India in India
(Volunteer - Internship experience as Project Manager, Sports Empower Girls Project in Harike)
I arrived in India on 2nd of September, nervous
but excited for what the next month and a half would hold. The first stop was
Naddi, where the induction took place. So high up in the mountains, the view
was beautiful. Once I got there, Shirly showed me to my homestay family.
Although only anticipating to stay there for three days, the other interns had
to register, which in an Indian fashion took longer than expected. I was
delighted to stay with this family for nearly 10 days, they were so welcoming
and loving. The food was delicious, every night sitting around the home made
stove on the floor and chatting to Milan, her brother and her sister. The
mother of the family, although she didn’t speak a lot of English, was so
delighted to have us there and joined in as much as she could. She really felt
like my temporary mum for the time I was there, doing my hair and even leaping
out of bed at 4 in the morning on the day I left to give me a kiss and tell me
to come back soon. Finally we set off for Harike, Janus, Marc, Ankur and I. We
left Naddi at 4 in the morning and a few buses and 7 hours later we arrived.
The heat was something new, from raining in Naddi to
sweating every second in Harike, but I think we got used to it pretty quickly.
The day after we arrived I jumped straight into the Girls Sports Club project,
meeting all the girls and playing an exhausting 2 hours of football. The girls
were amazing with so much energy and excitement.
The girls and I
from the last sports session
Since then we started to incorporate other activities,
although football is fun for the girls they don’t go away having learnt much.
We started relays, which were amazing for team building and the girls loved it.
But most importantly we started self-defence in sports club. I think this is a
vital skill that all girls should be taught in order to protect them selves, especially
in the world they live. We did this by demonstrating each move, then put the
girls into pairs and got them one pair at a time to perform each one. When any
mistake was made I would show them again and get the girls to repeat it until
they got it. This week they were so into it that the girls were correcting each
other and I was so happy to see this.
Every class we finish with meditation and the girls are
improving so much, concentration coming much more easily to them as the weeks
go on. I really hope this carries on and the girls incorporate it into their
lives, because especially as they grow up, this tool could be an amazing way to
help them deal with stress and frustration.
Khushbu and I
demonstrating the self-defence
The girls
practicing self-defence
Self-defence
demonstration using the girls, Manpreet in pink is the local resource person
Meditation at the
end of sports club
During the first week Ankur, took us around the community
for chai at different houses and I loved this experience. It really felt like
we were moulding into the culture and community, every house we went to, we
were met with friendly faces and unbelievable hospitality. I think without
Ankur, the whole community engagement experience, would not have been the same.
He took us straight in and because he speaks the language and has built up a
relationship with the community, immediately we could connect with them. Adi’s
family were some of the most welcoming people and really made me feel at home.
The village leaders house also, the whole family is so smiley and warm. The two
sisters I see every week, Manpreet and Sahit are his daughters, so I am there frequently.
We were all invited for dinner one night and the food was delicious!
Dinner at the
village leader’s house
Loveleen’s mum also is fantastic and the woman I have been
trying to collaborate with for the yoga. I can now go to her house alone for a
cup of tea. She is making me a Punjabi outfit for before I leave, which I am so
excited about.
Beautiful Loveleen has come out of her shell with me and it
is so nice to see her confidence. The husband/father of these two is very
orthodox and has been a cause of great frustration for Ankur and I because of
his unwillingness to allow Loveline to participate in any activities. This is due
to the belief she must learn the skills encompassing a good housewife. Ankur
and I have accepted that we can only help who we can and the thought ‘pick your
battles’ was our resolve.
The next activity for the first week in Harike was Saturday’s
girls club. On Wednesday I told them to come at 4 o’clock on Saturday. I really
wanted to get a chance to see them more than once a week and have a go at
acting. My first session I found slightly challenging; it was an idea I had
really wanted to experiment with when I arrived here. Luckily I had Ankur to
translate and explain the task. I gave the girl scenarios for them to play out.
Firstly splitting them into two and assigning one group, a girl wanting to be a
police officer to make her town safer and the challenges she faces and the
other a girl wanting to be a doctor and the challenges she would face. The girl
responded really well and most made a real effort to act and be serious. Let me
tell you, gosh they have improved since this first session. I also adapted it
slightly so that each group before they perform must tell the audience (me and
the other girls) their message. From this has come really strong association
with problems and how to approach them. For the most recent session I told the
girls that to their play (domestic violence and violence towards women in the
public sphere) they must include one of the self-defence moves I had taught
them in sports class. I was so happy with the outcome because they had really
taken on what we had taught them and remembered the moves correctly.
At the end of every girls club we do some dancing and this
makes me laugh so much. The girls and I even tried some Punjabi freestyling to
‘Single ladies’ by Beyonce.
I was keen to teach the girls about meditation. Although
slightly skeptical in the beginning due to their huge energy, they surprised me
from the get go and really made an effort and engaged with me. After this I
finished off each week’s session with 10 minutes or so meditation time. I have
become so connected to the girls and see such potential in all of them.
Meditation at the
end of girls club/acting class
For the Women’s health club in the first week Ankur and I
spent time engaging the women and in the second week, on the Monday it began.
For the first session Loveleen and her mum came, a few friends of hers and
Manpreet and Poonam (the local resource people). To start off, I explained the
foundations of yoga and meditation and Ankur translated. We then did Chakra
chanting, pranayama and meditation, finishing off with the asanas.
For the first week I had definitely entered expecting a
little too much from their fitness, believing we would be able to complete the
modified primary series of ashtanga (with a few extra modifications). But this
was overly optimistic and I adapted on the spot to massively simplify the
sequence, while also cutting it down to about 7 asanas over all.
I had hoped for a stronger response from this health class,
because I can see how much it would truly help these women but this is where
you see the effects of the culture. The women are the homemakers and because of
this they very busy either cooking for their family, making tea for guests,
washing, cleaning etc. This issue had made it hard to ensure attendance every
week for yoga. I have not lost hope however, as I have written in my project
manual, I really believe this project still has great potential. More time is definitely needed and I am sad
to not have longer, but this time could be used to explore the best time in the
day and day in the week for women in the community. Once there is some
consistency then this project will build momentum even if the regular group is
only 6-8. Starting small is okay because then once these women start to feel
the benefits, they can tell others.
Living in the center has been a great experience. It’s such
a nice open plan house that has really come to feel like home. Including our
pet buffalo, which was a bit of a surprise when we first arrived, but she has
now come to feel the same as a normal house pet, although a lot larger and more
horned.
One of my goals coming here was to learn some Indian dishes.
Ankur and I
Thanks to my Siamese twin, Ankur, I’ve actually managed to. We spent pretty
much every day together, cooked most meals together and annoyed each other as
much as possible, in the most sibling way. But really, I am so thankful to Ankur, who has taught me a
lot about the community, the culture and also introduced me into my projects.
So on the 10th of October I say goodbye to
EduCARE India and I can definitely say I will miss the whole experience, the girls,
the intern house and everyone in it.
India Timms (UK)
Project Manager
Sports Empower Girls
ViKAA Centre, Harike
EduCARE India
Sep-Oct 2017
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