LKG

I realise that all of my posts since coming to India have been about trips, functions and celebrations so I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you a little about some of the work that we do here at Devnar. Living and working in the same place means the the lines between what feels like work and what feels like fun and games feels very blurred. The kids will be up and knocking on our door expecting a chat (and sweet treats) from 7.30 am onwards and, as conversation is central to the students' learning of English, this means that this is the informal start of the working day. 

The real school day starts at 9.45 with an assembly followed by seven 45 minute long lessons with breaks for snacks and lunch. Classes end at around 4pm but, as most of the students live in the school, this is only half way though the day for us. The rest of the day is spent chatting to the kids, playing games, singing songs which is great fun (draining but fun) and often doesn't feel like working at all. 

I thought that in this post I would try and explain how Lottie and I teach LKG; the Kindergarden class of around 14 students aged between 4 and 7 years old. We take this class everyday at 11.30 for a class called 'Activities'- this entails getting the kids to complete a number of practical activities to improve their sensory and problem solving skills. Sometimes we sing songs or give the kids some toys (which is met with delighted cried of 'Bombalu!' (Toys!') from the students), but most of the time we will give each student a basket containing a sensory task for them to complete. These include a basket with beads that need to be fed onto a shoe lace, towers of shapes that need to be placed onto a central spike in size order, plastic shapes that slot into each other to create a chain as well as a big basket full of plastic animals that are felt and then identified. 

While these tasks may sound very simple, for the young visually impaired students, they can be a real challenge especially when the majority of the class members have very limited sight- if any. The difficulties levels of these activities are significantly heightened by the language barrier. Children do an awful lot of their learning by watching what their peers do and copying them especially when they see some kind of action rewarded, however, our students can't see what each other are doing. To someone with perfect vision who has also been watching their classmates complete basket after basket, it might seem instinctive to thread the beads onto the lace without having to be directly told to by the teacher, however, we will often find that a student doesn't know how to proceed when they are handed these activities. 

This means that these students need us to sit with them individually, take their hands and place the lace and beads in either one and then try and guide them into completing the task a few times before allowing them to attempt it independently. Sometimes this is enough for the student to understand what they have to do to complete the task, but often it is not. The LKG students are still developing their ability to perceive distance and force meaning that, even if they know that the lace is meant to go through the bead, they will often sit there jabbing the end of the lace into thin air as they struggle to co-ordinate their actions without sight or, alternatively, they will locate the hole in the bead but not understand the need to push the lace through. 

We have similar problems with the wooden shapes that slot onto a central spike. While nearly all of the students can place the blocks into the spike within a minute or so, only half of them understand that, for the activity to be complete, they need to go in size order. In an attempt to overcome this problem we will place the blocks in the order they should be then take the students hand and make them feel the completed shape before asking them to replicate it from the beginning. This has had a few successes, but the children's short attention spans and the fact they are used to doing it in another way has meant that this is quite a challenging task. 

As I mentioned, with limited language skills on both sides, it is difficult for us and the students to over come these hurdles but slowly and surely they make improvements each week. When one of the children who struggles with the wooden shape task shouts 'MAM FINISH' and we see that the shapes are in order there is an immense sense of pride for both us and the student once they sense our reaction. It takes an awful long time and requires more patience then I ever thought I could dedicate to wooden triangles but it's so rewarding. 

LKG waiting between exams 

This week has been an odd one in that there have been exams for all grades before the holidays that start on Monday. It has meant that Lottie and I have been 'off timetable' and therefore searching for ways to make ourselves useful around the school. LKG has been where we have found ourselves most days this week, helping Anna Teacher conduct their exams. 

As far as exams go, LKG's are pretty relaxed. One at at time the students - who sit quietly on their little chairs- are called up to the desk and then asked a series of questions (the subject of which vary depending on the day.) On Monday, Lottie and I took them for their Activities exam. A few weeks ago we had been asked to draft an exam paper which was then checked by the teacher and principle to make sure it was suitable. We had thought we had been quite kind with the paper, however the children found it more of a challenge than we had expected. The questions included asking the children to 'put eight beads on the string', 'slot five plastic shapes together and count them' and 'Which one is the elephant?' (after being giving 4 toy animals to examine). While most students could thread the beads, slot the shapes and identify the animals, most didn't understand that we asked their to be a certain number of beads or shapes.

Lottie conducting Sri Lehka's Activities Exam 

A problem we often encounter with LKG is that they learn primarily by repetition. This means that they only understand questions if they are posed in the exact same way they have been before and that, if you haven't been asking them to thread specific numbers of beads for the last month, they will just go ahead and thread them all like normal. This had been a complete oversight of ours which became more and more apparent as we attended the other LKG exams throughout the week. Each subject, be it Maths, English, or listing things had chanting and repetition as it's sound foundation. The children would come up one by one and shout the numbers 1-20, numbers 1-10 backwards, counting up in 10s, spelling numbers, the 1 times table and 2 times tables with such ease that, in some cases, we weren't even giving time to ask the students for the next question- they just answered automatically because that's the order they had been taught to chant in. 

One the one hand this is great because it shows a great ability to remember- the kids really can count to 100 if they have to, and spell the numbers and say them backwards- as well as a good grasp of basic numbers, but on the other hand it means that the students are rarely able to answer questions they aren't prepared for. 

Despite this and considering the age of the students, it is clear that these children are remarkable young people. Their ability to work out that questions can be asked in numerous ways will come with time as they progress through the school, as will their problem solving abilities. Their exam results were brilliant and I am sure that these students are as bright as any other LKG student who happened to have perfect vision. What I am also sure of is that these students are wonderfully happy and hilarious kids who will not let pesky beads, laces and wooden blocks get in the way of them having giggles and just being normal, fun-loving kids. 

Birthdays, Walks and Saree Celebrations

This past weekend, like every weekend I have had since arriving at Devnar, was a busy one. Three functions in one day is a record for me so I thought it was worth while noting down what we got up to. 

Saturday was the Birthday of Bharavi's (our country host) grandson who was turning one. This meant a large function was held at a swanky hotel in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. A car came to pick us up from the end of Mayurimarg and we set off to LVP to pick up two other Project Trust volunteers (Anna and Jos) who work at the Eye Institute teaching the nurses there English. Having not been to many babies birthday parties in England, I wasn't completely sure what to expect from the function; I guessed family, balloons, food and possibly some form of entertainment. I was right with all of these predictions, however, their scale was not quite what I imaged. There were balloons, but rather than there being a few of them dotted around the room they covered the ceiling, pillars of the function room and were arched around the entrance. There were also very large cardboard cut-outs of the adorable baby Vivaan stood on balloon covered pillars around the room- some of him alone and others of him being held by his parents. There was also a stage complete with Winne the Pooh backdrop and sound system ready for the ventriloquist who to form the basis of the event's entertainment. Much to our delight there was also a full buffet with a pasta salad starter (Lottie nearly cried with happiness at this).  The room soon filled up with more members of Bharavi's family than I could ever hope to remember the names of. It was lovely to see so many people come together from all over the city, country and world just to be together as a family to celebrate. Kindness seems to fun in their family and everyone we were introduced were eager to make sure we had settled in the city, make sure our health was okay and had many words of wisdom and advice ready to share. Along with it being lovely to meet all these new people, we were also so happy to see Anna and Jos. We haven't seen any of the other volunteers since our stay at the guest house exactly a month ago so, naturally, we had a lot of catching up to do about the past four weeks. 

The Hyderabuddies

Just a few members of Bharavi's family

Having stuff our stomachs with naan breads, butter chicken curry, pasta salad and an embarrassing amount of ice cream it was time for the car to take us all home. This proved to be a very comical trip through the city as Anna and Jos had decided to take a pillar of the blue and white balloons to use as decoration in their hostel room. Lottie, having a fear of balloons that she had been battling all day, took a seat in the boot of the car while the remaining three of us sat across the back seats covered in a sea of blue and white plastic. It is not uncommon for people to try and sell us things while we are stopped in traffic but, for some unknown reason, on this day the only item that people tried to sell us were large Winne the Pooh balloons which made for some very confused looks from the balloon sellers- many of whom didn't seem to know whether or not to approach us or, if to, how to go about it when we were already had more than enough in the way of party decorations. 

This being an all day event, Lottie and I spent the evening relaxing in the courtyard preparing for Sunday.

Sunday was World Sight Day and, to mark this, Grishma (Dr Goud's daughter) had spent months preparing a walk to raise awareness about how 80% of cases of blindness can be prevented and to show Hyderabad about the amazing work Devnar does for it's students as well as how inspiring they are. 

This event meant a 4.30am wake up for Lottie and I meaning we were hauling ourselves out of bed at the clock struck midnight back home in England. While the students walked up Mayurimarg to get onto a couple of coaches that were waiting for them, Lottie and I were bundled into the mini bus along with a few of the students, Padma, and a drum kit. When we arrived the venue did seem slightly empty and sleepy (as you might imagine Necklace road to look at 6.30) but as the buses of children rolled up people started to turn up in great numbers. Grishma had arranged for a special guest to attend the event. His name is Ram Charan and is apparently a very famous Tollywood actor. His arrival was met with a swarm of photographers meaning we didn't get to see him until they had been asked to part to let him say a few words to the audience. This was then followed by a few song by some of the students and the older boys dancing (they had learnt the dances from Ram Charan's latest movie only the day before and were excellent- as always). Some of the students have also been spending the last few evenings creating some art work for the actor. One evening Lottie and I had helped trace the outlines of some pictures of the actors which were then marked with Braille dots so the children could paint between the lines to make these amazing high-contrast-effect paintings.

Dr Goud and Ram Charan saying a few words 

Selfies 

The boys meeting one of their heroes 

Following this we were all handed blindfolds and invited to walk up and down Necklace Road for one kilometre with the children. I am proud to say that I did not peek but I do have to admit that it wasn't a pleasant experience in the sense that I felt completely lots when not holding on to Lottie even though there were loads of students around and a number of volunteers who were making sure we didn't veer off into the road. It had the desired effect of making us more aware of how the students at Devnar, as well as blind people everywhere, live their day to day lives as well as highlighting how fantastic the achievements of these kids are. 

After a number of photo shoots for the event's photographers, newspapers as well as people who just wanted photos with me and Lottie for the novelty of it (including the Hyderabad Police), we were bundled back into the school bus to go back to the school. 

As we jumped out of the bus we were approached by one of the teachers who asked if we were coming to the function that afternoon. Confused, Lottie and I said we didn't know about the function but did want to come so quickly asked Padma for permission (we took the distracted head wobble as a yes despite how disconcertingly similar it looks to someone shaking their head) and soon found ourselves in a very crammed Auto. We managed to fit 6 full grown women and one child into the back of the Auto designed for three passengers. I drew the short straw and spent the 40 minute journey sat in the baggage rack with the child, hugging my knees. Within 5 minutes my legs were completely asleep and I couldn't move them at all. The roads here are a little scary wherever you go and whatever you are in but I hadn't feared for my safety at any point before this one. There was clearly more weight on the right side of the Auto meaning I was holding my breath involuntarily every time we took a sharp right turn or hit a bump in the road as I was convinced it would topple and I would be done for.    

Me. Terrified. 

Luckily we made it to Radika's rooftop apparently to rest for a while before attending the function. It was the most beautiful location for the house with amazing views of the city from all sides. I was very envious.
We took rest in the living room, drinking tea, mango juice and eating dry chocolate filled cereal while Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire played on the TV. After the teachers had made quick outfit changes and lent me a dress because my Sari was starting to fall down having been curled up like a baby in the back of the Auto, we set off down the road to Gaini (another teacher)'s house. This was another lovely little house; like Radika's it had only a few rooms but was brightly coloured and very homey.

The short trip between this house and the function venue was one of the best I've experienced since coming to India. Gaini took me and Lottie on the back of her Scooter and it was brilliantly surreal to be sat between the teacher and my partner, clinging on for dear life once again and weaving through the small streets of Hyderabad- all in very fancy Indian attire. 

The function was a Saree Celebration for one of the students; Geyani. A Saree Celebration is basically a 'coming of age' event for girls to signify their entry to womanhood. This is done with the gathering of friends and family, the exchange of presents and then a dramatic outfit change into a new beautiful Sari. There was also another buffet full of great curries and roti that was sent from heaven.
This was a very strange event for myself and Lottie as we couldn't really compare it to anything we'd been to in England. While it was lovely to see Geyani and her family so happy, there was a part of me that was a little confused as to why someone would want to invite their teachers to an event when your new 'womanhood' was being celebrated, but, I guess, India is not a place where the chance to celebrate is allowed to pass by so it does make sense. I wish Geyani all of the best!

As the teachers we had come with lived so close to the function itself, Lottie and I made our way back to Begumpet on the bus with another teacher; Param Eshwar. Not only did he help us navigate the bus systems but he also invited us back to his home in Chikoti Hills to see his wife and have some tea. His house was very different to the houses of the other teachers. Having spent 25 years working for Emirates Airline, teaching is now something he does for the passion of it rather than for a living a such. Both he and his wife were very proud of their beautifully designed apartment that had been decorated by their daughter- a very talented interior designer and artist. We were treated to a full tour was well as a look through all of the photos and spent a pleasant afternoon chatting about India, ourselves, our plans, Param's family and life.

It was evening by the time we returned to the school, but it felt much later due to the early start. For this reason, Lottie and I basically collapsed into bed and had a well earned good night of resting.