Udaipur, IN (week 1)

Our first week in Udaipur had us in the city for one day, before heading over to our homestay so that we could start our work term with the DAAN (Development Action Awareness Nationwide) Foundation.  A little background on the name of the foundation, we learned that Samvit had chosen DAAN, because the meaning or sound in Hindi means ‘charity’.  Our hostel room on the first night was not particulary cool, or quiet, or comfortable, so we did not get much sleep during the night. We rose early, and went across the street to a place we had noticed during our prior days prowl around for our breakfast. I had museli, fruit and yogurt, and Christina had banana oatmeal.

We sat at the rivers edge, and watched as on the far bank children splashed and bathed, while downstream a group of women in bright saris did laundry. The rest of the morning we spent continuing to wander the streets in an aimless sort of way, though keeping an eye out for a good spot to set up and journal. We did stop at a couple of places which advertised rooftop restaurants, and a couple of times scaled the multiple flights of haphazard stairs to ascend and investigate. One of these was good enough for a drink and a snack, so we settled in.

Christina ordered a plate of macaroni, which reminded us that it’s probably better to eat the local food, rather than assuming that those dishes with which we are familiar will actually taste familiar. At another spot, in a quiet and secluded courtyard, I finally had my first beer in India. None of the other restaurants we had seen had any alcohol on the menu, and while I haven’t heard of any religious proscription, the conspicuous absence of wine or beer indicates some level of cultural bais. Anyway, I found some, and it was ok. We returned to our hostel to meet with Samvit, so prides himself on his punctuality, and in fact was already waiting for us, even though we were half an hour early. We made each other’s acquaintance while waiting for his rickshaw guy to appear, then loaded up our gear and followed him on his bike back to his home at the edge of town. Once home, we met his parents and did a little introductory paperwork, then he made us some chai tea (Christina took notes), and finally showed us to our room and we unpacked.

We came down after getting unpacked, and met Sharon, the other volunteer, who has been helping for a few weeks already. A loose plan for the remainder of the week was laid out. In preparation for our time working with Samvit at the “old” centre, in Havala village, we would shadow Sharon during her time at the “new” centre, in Badgaon village. We spoke of her experiences so far and visited with everyone over a lovely dinner of rice, roti, a curry potato dish and an eggplant dish.

Our plan was put into action our first morning at our homestay. Well, since the lessons at the “new” centre begin at noon, it wasn’t strictly morning, so we spent our first hours at the house having breakfast and talking about what to expect.

The centre itself is in the hills near the village, and is a very simple affair. A two-wall hut with a roof for shade and just enough room for the 20-or-so children to sit, and a chair for Sharon to sit at the front of the class. We joined and sat at the back, mostly in an observational capacity, but as the class went on we did try to do a little helping out with passing out worksheets. Activities included singing nursery rhyme songs, a game with shakers made from soda bottles, attendance (with star stickers for regular attenders), and a writing exercise involving the numbers 3 and 4.

A range of age and abilities makes keeping the class focused a challenge, but Sharon has had previous experience volunteering with children and did a good job of keeping them on task. Samvit and his father were both on hand to help with translating her english instructions to hindi. The number of the children at this center are encouragingly increasing each day, which is fantastic. The kids are enthusiastic in singing all the songs that Sharon had taught them and are contstantly smiling at you with an eager hunger for approval and positive reinforcement.

We then went to the “old” center, where the class went from 3:30pm-6:30pm – and we sat with the juniors, teaching them how to write the letters ‘C’ and ‘D’. The class here was smaller and therefore was a little bit easier to give proper attention to each student.

On Thursday of this week, another volunteer from the UK arrived, Sarah. And so we had the chance to work with her at both centers. On one of the days, she stayed with the kids in the classroom while we both went to the nearby village with the teacher so that we could spread the word that the center was available for the children to go to, to play educational games, learn english, math, computers and at no cost. We meandered through small pathways, greeting mothers, fathers, grandparents with the infamous, “Namaste”. Christina had commented that this one visit to the village alone she had said ‘Namaste’ more than all her yoga sessions combined back home. All kidding aside though, it was a really good opportunity to try and encourage the kids to visit the center. We’ve been learning some hindi words from Samvit and his parents whom we affectionately call ‘Mama’ and ‘Papa’, so Christina has been trying to use them each chance she got.

Christina had also purchased a kurtha (traditional garb) so that she could visit these villages. A couple of days prior, she was wearing long pants and a t-shirt, but she still got the question from one of the students that, “…if she was married, why was she not wearing a sari?”.

On our off times, we’ve visited a couple of street vendors with Samvit and tried some really great food: kachori, samosa and spicy water bowls – the indian name eludes me at the moment. We’ve also had dinner at a nearby restaurant together on its rooftop to enjoy the cooler weather (31 degrees).

We will be going back to the “old” center on Saturday to play some games and bring some more energy and excitement to the center so that we can hopefully increase the attendance.

P.S. We’ve finally experienced the type of traffic and driving that we had pictured India to have.