Kolkata Volunteer Stint 2 - Kautala Friends Sport Club

For part 2 of our volunteer work,  we were driven to a village 2.5 hours away to work with another NGO, Kautala Friends Sporting Club, for a couple of days.  

The village children took longer to warm up compared to students from Ideal Mission School. Afterall, it was their 1st encounter with foreign volunteers in the school. Most of their volunteers helped out in the medical field. We did not have much time to work with the children and spent more time working with the teachers instead.

Apart from working in the school, we had the opportunity to learn more about the programmes of the self help groups in the villages, school programme, medical help, hospital projects and met most of the staff. 

Directors of both NGOs that we met have very good insights with many self sustainable programmes.  We were very impressed to see it so well run!

Interestingly, there were a number of Belgium supported programmes in Kolkata. The following photos would be able to show and share more …

We are very thankful to Mama Basu for making all of the volunteering possible and the warm reception we had received at the training institute, Ideal Mission School and at Kautala Friends Sporting Club. A BIG THANK YOU to all of you!

Kautala Friends Sporting Club - This is used as a sch on weekday fr 8-3pm

Meet Mr Samir, Director of the club. He took very good care of us. =) Thank you!

  

Space is a constraint in this school with 5 classes.

There are 2 classes in this room. See the tiny chalkboard each child uses?

 

3 classes in the same room. Noticed the 2 chalkboard at the back? For 2 diff class. Due to space constraints, they have to work with what they have..

This is another class next to the 2 classes. Rather hard to concentrate but the children were all so quiet and attentive when the teachers were teaching..

They were all so thrilled to be photographed.

Our auntie who cooked our lunch in the tiny kitchen

Mr Chin sharing with the teachers interactive teaching..and even Mr Samir joined in!!

 

Shared with them some team building games for the students. Mr Samir and his staff had fun trying out!

 

Our sumptuous and huge lunch!

As we had limited time with the students, we taught the teachers different types of handicrafts that they can used with their students.

  

Making a puppy using towel. Like their students, the teachers were eager to learn too.

 

After 2 hours of intensive training..have a picture together before we leave..

It's Mr Samir's dream to build a proper school compound. May his dreams come true..

The village streets..

Mix and match the slippers you want!

Apart from schools, the club has a few other village projects

Teaching housewifes how to utilise their own land for farming.

Hospital project! Starting off with maternity and children ward as there isn't one in the vincity

Ground level is almost ready and 2nd level will be build when they have more resources.

Free clinic for the villagers...

 

Basic but sufficient!

Kolkata Volunteer Stint 1 - Ideal Mission School

Our first stint was in a English Medium Mission School (1 hour drive from Kolkata city) for children from pre-nursery to class III (10 years old). We were given the opportunity to work with two different groups – kindergarten and class II-III. 

The younger group was so adorable and I had wanted to kidnap 1 back! They are all so smiley and happy to see us, always waving enthusiastically. After 1 session with the little ones, the teachers wanted us to teach them more nursery rhymes with actions as this is not a common teaching method. They usually sing rhymes without action. We were heartened to see that the teachers were eager to learn and rehearsed with us repeatedly. Hopefully, we shared and left enough stuffs for them to work with the children.

It was enjoyable and energy zapping teaching the little ones for a 40-minute class. They were energetic, eager to learn and it was really funny watching them sing and dance along with the rhymes with their little limbs. After day 1, we were very interested to set up a pre-school as they were just too cute! But after day 2, we decided that it’s better to leave to the professionals and they really deserve our respect!

We lost a day working with the school as there was a nationwide strike and school was closed! So we had more time to prepare more materials for the teachers and also to replenish our energy.

Working with the older group was fun too! Especially when I had the chance to see Mr Chin teaching them. Probably how he was like when he taught in Pri Sch back. It was hard for him not to suppress his discipline master nature...haha...and I start to worry for our children next time. haha..Sit down, quiet, look at me...haha..

Check out the adorable pictures below...I miss them!

The school is just right beside where we stayed..

 

School compound..the school is new and only 2 mths old..

Children getting ready for morning assemble and prayer

 

Younger group - Nursery and Kindergarten

All so cute! We wanna kidnap one home! Guess which one?

Teaching them expression...SAD!Who has the saddest face?

Angry! Mr Chin looks funny here!

Singing nursery rhymes with them..

(I love you in the morning, in the afternoon, I love you in the evening, underneath the moon...)

Showtime! Let's laugh for them to see...

 

Break time..

Handicraft day! We taught them how to make windmill and they were all so thrilled!

More singing...Head N shoulders, Knees N toes, Knees N toes...

Pose for a picture with teachers..

Getting to know the Older group from 7-10 years. Showing them world map and getting them to identify India and S'pore

Session 1: My family tree
(My fav boy from the older group)











 

Session 2: We taught them occupations and got them to write down what they want to be ....   

Sharing with the class..Boys all want to be cricket player/pilot








 

Girls want to be teachers...








 

Let's show Mr Chin what we have to do to realise our dreams..=)

This is the boy I want to kidnap. He's always smiley and adorable!

Then I realised he looked like Jeff!









 

Kolkata - Work, Play, Explore.. 24 Apr - 4 May

In our last leg of India, we pampered ourselves with first class air-con train to Kolkata (truth is no other tickets available!) and it was with no regrets! We were glad we had not started our train travel with first class as the second and third class pales in comparison. Haha..

Kolkata gave us the feeling that Singapore was probably like this in the 60s or 70s. The streets are full of yellow old styled taxis, low rise buildings, narrow roads and lots of developments going on...

After 7 weeks of travelling, we were looking forward to break the travel routine and do some work! It was challenging to plan a week of volunteer work without disruption to the schools. Our work was very well organised and provided great opportunity to learn and see how work reach towns/villages in Kolkata.

We stayed in a very well run training institute. It reminded me of my work back home except this has room and meals provided! It was basic, the staffs were very nice to us and we had the chance to sample home cooked Indian food!

 

Arriving in Kolkata with style on 1st class cabin..haha..

 

Vintage yellow cabs in Kolkata!

After weeks of Indian food, we were dying for Authentic chinese food! Available in the only Chinatown in India. Green vegetables!

 

 

Institute we stayed for a week while volunteering..

 

 

Our sumptuous daily meals at the training institute - From Left: Curry Paneer (Cheese), Papadum, fried potatoes & beans, chicken curry, parantha

Secrets for the Happiest Life we found at the institute
1) Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today
2) Never trouble another for what you can do for yourself
3) Never spend your money before you have it
4) Never buy what you do not want because it's cheap
(Tis line keeps coming up whenever I walked into a store when shopping! haha..N proud to say that I'm doing well..haha..)

5) Never repent of having eaten too little
6) Never do anything that you are not willing
7) Never let the evils that can push you towards pain
8) Never show haste in your routine activities
9) Never speak when you are angry
10) Never think there is nothing special today.

Our best and most expensive meal in India - Grill Buffet! Drooling just looking at the pic now..hehe

Ganges River - Rishikesh & Varanasi 17 - 23 April

Getting to the holy river wasn’t an easy feat. There was a Kumbh Mela event (occurs every 12 years) in Hariwar where an expected 70 million pilgrims will be there to take a dip in the river as they believed that it will absorb their sins, making them karma free and liberate them from being reincarnated. 

We were supposed to catch a train to Haridwar, a few days after the event, on 16 Apr. Due to the massive crowd, the train network to Haridwar was jammed. Therefore, our train was delayed for 4 hours then to 12 hours leaving us to sleep at the train station or check-in into a nearby hotel.  We took the latter option to ensure that we have sufficient rest for the journey there...

The train was further delayed by an hour or so the following morning and the 8-hour train ride took 12 hours instead due to frequent stops. It was an eye-opener when we arrived at Haridwar train station at 11pm.  There were thousands of pilgrims sleeping and cooking everywhere around the train station. The smell of human wastes was overwhelming!

It was midnight when we finally got to Rishikesh by Vikram (bigger version of Auto-rickshaw) and the guest house that we had a booking chased us away! Luckily, we had a kind and helpful Vikram driver who drove us around to look for another accommodation. It did not seem promising as there were pilgrims  sleeping on the streets and the next guest house we went was fully booked.  Finally, we found a nice hotel and the only room available was 6 times more than the room we had booked at the other guest house. Exhausted after a long day, we took the room after they gave us a 20% discount.

Haridwar is famous as it’s the beginning of the Ganges river down to Varanasi. River water is revered by the Hindus to be holy. We had the opportunity to ‘bathe’ in it as we rafted along the meandering Ganges river rapids.

After 3 nights in Rishikesh (the place to learn Yoga in Ashram), we moved on to Varanasi – cremation ground for many Hindus. 

Arriving in Varanasi on week 7 of our travelling in India was rather overwhelming. It was searing at 44 degree Celsius when we arrived and it felt like we were in a pressure cooker. Jeff had difficulty breathing once out of our room. It made me wonder what the maximum temperature a human can withstand is and at what temperature my skin will start to burn. We felt lethargic and had to stay indoor most of the time. 

The heat probably played a huge part as it totally cloud the beauty of the place. I begun to wonder how my life would be living in hot Sahara desert and if I would be able to survive and also how much global warming has escalated the situation in Varanasi at this time of the year. The locals shared that it gets up to 50 degree Celsius in June and we really marvel at their ability to adapt! So if you are ever considering a trip to Varanasi, do it during winter (Nov – Jan).

After 12 hours of wait, it just wasn't enough. The boarding platform was changed several times and carrying our backpack climbing steps and steps was no joke!

and the train kept stopping for hours!! HOT HOT HOT!

Look closely at the Pilgrims sleeping at the train station..

Our most expensive stay in India after a grueling 24 hours journey to get here...

Views of Ganges River from our balcony!

Worth our money? hehe

View of the Ghats and people bathing along the river..

Rafting in the holy river!

Our best rafting trip so far.

brave as a tiger...*roar*

having cold feet after reaching the end...chicken!

(minutes before, i was still laughing at those cowards who hesitated for so long before jumping..*yawns*)

Streets of Rishikesh..

Start of Ganges river in Rishikesh - Clean and unpolluted

We bought a croissant that was so hard that even calf did not want it!

Numerous tents in Haridwar for Pilgrims

Our taxi had a punctured tyre on our way to Varanasi.

(obvious who's the one with the extra weight..hehe)

The mountain tortise me has never seen how a tyre with inner tubing can be repaired and re-used! Every product is exhausted to its limit.

Varanasi - Daily prayer to the river by the Ghats (temple)

Huge number of devotees praying along..

View of Ganges river in Varanasi

Locals bathing in the river..

Varanasi Ganges river by the night..

We were not sure if it's the cremation or holiness of the place, it is always hazy..

(we did not take pictures of the cremation as it was rude and inappropriate so u have to visit Varanasi at the right time of the year on your own...)

The witty and humourous guest house staff who shared his life story with Jeff. He even said "Namaste" to our parents when we were on Skype with them. He's very cute!