Growing up, my family and I traveled a lot, mostly because of the nature of my parents' jobs, but some times also to visit extended family in India. I've been going to India since I was a baby, but lately I hadn't been back for a while. My parents had been telling me that I should go back alone, just to see what it's like for myself, and to experience a trip on my own. This year, in my search for something meaningful to do over the summer, I was sitting in my room one day, and my parents called me, now of course when they call it's usually the basic, "Let's make sure our child is alive and well" conversation, but this time, they told me that one of my cousins, the oldest one of the clan, had come to visit them from India. As usual, I had to mentally prepare some comebacks to various jokes that were going to be made about anything and everything that I do with my life, but to my surprise I didn't actually have to use any of those comebacks, which was strange because usually I have to be on my toes, otherwise I get roasted (in a loving way) for no reason. Luckily this time, the conversation I had with him was actually useful, and I didn't get made fun of, in fact I was told about the possibility of doing an internship in India. Now being that I hadn't been back in four years, the idea seemed daunting, but very interesting at the same time. Basically, a group of people in my cousin's office, work closely with an orphanage for girls, and they try to provide them with various resources, so that they can advance their education, and easily build their futures. Anyway, after talking back-and-forth with one of the coordinators with the orphanage, I was told that teaching the girls English would be something quite useful for them because they felt that it would be a good skill building experience for them, especially since it is not something that is emphasized in the schools they go to. So, a short while later, I hopped on a plane and was off to India! Now, as for my actual experience, well that's a whole other story to tell!
Three times a week, I waited for a cab, which was probably running late, yelled at the driver to be on time next time, tried to tune his blasting music in Punjabi with my own music (headphones were a real lifesaver because this guy couldn't have had a worse taste in music), and drove an hour to my internship. My internship was in an orphanage for girls where I taught English to about thirty-six girls between the ages of ten and twenty. I divided them into three groups, so I started with the younger girls and end with the older girls. Most of the girls wanted to learn to speak better English, so each lesson was on a different topic, with an emphasis on speaking. I started off teaching the same lesson to each group, but then one of the people who worked in the orphanage who was helping me, suggested that I make a different, slightly more difficult lesson plan for the oldest group, since they were finding the original lessons too easy. I ended up making a new lesson plan, and using the original for the younger kids, which worked out quite well. At first all the girls were quite nervous to speak, but eventually they opened up and became some of the most loving people I've had the privilege of meeting. They treated me like I was their older sister, and were always excited to see me whenever I came to teach them. As they got more comfortable, they became more confident with speaking, and would also often ask questions.
Now of course, most of their questions were related to their assignments, in making sure that they were correctly expressing themselves both verbally and in writing. However, there was one question they would all ask a lot, and it was, "Didi aap hume yaad karoge?" (Big sister, will you remember us?). My answer was always, "Yes, of course", but honestly, how could I not? These girls were some of the most driven people I've ever seen, their desire to study hard, move forward in life, and their ability to keep their feet on the ground, despite their life situation was incredible to see. Even when I was teaching them, they would put a lot of effort into their assignments, and they improved a lot. Overall, I learned a lot from this experience, but most of all, I learned that no matter what life throws at you, don't forget to keep living because at the end of the day, you are your own support system, and you have to be the creator of your own success.
Finally, I want to thank everyone who made this experience possible, I couldn't have done it without all of your support.
If you would like to see photos of the girls, you can do so here.
xx -Krithi
Three times a week, I waited for a cab, which was probably running late, yelled at the driver to be on time next time, tried to tune his blasting music in Punjabi with my own music (headphones were a real lifesaver because this guy couldn't have had a worse taste in music), and drove an hour to my internship. My internship was in an orphanage for girls where I taught English to about thirty-six girls between the ages of ten and twenty. I divided them into three groups, so I started with the younger girls and end with the older girls. Most of the girls wanted to learn to speak better English, so each lesson was on a different topic, with an emphasis on speaking. I started off teaching the same lesson to each group, but then one of the people who worked in the orphanage who was helping me, suggested that I make a different, slightly more difficult lesson plan for the oldest group, since they were finding the original lessons too easy. I ended up making a new lesson plan, and using the original for the younger kids, which worked out quite well. At first all the girls were quite nervous to speak, but eventually they opened up and became some of the most loving people I've had the privilege of meeting. They treated me like I was their older sister, and were always excited to see me whenever I came to teach them. As they got more comfortable, they became more confident with speaking, and would also often ask questions.
Now of course, most of their questions were related to their assignments, in making sure that they were correctly expressing themselves both verbally and in writing. However, there was one question they would all ask a lot, and it was, "Didi aap hume yaad karoge?" (Big sister, will you remember us?). My answer was always, "Yes, of course", but honestly, how could I not? These girls were some of the most driven people I've ever seen, their desire to study hard, move forward in life, and their ability to keep their feet on the ground, despite their life situation was incredible to see. Even when I was teaching them, they would put a lot of effort into their assignments, and they improved a lot. Overall, I learned a lot from this experience, but most of all, I learned that no matter what life throws at you, don't forget to keep living because at the end of the day, you are your own support system, and you have to be the creator of your own success.
Finally, I want to thank everyone who made this experience possible, I couldn't have done it without all of your support.
If you would like to see photos of the girls, you can do so here.
xx -Krithi
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