I am beat. Seriously. Mentally, physically, and emotionally I am drained. Maybe it’s because Teresa and I have been teaching and playing with and trying to control over 50 children for 5 to 6 hours everyday by ourselves, maybe its because AIESEC Hyderabad continually tries to push my buttons, or maybe its because I’ve only been sleeping a few hours a night in 90+ degree weather on a piece of wood. I guess it’s a combination of all three. At times this week I have been in the best of spirits, at other times I’ve wanted to cry, at other times I’ve wanted to punch people, and at other times I’ve been laughing at how many things have gone wrong… an emotional roller coaster to say the least.
I’ll give you the low down on work at the orphanage:
Remember how I said I didn’t think I could make much of a difference by simply playing with the kids and teaching them a few new words here and there for 6 weeks? Well, I was wrong. I feel like I have already made a huge difference in these kids’ lives. Teresa and I usually start the class by having the kids stretch and touch their toes and clap their hands, simple exercise like that, but man do they think it is the best thing in the world (that’s probably why I love working with kids – anything I do, they think is so cool or smart or funny; a total ego booster). Then we dance around the orphanage to Justin Bieber or Britney Spears or the Macarena or all 3, and then follow up the dance sesh with some “Itsy Bitsy Spider” action. After we get some of their energy out, we do some real teaching. From world geography, to English to math – we teach it all – and we have learned that using the laptop and blackboard together is the best plan. The kids think the laptop is the coolest thing ever, so, for example, Teresa will pull up a picture of a basketball and hoop on the laptop and the kids yell out what sport they think it is as I write on the board and they write it in their notebooks. After lunch and some more dancing and games, we do individual teaching, which means the children bring up their notebooks and we write exercises in whatever subject they want to work on. “Madam, drawings drawings!” is the most popular request I get, so I spend a lot of the day drawing pictures of cars, houses, animals, fruits and the children write the word in English. I’m out of ideas so if you have any more ideas of little pictures I could draw, please send them my way!
The most difficult thing about work is trying to keep the attention of all 50+ kids, ranging from age 3 to 12. Really is there an activity that 3 year olds up to 12 year olds would all enjoy? It’s hard, especially since we have very little help from the orphanage workers, but at the same time, it’s awesome, because Teresa and I are in charge when we are there. Another task we are still trying to deal with is the beatings and physical punishment by the adults. The adults beat the kids with sticks and because of this, the kids think it is okay to beat each other. It’s not the kids’ faults, they do not know better, and they simply see the beating sticks as a sign of power and control. I got in a fight with the Founder this week because I saw him pulling the ears of a 3-year old because the kid licked his chalkboard instead of cleaning it with his hand. I told the Founder he was fat, stupid, ignorant, abusive, and did not deserve to run an orphanage. No no no I didn’t really say that but I sure was thinking it! We have come to an agreement: they will try not to beat the kids when we are there, and in return we will teach the kids discipline and morals. I just agreed to this because I could not stand to talk to this awful human being anymore, but really, who does he think he is telling me I need to teach the kids morals? He is the one showing the kids that hitting is the only way to solve problems. Ugh I could go on and on all day, but I wont. All I will say is this issue will continue to bother me every day, but hey, at least when we are there, the abuse is not.
So not only do I feel like I have taught the kids A LOT, but I feel like I have become one of the first adults in their lives that they love, trust, can count on, and look up to – and that makes me feel very good.
Teresa and I have fallen into a pretty nice routine. After working at the orphanage, we usually walk over to the local market, pose with Indians who are amazed at the paleness of our skin, and buy some tea and fruit or samosas for under 20 rupees (that’s like 50 cents for delicious food)! On Tuesday, after work and the market, Teresa and I went to Golconda Fort (it means “Shepherd’s Hill” in Telugu)– a touristy place that was mentioned in the top 10 things to see in Hyderabad. The 13th century Golconda Fort was built by the Kakatiya kings and then was later made into a massive fort with granite walls by Qutub Shahi Kings. It has 8 gates, 87 bastions, and this really cool acoustics / sound transference thing that allows claps heard at the entry gate to be heard clearly at the top of the hill! We posed with more Indians and got to see an amazing sunset over all of Hyderabad. On Wednesday night, we got in touch with our sensitive sides. The lady who lives downstairs is kinda like a minister and leads meditation every morning and night. So from 6 to 7:30 we sat in a calm room, staring at a red light, and listening to soothing music and sometimes I have difficulty focusing (or not focusing) on my thoughts, but this time, I felt fabulous! Mediation was followed by a super delicious Indian meal made by the minister and then some skype dates with friends and fam. After work and the market on Thursday, we went into the City Centre to see an Indian band called Phoenix perform. They did covers of songs that I love – including Bob Marley and The Cranberries – they were very good and had probably one of the best guitarists I’ve heard in a while! We also met some really cool people from AIESEC there and got our picture taken for the newspaper, so it was a pretty successful night. But Friday was a pretty tough day. Not only was it sooooo hot, all the kids wanted to do was hang on me and touch me and hit each other and wipe their grimy hands on the computer, but on top of that, it started monsooning while Teresa and I were in the auto with no windows so we got absolutely stoked! And all I wanted to when I got home was take a shower and relax and go to sleep early, but no. Instead, the AIESEC boys gave us a little surprise by telling us we were moving to a new apartment at 8pm THAT night. He said it would be nicer living conditions and closer to our place of work. So we packed up, headed out, and 300 rupees/ 45 minutes later, we were at our new house. AND SURPRISE: it was worse than we imagined! The girls living there said they hadn’t had running water in 7 days, there was so kitchen / refrigerator and the closets place to eat was 15 minutes down a dangerous road, there were no beds for us, and there were cockroaches everywhere! This is when I started laughing because there was absolutely no way this could be real life, like why would AIESEC ever let their interns live in a place like this? We told AIESEC we would stay the night there, but in the morning – adios awful apartment – we were going back to our original apartment, where we had showers and beds and food.
That’s the weekly update! It’s been a rollercoaster ride thus far, but AIESEC promised an unforgettable experience filled with leadership opportunities and excitement so at least they are following through with that part of the deal.
Peace, love, and roaches,
Shannon
riding in the auto in the flood
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