of the

people of Varanasi and beginning to understand their way of life was so enlightening.

These three weeks were absolutely crazy at times but somehow it all fit together perfectly. I

don't think I could find a more accurate statement to sum up my experience in Varanasi.

Selina, UCR student

Together with Véra I had the chance to teach class 4a. Before going to India I was a bit

concerned about my teaching skills and whether I'd be able to do well, but together we

managed very well. At first the teaching was a bit difficult as we all had to get used to it,

including the children. Especially when Véra lost her voice I was worried I couldn't control

them, but to my surprise it worked just fine. The kids were really sweet and saved us a lot of

trouble, especially when we were sick. The last day was really sad for both us and the kids,

and they made some amazing drawings which were some nice tokens for us to take home. So

aside from teaching the kids something, I think all of us learned valuable things as well.

Fabienne, EUC student

Going to Varanasi has been a big challenge, but a good one. Teaching a full class of curious

children gives many challenges (how do you keep them quiet?, how do they stay interested?,

how do you help everyone despite different levels?). Working through them together with my

teaching partner Kalina has been heavy, but fun and a fulfilling job as well. Standing on the

other side of the classroom has also made me realise that as a pupil, I have made the days of

some of my teachers very hard. I would not want little me in my class! All of the children in

our class were lovely, I miss them already.

DIARY

GEP, Sunday 3rd January

"The first day in Varanasi was quite spectacular. After an Indian breakfast with our host families

we started our walk through the busy streets of Varanasi. Cows, motorcycles and screaming

Indians surrounded us. An American guide, who has been sticking around in Varanasi for 16

years (and counting), took us with him to the secret spots of Varanasi, and the more popular

spots as well. Having taught Hindi culture for years, he knew everything of the city, and showed

several amazing spots of the city. For instance, a pond that was thought to give fertility to any

woman who bathed in it. His ex-wife had taken a bath herself after three years of infertility and,

what do you know, she birthed his first son after one year. He showed us the famous burning

Ghats of Varanasi as well, the river banks beside the Ganges where families cremate the bodies

of their loved ones. A place where life and death meet; an unusual sight for the most of us

visiting. After the walk, we took a rickshaw back, and we had some time off to buy Indian

clothes. After this wonderful break, we ended the day with a relaxing yoga session on a rooftop.

A good start of our experience here." – Susanne

GEP - Monday, 4th Jan

"Today was another unforgettable day in the colorful city of Varanasi. We went to the Little Stars School, where everybody had the chance to introduce themselves to the class they are going to teach. The kids were all amazing and made very sweet cards for us as a welcome gift. Before that, however, we met with the wonderful lady that founded the school and runs all of its activities - Asha. After Little Stars School we visited the other place where we are going to teach English - AshaDiya center. The center gives shelter, education, hope and most importantly, brighter future to street girls. Seeing the happiness and the sparkles in the eyes of the girls was a truly inspiring experience, which makes you realize how precious life is. At the end of the day, we could all relax our minds and bodies by doing yoga with Madhu." - Kalina

GEP - Tuesday, 5th Jan

"Today was the first day of teaching for us. After shaking off some small nerves and making the final preparations, at 9 am sharp we stepped into our classroom. We were happily welcomed by the kids and the teacher. With the actual teacher keeping an eye on us, we tried our best to have a good first lesson. The kids were great and our first day of teaching was a very good one! We could feel that the teachers and kids were really greatful. Also the teacher training leaded by Susanne, Myrthe, Vera and Katarina started. 31 teachers joined the training to improve their English and teaching skills. Today we will have our first workshops: cooking or meditation! A day full of new experiences for all of us. ~Maike

GEP - Wednesday, 6th Jan

"Today was the second day of classes at the beautiful Little Stars School! The children were so happy to see us again and very eager to learn. We began our lesson with a game of Simon Says to get our students motivated for the 2 hours ahead of them! And made sure to include lots of creative activities throughout the lesson to keep the children focused. Afterwards we had a lovely lunch and chat with Pierre, a long-time volunteer at Little Stars School. We then split up into two groups for the workshops of the day: Bollywood dancing and Ayurveda medicine. We learnt all about the history and main aims of Ayurveda medicine: healing and preventing. Later at yoga, an eye opening experience as always, the girls showed us the dance routine they had learned at the workshop! And that was the end of another exciting and busy day in the amazing city of Varanasi." - Kenzy

GEP - Thursday, 7th January

"Another day of teaching, but every day is different. The teachers at the Little Stars School during the teachers training were just as excited about doing the Hokey Pokey as the girls at the AshaDiya Centre. The girls there had so much energy and loved doing games, dancing and taking pictures. After I gave my camera to some of the girls, I got it back with more than hundred new pictures of everything around. Tonight, we are enjoying a western dinner at one of our favourite spots, the Mark Café!" - Myrthe

GEP - Friday, 8th January

"My story about today 😊 This Friday we went to teach once again at the Little Stars School. The kids love playing games, but they can be just as happy with studying and of course dancing the Hokey Pokey. It also seems like we're getting famous here in Varanasi, as all the shop owners and riksha drivers know who we are. In the evening we had our first Hindi class where we learned some useful words and phrases. After that we had an interesting lesson and discussion about the caste system here in India, so we're looking forward to our next culture class." - Selina

GEP - Saturday, 9th January

"Today we've had the most fun class until now with our class 2b. After writing letters to children in Slovenia, we went to the roof of the school to draw. There we got company from a monkey, and the other teachers to celebrate Kenzy's birthday with a giant chocolate cake! We finished the lesson with the song 'the wheels on the bus', which the children learned this past week. Later on the day we visited a silk factory in the Muslim area of Varanasi, where most of us bought handwoven silk scarves. We are already getting adjusted to the Indian lifestyle, flying kites, and riding Rikshaws with 7 people squeezed in." ~Irene

GEP - Sunday, 10th January

"Our first day off, which means our first day without teaching. But of course there were plenty of other things to do. Four of us (Irene, Kenzy, Susanne, and I) got up really early to see the sunrise at the Ganga this morning. It was beautiful and special to see how the city awakens. The day program existed of visiting Sarnath, we had a car with a driver and a guide that couldn't speak English, luckily we could ask other tourists for some explanation. We ended our day with a boat ride on the Ganga and pizzas for dinner. During dinner we talked about our experiences of this first week, we all loved it!" - Myrthe

GEP - Monday, 11th January

"A week has already passed! Now I understand more about how Indians function. Even though we sometimes feel a bit tired, the children give us so much energy that we can keep going. The children are still as excited about learning English as at the beginning. After teaching our classes and the teacher training we had workshops: Ayurveda medicine for one group and Bollywood dancing for the other group. Bollywood dancing is a challenge since it so different from European dancing. Still it is a lot of fun! " - Vera

GEP - Tuesday, 12th January

"Today we were teaching in the morning, and had Hindi classes in the afternoon. Our class was lovely as always, they are always very happy when we come in. They are not really used to our westernized style of teaching, but they like it very much. Today our lesson was about regular verbs, and how to correctly use them. The students love to come forward to the board and explain what they have understood, but they love our breaks even more! In the breaks we do some very simple physical movements, like shaking your head and jumping up and down. Today I had one of the students to lead the break, it was very interesting to see how the class listens to him in a different way than to us. He loved it very much, he kept smiling during the rest of the class!" - Fabienne

GEP - Wednesday, 13th January

"Besides teacher the children of Little Stars School, four of our teachers, Vera, Myrthe, Katarina and me, devote an hour a day to training the teachers themselves. The level of English amongst the teachers is quite low, a problem that we are trying to tackle. It is an incredibly fun class to teach, since they are eager to learn and disciplined. Teachers that give class to young children are learning grammar, speaking, and maybe even more important: new English nursery rhymes to sing with their kids. Teachers for the older kids are learning about didactics, besides their normal English class. This way, we are hoping to improve the general level of English at the Little Stars School. Not only did we teach today, we had class ourselves as well. Two lovely Indian women, with excellent English, told us about their arranged marriages. This gave us an unique insight in the Indian culture, and the lives of women all around India" – Susanne

GEP - Thursday, 14th January

"The second week of teaching is already coming to an end. This friday is a Hindu holiday and this means that a lot of the students also take a day off on thursday. We had a class of only 11 students, but we had a very fun lesson with lots of games! Today is also the Varanasi kite festival. Having been in Varanasi for a while now, I've learned about everyone's obsession with kites. They are everywhere, on the streets, in the trees, and in the air. This afternoon the air was filled with kites and people standing on their rooftops flying them. I also tried, but everytime my hostfather got the kite into the air, I let it go down again... We ended our afternoon with a visit to the AshaDiya center, where we played games with the girls, and where they learned me better kite flying techniques. In the evening we visited the old part of town, Gadolya, famous for its shops! As we have a bit of time off

tomorrow morning, I will once try to fly my kite, hoping that this time I can manage.. 🎏' – Irene

GEP - Friday, 15th January

'We had some free time because it was the day of the kite festival. The school was closed so also we got to enjoy this beautiful day. People from different villages traveled to Varanasi to bath in the Ganga and to visit their family. We all did our own things in the morning and then we hd a workshop; cooking or meditation. Our cooking teacher invited us on her rooftop to see all the kites and try to fly it ourselves. Then we had yoga class and did some poses that were quite difficult. Over all it was a very good day where we all experienced beautiful things." - Maike

GEP - Saturday, 16th January

"Celebration is still in the air. Even though the children only had yesterday off fort the kite festival, many took the opportunity to visit relatives this weekend. For us this meant teaching classes of about twenty percent of their normal capacity. No worries though, since it gave us teachers the opportunity to spent some more individual time with the kids in our class and to practice speaking and pronunciation. Since Indian teachers seem to focus solely on reading skills, this was a great moment to practice other areas. After class, we headed towards the shopping area of Varanasi where we bought some new kurta's for our last week here. At the mall, we seemed to be a popular attraction as numerous families asked for a picture with us foreigners. Feeling slightly like animals at the zoo, we went to our last destination of the day: the cinema. The bollywood movie we saw was surprisingly entertaining, given the fact that our Hindi isn't at our best: some even shed a tear during the heart attack of the protagonist. All in all, a good day." – Susanne

GEP - Sunday, 17th January

"The morning started early because of the chants of the temple. Yet I didn't mind since I like this atmosphere. After I left my balcony door open and as soon as I turned my back, I saw a monkey heading to my bag. The monkey had quite an attitude so I got a bit scared. I started screaming a bit and then it didn't take long before Kalina and Fabienne woke up to see what happend. Happily I managed to get him out of my room. Now I don't think monkeys are that cute anymore. In the afternoon, with Katarina, Susanne and Maike we went shopping for the farewell party. It was so nice to see all the fabrics from the saries and to try on bengales and a tikka. The market was in another part of town. This made us discover a new part of Varanasi." - Vera

GEP - Monday, 18th January

"Today was a long, busy and cold day! To our surprise we had a full class of 34 students who were lively and energetic after a weekend full of festivities. We had a wonderful but tiring lesson because the students were so chaotic throughout! Afterwards we had a delicious lunch at the school which included Indian sweets and chia. Next we made our way to AshaDiya where we were greeted by a group of cute puppies. We had a great time reading stories and playing memory with the girls! We then rushed to Hindi class in a tuk tuk where we learnt how to conjugate sentences. We then got into another tuk tuk with 6 girls and made our way to yoga class. We have now mastered the art of fitting as many people into one vehicle as possible! At yoga we did sun salutations and practiced some new poses. By the time we made it home it was 21:00 so we had dinner while watching an Indian show and then passed out in our beds! Our busiest day yet but we enjoyed it thoroughly." - Kenzy

GEP - Tuesday, 19th January

"Two weeks ago already, Pierre (an amazing Dutch man that spends his retired life helping at the Little Stars School) told us that the 19th was a special day. We had no idea why though. Today it appeared to be his birthday! After a day filled with teaching, meditation or cooking workshop and yoga, we ate dinner at the hostel during a very Indian birthday party. It's interesting to see how the Indian population is still growing, since most of the Indian men here don't always show their best side. It does explain the existence of arranged marriage though, about which we were still wondering." –Myrthe

GEP - Wednesday, 20th January

"Today was another unforgettable and unique day in Varanasi ! As usual we started off with teaching ! It's amazing how attached i have already become to these kids! After the school we had our last lesson of ayurveda medicine and finally, we finished the day with a super interesting and compelling Indian culture class about Hinduism ! Looking back, I still cannot believe how quickly the time passed and I feel so thankful for all the great memories that I made with the rest of the group!" – Kalina

GEP - Thursday, 21st January

"Today was the second last day of teaching, so most of us took a test to see the improvement of the children and of course we were very happy with the results. In the afternoon we went to the Ashadiya center for the last time, and after some experiences with monkeys we ended with many pictures and lots of candy and gifts. At night we were invited to dinner by one of the teachers from the school and we had some tasty South Indian food. Tomorrow is our big farewell party so we're all very excited for this." ~ Selina