Skylark 2009 Features
Wings of Hope Diary Thursday 6th August We arrived at London Heathrow. As we queued up at our Air India check-in desk, Sachin handed out our custom made “trip hoodies” – a bizarre idea given the 30°C heat in Chennai. Upon sitting down Sahil and I noticed that we didn’t have arm rests. Sachin told us that this was tradition on an Air India flight. It also turned out that the in-flight entertainment was out of service. Good start to the trip. Our transit flight through Mumbai was surprisingly swift and we arrived in Chennai a decent 3 hours late. Not bad for IST (Indian Standard Time). On arrival we were to meet two men who frankly made my day, everyday. These were Ravi Shankar, our travel operator who seemed to always be willing to hug me, sometimes too frequently for my liking. The other was to be my new best friend, Lokesh, our driver, whose approach to driving always managed to amaze me. We arrived at our hotel and soon were asleep in our luxurious double beds.
Day 2 The majority of the day was spent recovering from our jetlag. Having recovered we visited a local beach with my new friend Ravi. The general commotion of Chennai was breathtaking to witness - children playing cricket, women carrying their shopping on their heads, two cars overtaking the same vehicle from either side amongst others. After taking awhile to soak up the atmosphere of the place we returned to our hotel to greet Mrs Sriram. Day 3 The next day we left the city and visited an impressive hotel near some historic sites in Mahalibalipurum. We had been warned before the trip that we wouldn’t be able to swim in the sea so we grabbed the opportunity to use the hotel’s pool. After enjoying a great day at the hotel we decided to stay for dinner, where we were treated to some renditions of famous tunes by the late Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley and even Justin Timberlake by the band, which consisted of two Indian men called Andy and Ryan. On the return journey we were treated to a monsoon and an eventful journey by our driver, Lokhesh, who didn’t quite understand the concept of ‘braking distance’.
Day 4 Sunday was planned as our rest day, so we slept until midday. In the afternoon we were treated to a local shopping mall, which seemed to possess anything from belts to pashminas. x Day 5 The day we had all been waiting for was upon us. With a mixture of excitement and anxiety we set off to the school early in the morning. We spoke to the Principal, who told us about the work Wings of Hope does and how important it is to the running of the school. It was now time to meet the students in the first of our lessons. Almost immediately all my fears were swept away. We were welcomed with open arms as we taught classes of different ages a wide variety of topics. Matthew and I taught our classes the basics of etiquette and social manner. We also had a conversation with the GCSE class, who enlightened us about their school day. We were amazed to learn that they woke up at 4.30am for prayer and yoga before starting school at 6am. We were shocked to find out that the classroom in which they learnt was also the room in which they would sleep at night. The school is apparently one of the best in the region at volleyball, and the team was very keen to challenge us. Our group of six with limited volleyball experience enjoyed an entertaining game against the 1st team. Despite a good match we were beaten convincingly. At the end of a tiring but brilliant day, the children gave us a warm farewell and we left for the hotel.
Day 6 Next morning the Principal mentioned that the younger years were keen to be taught by us. So we agreed to teach the Upper Kindergarten and year 2 classes. The little girls and boys were very welcoming. Taking into consideration the lack of English knowledge the little kids would have we decided to play some simple games, which I enjoyed as much as they did. We played old favourites like Simon Says, Musical Statues and also kept to the academic timetable by playing a few mathematical quiz games. In the afternoon, we visited a science fair in which our school was competing. The standard of science was impressive with topics ranging
from problems with pesticide to ways of improving water supply. We were to learn later on that day that we won the exhibition and were through to the regional finals. We returned to our hotel with the daunting task of preparing an assembly for the kids. After hours of discussion it was decided that Shiv and I were to write a comic skit of our journey to India. The script was approved by the rest of the group and we began to practice. In true Bollywood style we incorporated dance scenes, which took a while to choreograph and synchronise. Fully prepared we went to sleep.
Day 7 On our final day, we arrived to a jubilant welcome. We had a short meeting with the Principal and then went off to teach our classes for the last time. Matthew and I played musical chairs with the Year 1 class. Afterwards we went to teach the year 3 class French. We went through basic phrases and taught them to count to ten. At the end of the lesson we were swarmed by kids from various years who asked for our autograph, as they had heard it was our last day. I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of hysterical children descending on me, thrusting pens and paper at me. Lessons were now over and the grand presentation in the assembly hall was to take place. The school went first with a demonstration of karate, yoga, dance and singing from a variety of ages. It was extremely entertaining to listen to the little kindergarten class sing and dance with confidence and verve. Then it was our turn. Our play went down well with the children, who found Shiv particularly hilarious. The day ended with a speech from the principal and a few boys, who summed up our stay with them. We presented each the junior classes with toys and each boy in the senior school with a Fila t-shirt. Saying goodbye to the children was very emotional and we shook hands with all the kids who swarmed us, yet again, to say goodbye. As we boarded Lokesh’s van they all waved goodbye as we drove out of the school for the late time. The next day we departed from Chennai and arrived home safely and exhausted. Our time with the Sai Sathya School of Educare was over. It has been one of the most humbling and memorable experiences of my life. I have never witnessed such a warm and loving environment and it is something I shall not forget. These children are being given the surest ticket out of poverty – a proper education. They will be able to enter the world and make lives for themselves, and I would like to think that in some small way, our work has contributed to their futures. This experience has taught me more than I ever imagined. It is impossible to single out one memory as the entire journey to winning the Wings of Hope Achievement Award has been incredible. I would like to thank Wings of Hope Charity and Mrs Sriram for all they have done in providing us and the children with such wonderful opportunities.
Branavan Rudran L6 67