After months of preparation during a series of pre-departure cultural awareness workshops, seven young women aged 14-17 from the London Borough of Hackney (accompanied by staff) have taken an almighty leap out of their comfort zone and arrived to teach the children that attend Basti Ram's linked projects in the north Indian state of Rajasthan.
Ryanne, Charlie, Keann, Jacqueline, Jade, Deborah and Ruth began their journey on Monday 29th July. Meeting at Hackney Town Hall the atmosphere was one of excitement, anticipation and disbelief that our long-awaited venture had finally arrived! 'I really wasn't sure what to expect seeing as it was a different experience altogether' (Keann, 15).
After a 19 hour journey, the ground staff team welcomed the group onto Indian soil, 'out of our normal into our abnormal!' (Jacqueline, 14), one of the main aims of the project being to broaden young people's horizons. We spent the evening settling into our new home for the next two weeks and acclimatising to our very different environment.
Our first full day spent on the project catapulted us into our busy schedule! We began with a detailed orientation, the purpose of which included raising the groups awareness of the social challenges faced by the communities they would be spending time with and fully-preparing the young women for their teaching placement.
The morning of the 31st of July was spent visiting an isolated, rural and under-privileged Rajasthani village. Basti Ram having worked in a primary school and day-care centre here for a number of years, the group received a heart warming welcome from members of the local community. One friendly villager even invited us into her family house, 'she didn't even know us but she still welcomed us into her home!' (Keann, 15).
The afternoon was spent in teaching pairs planning their first lesson, to be delivered the following morning. This helped to raise the confidence of those who are understandably experiencing nervous in anticipation of their first ever teaching experience, 'I'm scared but excited. Before we did all the preparation I didn't think I was ready at all but now we've planned the lesson it's quite exciting but I'm still scared!' (Keann, 15).
The final activity of the day was a visit to our linked destitute boys home. Home to up to 100 boys and young men, the group will spend time with them each day after school. For our group, to be given the opportunity to meet local young people of a similar age as themselves helps to increase their world citizenship. It does this by building an awareness of the issues young people living in developing countries face and we hope this will motivate lasting change upon the groups return to the UK.
For Charlie, Keann, Jacqueline, Ruth, Deborah, Jade and Ryanne the first three days of the project, becoming accustomed to a different culture and visiting our linked communities has been an emotional roller-coaster and challenging life experience. 'I'm looking forward to going to the school tomorrow but for me, seeing the orphanage today was a big shock of reality' (Charlie, 17). The next step of our group's powerful and life-changing journey is the challenge of teaching.......
Thank you for reading my blog and showing your support for Basti Ram. If you would like to find out more about the innovative work we do or how you can get involved please visit www.bastiram.org email bastiram.uk@gmail.com or call +44 (0) 7515 857 865
Katherine
Youth Development Officer
Ryanne, Charlie, Keann, Jacqueline, Jade, Deborah and Ruth began their journey on Monday 29th July. Meeting at Hackney Town Hall the atmosphere was one of excitement, anticipation and disbelief that our long-awaited venture had finally arrived! 'I really wasn't sure what to expect seeing as it was a different experience altogether' (Keann, 15).
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| We made it! |
Our first full day spent on the project catapulted us into our busy schedule! We began with a detailed orientation, the purpose of which included raising the groups awareness of the social challenges faced by the communities they would be spending time with and fully-preparing the young women for their teaching placement.
The morning of the 31st of July was spent visiting an isolated, rural and under-privileged Rajasthani village. Basti Ram having worked in a primary school and day-care centre here for a number of years, the group received a heart warming welcome from members of the local community. One friendly villager even invited us into her family house, 'she didn't even know us but she still welcomed us into her home!' (Keann, 15).
| First school visit! |
The final activity of the day was a visit to our linked destitute boys home. Home to up to 100 boys and young men, the group will spend time with them each day after school. For our group, to be given the opportunity to meet local young people of a similar age as themselves helps to increase their world citizenship. It does this by building an awareness of the issues young people living in developing countries face and we hope this will motivate lasting change upon the groups return to the UK.
| Visit to our linked destitute boys home |
For Charlie, Keann, Jacqueline, Ruth, Deborah, Jade and Ryanne the first three days of the project, becoming accustomed to a different culture and visiting our linked communities has been an emotional roller-coaster and challenging life experience. 'I'm looking forward to going to the school tomorrow but for me, seeing the orphanage today was a big shock of reality' (Charlie, 17). The next step of our group's powerful and life-changing journey is the challenge of teaching.......
Thank you for reading my blog and showing your support for Basti Ram. If you would like to find out more about the innovative work we do or how you can get involved please visit www.bastiram.org email bastiram.uk@gmail.com or call +44 (0) 7515 857 865
Katherine
Youth Development Officer
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