It will be difficult for me to describe my experience in India and to paint the perfect picture of the things I saw and did. Overall, it was an amazing experience that I will never regret. I love India and cannot wait to go back another time and explore more.
Before I left, my friend Jordann gave me a journal to write about my adventures overseas. So far, I have not used it that often as I feel my normal day life is rather boring or while I am on vacation I am so jammed packed with activities that I do not have time to write. However, I knew when I left for India that this trip was journal worthy so thankfully I have everything documented to include in this blog. If you know or see Jordann Pool you can thank her for my ability to write this blog!
Day One (Friday Feb 14, 15, 16)
How is day one consistent of three days? Don't worry- I may be bad at math, but not that bad! My first day in India consisted of three days due to travelling. In summary, my travelling consisted of:
- Friday- train(s) from Luton to Heathrow Airport
- Friday- Air India flight (scheduled for 9:30 but left at 11:30) from Heathrow to New Delhi
- Saturday- Air India flight to Kolkata arriving at 4:30pm
- Saturday- taxi from Kolkata airport to Sealdah train station
- Saturday- over train from Sealdah train station to Katihar station (scheduled to leave at 8pm and arrive at 8am on Sunday, but left at 12:00am and arrived at 3pm on Sunday)
- Sunday- Tuktuk from Katihar station to the Ranipathra Harvest Mission School
For those who would like a visual of my journey, here is a map!
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| Luton to Heathrow |
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| Heathrow to New Delhi |
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| New Delhi to Kolkata |
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| Kolkata to Katihar |
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| Katihar to Ranipathra Harvest Mission School |
It was a lot of travelling but well worth it at the end of it all. The drive from Kolkata airport to Sealdah station was my first taste of what India was like and it is crazy. there are no rules to the road expect to always honk your horn. the cars pass each other on all sides, sneak past each other even when an oncoming car is in close proximity. The streets are filled with pedestrians travelling by foot crossing the road at any opportune moment hoping the cars will stop for them. There are cyclists on the roads with no set space to ride. They are often carrying heavy loads on the back on the back of their bikes or even on their backs/heads. Every free space of land is taken over by shops, gathering of friends or beggars. Stray dogs (unfortunately many diseased and ridden with mange, etc.) wander the street and roads- there are hundreds of them, everywhere you look. The buildings are either created with straw, dried bark and rubbish or are concrete and flashy (a very contrast difference between rich and poor).
We got delayed at the Kolkata train station for 4 hours, where we waited in the "upper class" waiting room. There are very different definitions to upper class from the western world and India. We laid out blankets on the floor and played games for several hours including "pass the pigs" my favorite new game. It requires you rolling rubber pigs and you get different points for how each pig lands. Finally our train arrived and we ventured on the overnight train. We were all on the same train cart but split between different cabin/bunk areas. There were beds for us all but as expected the beds were very small and not comfortable. I managed to fall asleep but my bunk was right near the door so everything someone went to the toilet, wanted fresh air or entered/exited the cart I was woken up. When we woke up, we were informed by an a woman in one of the bunks who was born in India but lived in America now that our train was an additional 4 hours delayed in arrival.
Today we had no training or mentor sessions. Instead, we got a tour of the neighbouring village where many of the students live. As soon as we entered the village, a swarm of kids were intrigued by our presence and followed us around. Once they saw the camera they were instantly memorised and wanted their photo taken always.
When we returned to the compound they were setting up for a birthday party. Karthik (the man who was hosting us) has a daughter who was turning 2. They decorated the compound in giant Happy Birthday signs and had a dance floor set up with a pink and purple back drop for her. They also had a huge table set up for everyone to eat dinner at. Teachers from all the schools came to Ranipathra for the celebration. It was a great experience to eat and socialize with the teachers in a more casual manner. The Impact team sang Katherene Happy Birthday and there was a programme of singing and dancing by other teachers. Some of the female teachers tried to teach us Hindu dances but we did not do well learning it. The birthday party was a lot of fun and ended as any good party does in a food fight with Katherene's birthday cake.
Day 6- Friday February 21st
Today was our final day in Bihar. The week went by way too fast and I wish I could spend much more time with the people and in India. I decided to wake up very early this morning to get in as much India as possible, even if it was just reading outside. After breakfast, a few of the women who live on the compound were ever so kind and offered to dress us in our Sari's that we had bought. It is a very complicated process that involves much wrapping and pleating and folding and pinning. I do not think I will ever be able to manage it myself. All the teachers were very excited to see us dressed up.
We had no observations today and no training sessions, instead all the teachers from Ranipathra, Purnea and Falka came to the Ranipathra location (Raniganj did not close the school so these teachers were not able to make it). In the morning, we provided the teachers with supplies such as poster board, pictures, markers, etc. and helped them make posters for their classrooms. Many of the teachers are amazing drawers and very detail orientated. The amount of patience and time they put into one poster was amazing---something I could not do. After poster making, we held subject-specific "drop in" sessions. There are not many Humanities/Social Studies/Drama teachers so I was not very busy during this session; however, I had a few come by with great questions about how to improve their teaching in these subjects. It is great that even though the official training was completed and they were not being observed anymore this session, the teachers still wanted to know how to improve. As a teacher in the UK, I find that sometimes it is easy to fall into the trap of improving your teaching for an observation but once the observation is over we go back to our old habits. This is not the case with most (not all, but most) of the teachers in the program. They are always looking for feedback and ways to make their lessons better for their students.
We were able to enjoy our last meal on the compound with all the teachers before we started our afternoon session. In the afternoon, we had a "gift sharing" session where we said our thank yous and good-byes to our mentee teachers, head teachers and staff at the compound we were staying at. Each of our mentee teachers was given a folder with resources such as: stickers, pens, pencils, colouring pencils, rubbers (erasers for my non-UK followers), sharpeners, etc.
After we gave our gifts, we were surprised by our mentee groups with gifts. I was not expecting this kind gesture and the gifts were extremely nice. I received a great bronze glass that is known in India as being good to drink from in order to stay healthy. We all had a laugh because I am always sick (or at least have been since Ireland) so it was as if they knew I needed a little extra immunity. It was very sad to say goodbye to the teachers and many kept asking if we were returning again. Impact is going for the last time with this group of teachers in July. I would ideally love to go; however, it is a far and expensive trip to make twice in one year. I wish I could have promised them yes, but I just told them I wanted to return but could not tell them yes or no yet. We shall see what the year brings me.
As soon as I knew it, we were packing up the car and heading into Katihar to catch another overnight train to Sealdah station in Kolkata followed by a 2 hour flight to New Delhi and a 9 hour flight to Heathrow.
Day 7- Saturday February 22
Saturday we spent the day in Kolkata while we waited for our flight to New Delhi. In Kolkata there is a giant street and indoor market that we visited to do some last minute shopping/sight seeing. It was nice to see a more tourist area of India, but I am still very attached to Bihar. We spent a few hours in the market and went out for lunch before we had to make our way to the airport. It was a great way to end our trip.
Overall Experience
It has been a whirlwind adventure in India and I do not regret any of it. I not only go to visit a country, that I probably would have never travelled to on my own; but I got to experience a part of India that is not tourist driven and many people can say they have never seen. Additionally, I came back with a little perspective about my own teaching. It is very easy to get trapped in a cycle of seeing all the negatives with your job and what you wish you had. This is not to say that I have returned and love everything, negatives will always be there; the difference now is that I am trying to be more appreciative of the opportunity I have been given and the resources I take for granted. If teachers in India, who do not have any resources or support in the classroom can attend every day and try their hardest to engage their students and help them learn then I should be able to do the same with my resources and support. Not only did I teach teachers, but I learnt from them as well. I was forced to be more creative with my lessons and ideas in India because they did not have handouts or worksheets for students to complete and this creativity will hopefully be seen within my own classroom. They taught me to endeavor on even though the circumstances may not be perfect and the harder I try to become a better teacher the closer I become.
For any current or future Impact teachers reading this blog--volunteer for the BEN trips. It is well worth it and an amazing experience at any time in your teaching career.
Negatives of the Trip
When our train finally arrived, myself and two other teachers took a tuktuk to the school where we were going to be staying (Ranipathra Harvest Mission School). Our tuktuk ran out of "put-put" (gas) in the middle of a village so our driver got in another tuktuk, went for gas and we explored the village waiting for his return. In major cities in India such as Kolkata and New Delhi, westerners are common as tourism is high. However, in Bihar- tourism is rare so many of the people were fascinated with our presence. When we arrived at the compound we were greeted with warm arms of the teachers who work/live at the school and were provided with our first Indian lunch (I will tell you know, I think i gained 15 pounds on this trip from the Indian hospitality and delicious food). There is a female teacher at the school- Aruna- who served us food. She is truly one of the most amazing and kind people I have ever met. She was always trying to help us and make sure that we were taken care of. I ate so much food and then Karthik (the man who was the Head of the Harvest Mission Schools and who was hosting us for the week) told us we still had dinner later...
We were given our room assignments ( I shared a bedroom with one of the female teachers on the trip who surprisingly went to Trent the same years as I did and lived in Gzowski residence the same year I did but I do not recall us ever meeting). Each bed was twin size and we got mosquito nets to go with it. The toilets were all western style (toilet seats with flushing capabilities) and they had running water but the showers did not work so we bucket-bathed the whole week (to be honest I barely showered...oops).
Day Two (Monday February 17)
Nights in India are cold in February! I layered up and was still freezing. Our breakfast was curry style- delicious. After breakfast I took my first tour up to the roof where I spotted amazing views of our compound and the surrounding area.
We were given our room assignments ( I shared a bedroom with one of the female teachers on the trip who surprisingly went to Trent the same years as I did and lived in Gzowski residence the same year I did but I do not recall us ever meeting). Each bed was twin size and we got mosquito nets to go with it. The toilets were all western style (toilet seats with flushing capabilities) and they had running water but the showers did not work so we bucket-bathed the whole week (to be honest I barely showered...oops).
Day Two (Monday February 17)
Nights in India are cold in February! I layered up and was still freezing. Our breakfast was curry style- delicious. After breakfast I took my first tour up to the roof where I spotted amazing views of our compound and the surrounding area.
This was our first day observing teachers and running training/mentor sessions. We each were given a group of mentee teachers ( around 4-5 each) who we would observe during the week and hold mentor sessions with to debrief on training and given more one-on-one advice/answers. My group consisted all females: Shylaja, Annapurna, Aarti and Rutchie (an alumni to the Impact Program but was there to keep her teaching in tip-top shape and worked as a translator for many of my mentees who did not speak or understand English very well). On Monday, I observed Annapurna at the Ranipathra location in the first half of the morning and Shylaja and Aarti at the Purnea location in the later half of the morning. When we arrived at the Purnea location, the head teacher Sam's son was at the gate and got so scared of our car that he ran away crying--it was actually adorable. AEach morning before school begins, the students at all the Harvest Mission Schools have assembly where upper year students lead the students in an update on news, singing of national anthem, saying a prayer and an exercise drill. It is a great way to build leadership skills for the youth at the school. At Purnea, I got to try Thumbs Up! It is a curry-esk flavoured coke and my favourite Indian beverage.
It was incredible to see how the teachers used the little resources they had. Each classroom had a few rows of benches for the students to sit and write on. They had work books for the students but they were run down and often outdated. Some of the classrooms had only 10 students while some (especially at Purnea) had 50+ students in a small classroom. In general, the students just wanted to learn. They came to lessons prepared and did what was asked of them when it was asked. In some cases, small disruptions occurred but nothing that was serious or some behaviour that I see in lessons in England. The students genuinely wanted to learn and we could see the impact our training on their teachers had on their learning in the classroom.
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| Teachers quaters at the Purnea location |
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| Students at Purnea doing morning exercise drill. |
After we observed the lessons, we met back at the Ranipathra location and the teachers from all four schools came to meet us there. Each day after the observations, there was a training session on different topics for all the teachers in the program. On Monday, it was a review on what the teachers had learnt in the previous trip Impact had made- Questioning, Schemes of Work and Praising. When the training was complete we met in our small mentee groups and discussed how their lessons went that day with feedback on how to improve and then discussed what areas of the past session they were still struggling with, etc. My mentee group was very quiet and the language difference was a barrier to a good group discussion; however, I feel that they got what they were looking for from the sessions.
The female staff went into the local market and brought us a variety of Sari's, bangles and material for a Shalwar Kameez's to choose from and buy. I bought one of each and then the cook offered to make our Shalwar Kameez's for us--she was amazing at sewing!
Our lunch and dinner were gigantic as usual and I got through my first whole meal only using my right hand--a custom in India. Many people do not use utensils (even at restaurants) and they eat with their right hand, as their left hand is considered dirty (often because toilet paper is very expensive so in some areas they use their left hand while in the toilet). When dinner was finished, the Impact team stayed up and played a very intense game of 'Stop the Bus'--a game very similar to Scategories. It wasn't until after the game had gone on until 10pm that Jackson and I realised we had to lead our session on Drama in Education the following day and should probably go over our lesson plan and activities again.
Day Three- Tuesday February 18th
Tuesday and Wednesday were very similar to Monday in the mornings. We went to observe our teachers at Purnea and Ranipathra followed by lunch. It was amazing to see the progress teachers made in just one day based on the training and mentee sessions. Everything that I told my teachers to improve upon, they tried.
After lunch today, the training session was on "Drama in Education/Active Learning". It was a potentially difficult task, as many of the teachers are VERY shy (especially female) so we were a little worried about their participation in the activities. Our aim of the session was to show the teachers how to get the students up and moving in a lesson while learning. In regards to drama, we went over some tactics including: Magic Carpet, Freeze Frame, Thought Tracking, Role Play and Hot Seating. The teachers were all great sports in the lesson and participated in every activity asked. After we showed them how to do each activity, we gave them time to work in their subject groups to figure out how to implement active learning into their lessons for the following day. The most difficult subject area was Maths. I felt bad for the teachers, because many taught maths and as someone who is math-dumb, I felt I could not help them adequately and let them down. However, I did keep referring them to the teachers who could help them with the hope that my weakness would be anothers' strength.
After we went into a local village, where we walked around a market and visited a students house. She lived in a very very nice house in the centre of the market. In India, the contradiction of poor to well-off is very noticeable. She invited us into her home and her mom kept cooking us food and filling up our dishes (we still had to eat dinner back at the compound after!) The hospitality was unreal everywhere we went.
When we returned to the compound, a few boys who live at the school were playing a game of cricket and let us join them. It was fun! After dinner, one of my mentee's (Shylaja) came up and did Henna for all the female volunteers. She was amazing at, very quick and the designs were fantastic. I got the front and back of both my hands done. The only downside- it took over 2 hours to dry and we were all tired and bored of sitting with our hands out.
Day Four- Wednesday February 19th
Wednesday morning followed the same layout as Tuesday- Purnea first then Ranipathra where I observed the same teachers. After observations, our training session was led by Rob who taught the teachers about differentiation--both in different kinds of learners (audio, visual and kin aesthetic) and in ability (lower, middle and upper ability). The teachers in training were able to understand the a, v & k learners pretty well and created some good activities to target all three; however, with ability it was a struggle. This is one of the instances where I realized how lucky I was to have the resources available to me as a teacher in the UK. In my own teaching, I can create three different handouts/activities for my students so they are all working towards the same conclusion it is just their resource that is targeted to their ability. However, at these schools printing is not an option so differentiating becomes a much more difficult task and one that requires very good instruction and observation.
Once our mentee teachers left to go back to their schools, Impact teachers and all the head teachers went to the local Hindu temple and out for dinner. There are Hindu temples everywhere in India and are very sacred places with a major focus on individual worship instead of group worship. For dinner we went to local Indian restaurant that was delicious as all Indian food is! It was great to sit around with the head teachers in a non-professional environment and just get to know one another. They are all amazing people with great personalities that you cannot help but being drawn too.
Day Five- Thursday February 20
The female staff went into the local market and brought us a variety of Sari's, bangles and material for a Shalwar Kameez's to choose from and buy. I bought one of each and then the cook offered to make our Shalwar Kameez's for us--she was amazing at sewing!
Our lunch and dinner were gigantic as usual and I got through my first whole meal only using my right hand--a custom in India. Many people do not use utensils (even at restaurants) and they eat with their right hand, as their left hand is considered dirty (often because toilet paper is very expensive so in some areas they use their left hand while in the toilet). When dinner was finished, the Impact team stayed up and played a very intense game of 'Stop the Bus'--a game very similar to Scategories. It wasn't until after the game had gone on until 10pm that Jackson and I realised we had to lead our session on Drama in Education the following day and should probably go over our lesson plan and activities again.
Day Three- Tuesday February 18th
Tuesday and Wednesday were very similar to Monday in the mornings. We went to observe our teachers at Purnea and Ranipathra followed by lunch. It was amazing to see the progress teachers made in just one day based on the training and mentee sessions. Everything that I told my teachers to improve upon, they tried.
After lunch today, the training session was on "Drama in Education/Active Learning". It was a potentially difficult task, as many of the teachers are VERY shy (especially female) so we were a little worried about their participation in the activities. Our aim of the session was to show the teachers how to get the students up and moving in a lesson while learning. In regards to drama, we went over some tactics including: Magic Carpet, Freeze Frame, Thought Tracking, Role Play and Hot Seating. The teachers were all great sports in the lesson and participated in every activity asked. After we showed them how to do each activity, we gave them time to work in their subject groups to figure out how to implement active learning into their lessons for the following day. The most difficult subject area was Maths. I felt bad for the teachers, because many taught maths and as someone who is math-dumb, I felt I could not help them adequately and let them down. However, I did keep referring them to the teachers who could help them with the hope that my weakness would be anothers' strength.
After we went into a local village, where we walked around a market and visited a students house. She lived in a very very nice house in the centre of the market. In India, the contradiction of poor to well-off is very noticeable. She invited us into her home and her mom kept cooking us food and filling up our dishes (we still had to eat dinner back at the compound after!) The hospitality was unreal everywhere we went.
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| Market in Ranipatra |
Day Four- Wednesday February 19th
Wednesday morning followed the same layout as Tuesday- Purnea first then Ranipathra where I observed the same teachers. After observations, our training session was led by Rob who taught the teachers about differentiation--both in different kinds of learners (audio, visual and kin aesthetic) and in ability (lower, middle and upper ability). The teachers in training were able to understand the a, v & k learners pretty well and created some good activities to target all three; however, with ability it was a struggle. This is one of the instances where I realized how lucky I was to have the resources available to me as a teacher in the UK. In my own teaching, I can create three different handouts/activities for my students so they are all working towards the same conclusion it is just their resource that is targeted to their ability. However, at these schools printing is not an option so differentiating becomes a much more difficult task and one that requires very good instruction and observation.
Once our mentee teachers left to go back to their schools, Impact teachers and all the head teachers went to the local Hindu temple and out for dinner. There are Hindu temples everywhere in India and are very sacred places with a major focus on individual worship instead of group worship. For dinner we went to local Indian restaurant that was delicious as all Indian food is! It was great to sit around with the head teachers in a non-professional environment and just get to know one another. They are all amazing people with great personalities that you cannot help but being drawn too.
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| Hindu Temple |
This was our last full day in India, crazy how quickly time flew. Instead of visiting the Ranipathra and Purnea locations today we went to the Falka and Raniganj locations. We did not get to visit these ones during the other days because they much further away from Ranipathra where we are living. It was good to see some teachers that we had been working with in training sessions implementing everything in the classroom. I did not have a mentee at either school so I helped other Impact volunteers complete their observations because we were very short on time. I really wish the schools were closer to each other or more time in the week was available for observations in order to benefit the teachers at these two schools. They attend training sessions on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday but get no feedback on how they are doing implementing it until the last day. In general, I found the teachers at these two schools to be a bit weaker by the end of the weak then the teachers at Ranipathra and Purnea. However, I am still amazed at how creative the teachers are with little resources, it is truly inspirational to my own teaching.
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| A teacher teaching about different houses. To show "tent houses", he used this tarp and two long sticks. He had students put the tent together. |
Today we had no training or mentor sessions. Instead, we got a tour of the neighbouring village where many of the students live. As soon as we entered the village, a swarm of kids were intrigued by our presence and followed us around. Once they saw the camera they were instantly memorised and wanted their photo taken always.
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| Water source for village for drinking, cooking and bathing |
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Day 6- Friday February 21st
Today was our final day in Bihar. The week went by way too fast and I wish I could spend much more time with the people and in India. I decided to wake up very early this morning to get in as much India as possible, even if it was just reading outside. After breakfast, a few of the women who live on the compound were ever so kind and offered to dress us in our Sari's that we had bought. It is a very complicated process that involves much wrapping and pleating and folding and pinning. I do not think I will ever be able to manage it myself. All the teachers were very excited to see us dressed up.
We had no observations today and no training sessions, instead all the teachers from Ranipathra, Purnea and Falka came to the Ranipathra location (Raniganj did not close the school so these teachers were not able to make it). In the morning, we provided the teachers with supplies such as poster board, pictures, markers, etc. and helped them make posters for their classrooms. Many of the teachers are amazing drawers and very detail orientated. The amount of patience and time they put into one poster was amazing---something I could not do. After poster making, we held subject-specific "drop in" sessions. There are not many Humanities/Social Studies/Drama teachers so I was not very busy during this session; however, I had a few come by with great questions about how to improve their teaching in these subjects. It is great that even though the official training was completed and they were not being observed anymore this session, the teachers still wanted to know how to improve. As a teacher in the UK, I find that sometimes it is easy to fall into the trap of improving your teaching for an observation but once the observation is over we go back to our old habits. This is not the case with most (not all, but most) of the teachers in the program. They are always looking for feedback and ways to make their lessons better for their students.
We were able to enjoy our last meal on the compound with all the teachers before we started our afternoon session. In the afternoon, we had a "gift sharing" session where we said our thank yous and good-byes to our mentee teachers, head teachers and staff at the compound we were staying at. Each of our mentee teachers was given a folder with resources such as: stickers, pens, pencils, colouring pencils, rubbers (erasers for my non-UK followers), sharpeners, etc.
After we gave our gifts, we were surprised by our mentee groups with gifts. I was not expecting this kind gesture and the gifts were extremely nice. I received a great bronze glass that is known in India as being good to drink from in order to stay healthy. We all had a laugh because I am always sick (or at least have been since Ireland) so it was as if they knew I needed a little extra immunity. It was very sad to say goodbye to the teachers and many kept asking if we were returning again. Impact is going for the last time with this group of teachers in July. I would ideally love to go; however, it is a far and expensive trip to make twice in one year. I wish I could have promised them yes, but I just told them I wanted to return but could not tell them yes or no yet. We shall see what the year brings me.
As soon as I knew it, we were packing up the car and heading into Katihar to catch another overnight train to Sealdah station in Kolkata followed by a 2 hour flight to New Delhi and a 9 hour flight to Heathrow.
Day 7- Saturday February 22
Saturday we spent the day in Kolkata while we waited for our flight to New Delhi. In Kolkata there is a giant street and indoor market that we visited to do some last minute shopping/sight seeing. It was nice to see a more tourist area of India, but I am still very attached to Bihar. We spent a few hours in the market and went out for lunch before we had to make our way to the airport. It was a great way to end our trip.
Overall Experience
It has been a whirlwind adventure in India and I do not regret any of it. I not only go to visit a country, that I probably would have never travelled to on my own; but I got to experience a part of India that is not tourist driven and many people can say they have never seen. Additionally, I came back with a little perspective about my own teaching. It is very easy to get trapped in a cycle of seeing all the negatives with your job and what you wish you had. This is not to say that I have returned and love everything, negatives will always be there; the difference now is that I am trying to be more appreciative of the opportunity I have been given and the resources I take for granted. If teachers in India, who do not have any resources or support in the classroom can attend every day and try their hardest to engage their students and help them learn then I should be able to do the same with my resources and support. Not only did I teach teachers, but I learnt from them as well. I was forced to be more creative with my lessons and ideas in India because they did not have handouts or worksheets for students to complete and this creativity will hopefully be seen within my own classroom. They taught me to endeavor on even though the circumstances may not be perfect and the harder I try to become a better teacher the closer I become.
For any current or future Impact teachers reading this blog--volunteer for the BEN trips. It is well worth it and an amazing experience at any time in your teaching career.
Negatives of the Trip
- It was too short
- Poisonous spiders
Positives of the Trip
- Everything else
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