Good times :)

Well it has been a busy few weeks...here's some news...

- we've gotten used to the heat and thankfully, the monsoon has come and cleared the air of some heat-although it was 33 degrees at 11pm the other night and I had goosebumps-seriously acclimatised!!
- many of the Froebel volunteers have had spells of illness, nothing too serious but thankfully I have nothing to report, fingers crossed it stays that way!
- we are well under way with the teaching and it is going very well indeed, we have all ages-from creche age to 15+ so we have so many resources to prepare every night before lessons.
- the toys that the Froebel Hope Partnership donated arrived in our centre and we had a great play session with the kids - Leah and I supplemented these by buying local educational games to work on in class and leave behind us.

- We went to the Sunderbans, a tiger reserve and mangrove forest at the delta of the Ganges which was a great break from the city for a night, some fresh air and relaxation (picture below) before heading back to the madness of Kolkata!

- We have not only been teaching the lovely local children but local teachers also - we showed them activities and games we use in teaching and made out a sheet describing how to arrange and prepare resources for these, we have also taught them some fun songs too for teaching (pictures below) I am really pleased that they are so welcome to new ideas as our work here will have much more sustainable effect if these methods of teaching are maintained. We have built a great relationship with both the teachers and the children, already we know it will be very hard to leave so we are making the most of all our days left here :)

It's hard of course when you know the children are coming from such difficult homesand struggle daily to eat and get by but they are truly the happiest kids I have ever met :) Just look at the photo :) They have very little and need very little which is so refreshing and I am taking so many pictures to remember them - no doubt ill be back before too long to visit-look im already planning the next visit!!

Well that's all for now, having a great time - how could you not being surrounded by such smiles every day!
:)

Leah and I with some of the kids in our class :)

Week 1...

Stepping off the plane (after stopping in London, Dubai and Mumbai!) I was hit by what can be perfectly compared to having a hairdryer turned on in your face, the heat was unbelievable - 40 degrees and humidity at 98% ugh!! Thankfully the airport was deliciously air conditioned but I almost had to be dragged out of the building to face that oppressive air again, knowing it will be no different for the weeks ahead.

What can I say? This place is incredible - the saying that India is an assault on your senses are all the more true when you see the areas in which we will be working. My 'school' is in a place called Chetla Lock Gate, in South Kolkata. I predict it is going to be a very intense experience working here, after visiting it on Saturday. Before we reached our school, we visited another centre called Chetla Open Shelter. While we were outside this 'school'- a single porta cabin with surrounding shanty homes - we met Shamser who was a student of this HOPE school from the moment it opened. He went through the whole programme and is now a first year student in university in Kolkata - it is very encouraging to see these success stories as a result of the work being done by HOPE and it is with great pride that we in Froebel have been given the opportunity to support this work and offer our teaching abilities.

I have had the opportunity to see other HOPE funded schools and homes and they all excude such a positive atmosphere-as one of our lecturers says: don't cry for the ones who are being helped. They take such pride in their school work and in their other talents-some great singers and dancers were among the children who did an impromptu performance for us :)

I am looking forward to teaching and working with the community...let it begin!

The time has come - ticking off final checklists and getting ready for an early departure tomorrow morning. Very excited but nervous at the same time, it will be a challenging time there but so worth it - will let you know how the first week goes when I get settled there, will post some photos too :)

2 weeks to go and counting...

Indian Visa - check
Injections (ow) - check

Thankfully, the fundraising has facilitated me in getting my injections and anti-malarial tablets which is great as they can be pricey but essential to have while we are there. So this day 2 weeks i'll be roaming the streets of Kolkata finding my way around and getting ready to start teaching. For now there's lots of packing and preparation to be done, now that teaching practice is over, lectures are finished forever and all exams have been sat (and, fingers crossed, passed with flying colours!) On Thursday 19th and Friday 20th, the Froebel Hope partnership have set up orientation days for us - ill let you know how it goes.

Time to learn some Bengali - this should be interesting!

And so it begins...

Today I was out in Citadel 100 where Karl Hennessy and Co. have generously supported me to go out to Kolkata teaching with the Hope Foundation. Of course I will be staying in touch with him (and everyone else reading this blog) and filling you in on the day to day teaching, volunteering and living in Kolkata, and eventful situations also. At the moment I am very excited about the challenge ahead and I am enjoying the preparation.

Next step, get the visa :)

Kolkata, not Calcutta?

Here's a nugget of information that some might but others might not know...

While the city’s name was always pronounced 'Kolkata' or 'Kolikata' in the local Bengali language, its official English name was changed from “Calcutta” to “Kolkata” in 2001, reflecting the Bengali pronunciation and to show respect to the emotion of the Bengali people. Some view this as a move to erase the legacy of British rule.