29 things I learnt in India

1) Don't EVER underestimate a person based on their appearance, how they talk or what it says on a piece of paper. 

2) 4pm is chai time. Everything else can wait.

3) Modern, non-denominational church is a massive culture shock.

4) Let the little things slide. There are bigger things to worry about.

5) Sometimes it's okay to just read a book, listen to music or play a game. It's okay to take a break.

6) I REALLY cannot learn languages.

7) Quick reactions prevent little fingernails breaking skin.

8) Don't wait until later, time flies when you're having fun.

9) Flour and water makes a surprisingly effective glue.

10) Just because something is done differently, doesn't mean either way is wrong.

11) Google does not have all the answers. Most, but not all.

12) Doctors get things wrong.

13) Eating is very challenging if you're blind.

14) Foreigners get charged 3x as much for autos.

15) Foreigners get charged 20x as much for tourist attractions.

16) Patience.

17) Perseverance.

18) Doing what's best for a child can be the opposite of what you want to do to help them.

19) Keep smiling, even when things don't go your way. 

20) Food is a wonderful motivator.

21) Going home is much harder than leaving home.

22) You don't need to talk to be funny.

23) Change your expectations based on what you see around you.

24) Prioritise. Different people need different things.

25) Playing, talking and napping are important parts of life.

26) There is nothing that cannot be done with a cardboard box and some paint.

27) Beauty can be found in the most unexpected places

28) Friends do not have to solve each other's problems, listening is enough.

29) You cannot solve all the worlds problems.  There will always be more work to be done. 

'Lo alecha hamlacha ligmor, v’lo atah ben chorin l’hivatel mimena'

'You are not expected to complete the task, but neither are you free to avoid it' (Rabbi Tarfon, Pirkei Avot 2:21) 

What can you do?

Many of you who read my blog tell me you love what I'm doing and wish you could help. With my time in India coming to a close I thought I'd give you a list of ways you can help.

1) sponsor a child's general needs. This money is used for paying for food, their ayah's wages, doctors appointments and other necessities. There are many children, particularly the older kids, without sponsors. Please contact me for more information.

2) sponsor a child's education. At SCH they aim to give the children the best education possible. You can help by paying a child's school fees. There are many children in need of school sponsors and I'll be happy to give you more information.

3) Make a one time donation to the general fund, for when unexpected fees come up

4) Make a one time donation to the urgent medical fund. Often a child will be rushed to hospital with no warning. We need to be able to pay for medical care in instances where there is no time to fundraise. 

5) Purchase an item off my wishlist for jubilee home. I may not be able to use it but the next volunteer who comes will. I'd love to get the bean bags ordered for the children with CP. Most have wheelchairs but cannot sit in them for long periods due to having spent many years lying on the floor. The bean bags would be more comfortable for them when they cannot stand being in their chairs. 

The link is http://www.amazon.in/gp/registry/wishlist/399YMJ4QVV2U1/ref=topnav_lists_1

6) Purchase something off baby Cadens wishlist. Caden is a very special baby with epidermolysis bullosa, or Butterfly syndrome. It means that any friction on his skin causes huge painful blisters. As you can imagine, he needs a lot of specialised care. 

The link is http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/17DB1JQVEB23V/ref=cm_wl_rlist_go_o? 

These things are not available in India so please send them to 567 Siloam Rod. Magee, MS 39111. A future volunteer will bring them when they come. The most important thing is the tubifast but everything on there is really important for his health and to improve his quality of life.

7) Share! I know many of you cannot afford to do these things but you can share it with people who can. The more people who know, the better it is for the kids.

How can you say no to these kids? 

My first day of school

Ok, so not my first day at school ever, but my first day in an Indian school. Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to visit the special needs school where some of the SCH kids go, including Molly and Lilly. It was a really fascinating day and I enjoyed the opportunity to see what some of our children are learning and how they are taught. Some aspects of the school were fantastic. The verbal children are recieving a good education, the therapists seem to be excellent and the teachers were kind and really try their best with the kids. I wasn't happy with the quality of the education for the handful of very bright but non verbal children but that's a post for another day. 

During my visit to the school was the first time I have really been hit with the unfairness of what these children are living with. In the UK or America these children would all get an education. They would be in mainstream school, a special needs school where, most likely, there educational needs would be met,  or they would be homeschooled. I know that parents of special needs kids at home can spend long hours advocating for their child, fighting for what they deserve. The children here don't have that. They have amazing foster parents but they do not have the time to spend many hours advocating for their children to have access to things that may not even exist in India. It's just not fair.

I know that what they receive at SCH is a million times better than what they would get at the government orphanage. I am reminded of that every day when Tricia, who didn't talk, hug or make eye contact when she arrived a few months ago, yells 'good morning sister!' And throws her arms round my waist. I am reminded when Molly uses her communication book to tell me she feels sick or when we take the children to the park to play. It is a massive improvement but it's far from a perfect situation. 

I have seen the fantastic work of special needs schools in the UK. Children who here are deemed 'unteachable' here learn to read and write at home. My hope, for all these children, is that somehow they can receive the education they deserve.

All about Molly

I've been struggling to know what to write recently. The novelty has worn off and the heat means I have been totally lacking creativity. I have decided to introduce you to one very special young lady. 

Something about Mol had me immediately. I don't know if it was her joyful smile or her beautiful eyes but i knew she was a child I wanted to work with. So much has changed since those first weeks.

At the beginning, it was all about playing with her. We read fairy tales I wasn't sure she understood, made various princess related crafts and attempted to play board games. I knew she was bright but I didn't realise until much later just how clever she is. In a way, I regret not beginning to work with her properly earlier but I realise that the time we spent together just playing was important. I learnt how she communicates, I started to see how much she could understand and it gave me the chance to think about what I wanted her to learn. I can safely say she has supassed my highest expectations. 

At some point I realised just how bright Mol is. I started working on reading with her using matching puzzles. She could do them all instantly. I was concerned she was only reading the first letter so I gave her options starting with the same letter and she still did it with ease. I googled how to teach non-verbal children to read. I followed the instructions anticipating it would take at least a week for her to be able to tell me a word on a flashcard independently. Boy was I wrong. I showed her once and she was off. Of course she made a few mistakes now and again but she was reading 90% of them correctly. I continue to work on reading with Molly every day, now working on sentences and grammar. I am slowly learning to abandon any expectations I have of her and just see what she can do. I have been doing an activity this week wich involves choosing a word to complete a sentence. Initially I was reading the sentence to her and just getting her to read the options for the missing word. Yesterday I decided not to read the sentence to her. She completed the sentences with the same accuracy as when I was reading them to her. This girl will go on to achieve so much, I can't wait to see what.

Molly brightens my day every time I see her. Her whole face lights up and she grins from ear to ear. She has the best laugh and cracks up when I pull faces at her or pretend to do something stupid (or actually do....). She's a very sensetive child. She cries when something happens she doesn't like and she starts tearing up if I make a joke about going somewhere without her. It's in those moments I can see the scars from her childhood and I realise yet again just how amazing this young lady is. 

Her communication skills have just exploded recently. Every day she says something that makes me laugh. Today she used her communication book to say 'me, drink, you, please'..... She was asking/telling me to get her chai wich is normally just gives to the adults! I got her some and she was thrilled! She has also learnt to trick me. I was looking for he book we were reading together and had just given up when she said 'book, behind' then looked at the door. 'Is it behind the door Mol?' With a very serious face she nodded yes. As soon as I pulled back the door, she burst out laughing! She thourght it would be a great way to get out of school work. This girl has such a big personality. 

I like to think that I am making a difference to her life. I hope she can continue to communicate so effectively once I leave and that she will have many more words at her disposal. I hope that she can read well enough that she can occupy herself with a book and learn about all the things I would like to teach her but don't have the time to. But overall she is having a bigger impact on me. She has taught me so much about expectations. She has taught me about determination. She forces me every day to be more creative. She highlights how what we say does not always come from our mouths, that so much can come from the way we look at something or a gesture or a facial expression. She reminds me that people can do so much more if you give them the chance. I think back to that first month when I hadn't realised just how incredible Molly is. It makes me wonder how many people I don't give a real chance to. It is so easy to discredit people. To say that because they can't or don't do something the same way as other people they can't do it at all. I love Molly so much and wish I could bring her home with me. Instead, I will bring the things she has taught me home as these are thourghts that will be with me forever. 

Bumblebee cafe on Saturday. Lovely to relax and just let Molly, Lilly and Nolan play together with other children.

She's getting so good at counting! All I needed to do was help her move her finger!

The first book she read by herself. Can't be sure she read every word correctly but certainly enough to answer my questions.

Play time

Saturday's are my favourite time with the kids. That is the time when I can hang out and have fun with the children without having to think about what they're learning or what new skills they're learning. Don't get me wrong, I love teaching both in a group and one-to-one but the fun activities we run on Saturdays are when you really get to know the kids. 

The first Saturday doing something other than my normal schedule we spent the morning at Jubilee home painting nails. The girls LOVED it! They showed me their nails every time I saw them for the next 3 days! The best part of the morning was painting the ayah's (India caregivers) nails. They do such a difficult job, some of them 24/7 and rarely get enough recognition. It felt great to do something for them to show them how much they are appreciated by everyone here. We also took the children in wheelchairs for a walk. I have been working wih Bells on moving herself in her chair so the walk was a great opportunity for her to practice. She did so well but was exhausted but he time we got home.

Another Saturday highlight was spending time with the girls at Joy home. They have so much energy and are great fun to hang out with. We painted their nails, then they painted mine! Such a mess but they were so proud of themselves. We also had fun playing in the park opposite their house then relaxing with a film.

Saturday's always make me think about the amount of time spent doing school/therapy with kids. In other places they would not get any of this and I am so pleased that SCH recognises how important education of some sort is for all these children. But sometimes I forget that they need time to play and have fun. I appreciate that they are not all working all the time but many of the children do not know how to play. Many have been institutionalised prior to coming into our care and need to be shown what you do with a toy. They have lost so much already that as volunteers we have to make an effort to give them their childhood back. So this week I will spend more time listening to the children, more time holding and feeding baby dolls and playing with toy cars because play is important too.

Here are some of my favourite photos from the last couple of weeks:

Sunrise on the roof

Finished castle

Going to church- a bigger culture shock than coming to India

Hungry caterpillar lessons

Spelling/building a tower, depending of your point of view

Finally, on Monday I took Bella into the classroom to see what she could do. She is very strong but doesn't do much physically. I decided to try standing her up. I put her on a chair near the window, put her feet in the right position, put her hands on the bars then pulled her into a standing position. I was expecting to have to hold her up but I didn't need to! I did this every day last week and on Thursday she didn't even wait for my help, she pulled herself up! I am so proud of her! Can't wait to see how else she will surprise me.

1st week of school

As I mentioned a week ago, jubilee house have just started lessons for the children who are unable to attend mainstream school. I have now been teaching four classes for one week so I thourght you should know how it was going.

My first class is probably my most challenging class in terms of knowing what to do with them. 4 out of the 5 are immobile due to cerebral palsy and there is a huge range of abilities. 2 are bright, alert and keen to learn new things. I've been working on colour sorting with them. The other 3 do not respond to much I do with them. When they do respond they only do it in a one-to-one setting, never when I'm doing something with them as a class. We sing some songs and I read Dr seus books to them wich they seem to enjoy. I've been trying to remember how the children with profound learning difficulties were taught when I did work experience in a special needs school but I can't remember much about it.

My next class is my phonics class. They are doing really well. Hey could already recognise all the letters but have no idea what sounds they make or what words start with wich letters. So far we've done A, B and C and they can all tell me things starting with those letters. I have also been getting them to point to letters/words when I read them stories which they're getting the hang of. 

My next class is my most challenging in terms of behaviour. They all have autism and a lot have very difficult behaviour such as hitting and spitting. Their behaviour in class is actually very good compared to usual but it is a constant battle getting some of them to stay in their chair. They can all now sort two colours and I plan to move on to more next week. I only realised on Friday that one of the children can sign all her colours. All the children have been learning ASL for some time but I didn't realise she could do it because she has her own version of all the signs. Now I can recognise them, I realise what she is saying to me more. I also want to find out if she is trying to sign other things to me. 

My final class is doing really well. I started teaching them colour sorting on Monday and by Thursday they could all do it perfectly with 4 colours. I have now moved on to shapes and am planning on playing shape and colour dominos with them next week. I always read to them at the end of the lesson. Their favourite book is 'mr brown can moo' by Dr seus and they all do the sounds with me!

I'm really enjoying teaching. There are still issues that need to be resolved with regards to the school but it's great that the kids are learning. They have all achieved so much in a week, I can't wait to see what they do by the time I leave.

In other news, the princess castle is coming along nicely. I work on it every day with Molly and she loves it. She can also now spell the colours blue, yellow, green, red and orange! Here are some pictures of the castle so far, wih Molly's choice of colours!

Religion and prayer

So a lot of people have been wondering what it's like for a Jew volunteering in a christian organisation and this weekend seemed like the perfect time to write about it. 

I want to start by writing about Passover. On Friday night I hosted my first Seder meal. It was a wonderful experience and probably my most memorable Seder. We had to make our own matza, try to cook in someone else's kitchen with unusual ingredients and figure out what to do for some of the more unusual items on the Seder plate. 

Yes, that is a carrot for the lamb bown and chillis for the bitter herb :)

We had a wonderful evening. I found a great Haggadah online written by an American rabbi. It's all in English with only the blessings in Hebrew. It was the perfect compromise between tradition and making it accessible for those who had never experienced it before. Instead of traditional hallel (the songs of praise) one of the other volunteers lead worship. This included the two Christian songs I know from RSY-netzer. We all had a lovely evening and I am so greatful that I was able to share my tradition with my friends.

I have also had the chance to watch a volunteers worship session organised by some of the world race team. It really made me think about how I do prayer, particularly in the context of a youth movement. The worship night was, in many ways, quite similar to an RSY service. We all sat in a circle with acoustic guitars (and a ukulele) to sing. There were also some noticeable differences. There was no obligation to join in with the singing. It struck me when we first sat down that one of the people leading said 'please feel free to join in, read your bible, write in your journal or do whatever worship is to you.' Many people chose to do one of these things or just sat quietly. People were also free to get up, move about and find there own space. There was no standing or sitting for certain parts and no set prayers. People behaved however felt right for them. I love tefillah (prayer) on RSY but it was interesting to see how other people did it. I look forward to continuing to learn about other people beliefs and I hope that I can continue to teach people about my own.