Date 31st July 2011
We started with our initiative to contribute to Jan Seva Sanstahan. As per the decision of the group me (Salil) and Priyamvada were given the responsibility to start off the first session with the students. The ride from college to the ashram was filled with the discussions as to where to start and how to be at best comfort with the children. And soon we were in front of the ashram.
Guard bhaiya (who happens to be an inmate of old age home) welcomed us with a big smile, which showed that not just the children but every single person in the ashram holds hope and optimism in their life. We reached around 3:15 pm in the afternoon and found children were sleeping. We went to their rooms just to see how calmly they were sleeping. Some were nicely stretched out, while few bundled up together on a single bed. The Caretakers asked us whether to wake them up but we preferred to wait. It’s never good to steal someone’s sleep and that too from those who are yet to know how to complain.
Few minutes passed by and it was time for their snacks. We were seated in the lobby which is in the way to their mess. One by one we could see them waking up, rubbing their eyes, smiling at us. Some felt shy, some said ‘Namaste’, but I’m sure all were delighted to see us.
After snacks, they were supposed to do self-study for an hour in their common hall. So we decided to start off with our session by first getting to know them and making them comfortable. It was nice to see them all sitting together and study though they were more interested in what we were doing, but sitting together mattered a lot. For our ease and to keep it effective and interactive, we decided to divide our tasks in two:
1. I took up the charge of helping the children with their Maths and English doubts.
2. Priyamvada tried to focus on their knowledge in Computers.
Priyamvada sat in an adjoining room with her laptop to start the session with enthusiastic students. Meanwhile I asked the students to carry on with their home work and call me if they have any doubt. After interacting with a few senior students we came to know that computer classes start from 3rd standard in their school. So I asked students class wise to go the adjoining room with their computer books. Everyone seemed happy hearing the word computer.
First was a little kid from 3rd standard, a little nervous and more excited to see the laptop. She asked him about his basic details so as to keep a database about them. But instead of updating the excel Sheet herself, she asked him to do the honours. And this became our first evaluation about their English knowledge and typing abilities. Likewise, children from each class came and filled the excel sheet. Most were excited, curious and quick learners. She guided them with the typing, English and also had look at their syllabus. They are keen to learn but are unfortunate not to have proper facilities.
In the mean time I was entertaining the doubts of students. The doubts ranged from solving quadratic equation to doing addition/subtraction. One challenge was that few students were having their subjects in Hindi medium. So it was not a learning experience for them but for us too. But their commitment and enthusiasm really impressed us. Time flew by and we did not realise it was already 5 pm, their play time. None of them explicitly asked to go because we had been able to keep them busy and interested in the work. Some kept working even after we asked everyone to go and play.
Overall it was a satisfying and fulfilling experience.
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