Today we continued with our task of getting to know the children in MGR Nagar and beginning to build rapport with them. In carrying out our activities today, we had four goals:
- To understand a little more about the children, their interests and goals, and their understanding level
- To give the children an impression that time with us is well-spent and fun, and that it is worth their time to spend Saturday afternoons with us
- To give the parents and elders of the community an idea that our activities will be productive and worthwhile for the children
- To encourage the children to feel free and comfortable with us, and to share their thoughts and insights.
We began by gathering the children in the area outside one of the houses in the community. More children came than were expected. The plan was to begin with the “Circle of Connectivity” activity provided by our educational team, but since there were so many children, it seemed that it would be difficult to maintain order if the children were up and about. Instead, Malar began with an introductory activity of “Hot Potato” or “Pass the Parcel,” as it’s known in India. When the music stopped, the child who was left with the ball was required to go to the center of the circle, introduce his or herself with name, age and standard, and then perform for the group. They were encouraged to perform in whatever way they were comfortable – we had a few recitations, several song-and-dance routine, and one comedy show.The goal of this activity was to make the children feel comfortable with us and with each other, and to start out our session with something fun.
Next, we divided the group into two groups, over ten years and under ten years. The over ten group was then divided into three groups, each with one Sangam India volunteer to serve as a mentor. Lekha managed one group of boys, Adya and Katie managed the younger girls, and Ashita managed the older girls. Within these groups, today’s purpose was mainly to encourage the children to interact with the mentors and with each other in an open and confident manner. One group discussed future goals and school, and two groups discussed movies and other entertainment. Towards the end of the session, after about 45 minutes of discussion, each group wrapped up with a fun game, mostly suggested by the children themselves.
Meanwhile, the under ten group was divided again into a group under 7 and one group over 7. The under 7 group had story time, led by Ayesha, Kavi and Arjun. The children thoroughly enjoyed the story session. The over 7 group, managed by Vidya, attempted to play the memory game but had some trouble, as the children were too young. Vidya nicely transitioned into a discussion combined with an English lesson.
To wrap up the session, all of the children and volunteers gathered in a big circle and did the Hokey Pokey, which is an enjoyable American childhood activity that gets the children up and about. We all enjoyed it very much, and when we asked if the children are going to come back next week, we were answered with a resounding “YES!” which was very encouraging for us. Next week we are looking forward to taking this to phase 2, taking advantage of the newfound comfort level to make it an educational and thought-provoking session.
We are also happy to announce that there is now an official field team for education, consisting of Vidyalakshmi, Adya, Ashita and Lekha. We are looking forward to the development of good rapport, interaction and collaboration between the Indian team and the team abroad to develop strong programs. In addition, we’d like to thank our guest, Adrienne Nobbe, for coming out today.
As usual, if you are interested in helping us out with our educational programme, which is developed by people all over the world, email us at info@sangamindia.org and we will put you in touch with the right people. Join the team!
See the pictures from this visit at our Gallery.
