Volunteer Teaching

  Mumbai (Bombay), India
Friday, October 19, 2007

I arrived in Mumbai on Oct 1, 2007. Tanya, the organizer of One International, and her boyfriend, Josh, met me at the airport. We taxi-ed home and I met the 4 other volunteers.

m

Two girls from Montreal and 2 girls from England. Caroline and Sophie are from Montreal and Amy and Varinderjit are from England. In the picture, the girls are (from left to right) Varinderjit, Caroline, Amy and Sophie.

I started volunteering the very next day. They were having exams and starting a new school year the week I arrived. So I helped monitor a couple exam writings and worked on a bunch of sorting and miscellanious tasks. My teaching started on Wednesday the 3rd.

b

There are two schools. I am at the first school, Kahr Dunder (shown to the left) until Nov 12, 2007. The rooms are all behind and it is on 2 floors. There are 7 rooms. One for each step (grade) 1-7 (except that step 3 and 4 share a room) plus an office.

c

Here is a picture facing more down the street. It has lots of little vendors (like all streets do here), especially at the wider start of the street.

d

Here is a picture of the beach not far from the school. People live in shanti shacks all around the area. They go to the bathroom in the ocean. The children sometimes play on the sandy or rocky beach areas. They go nuts for cricket, here.

f

Here is the office of the school. The teachers work here. It is often quite busy and packed. I am here a lot. Between classes a bit, for lunch and from 2:15-5pm when I have a long break. I plan what to do in my next class, help out with the school, browse teaching material, try to learn a little Hindi and unwind from teaching a class.

y

Teaching has been alright. It's hard to think of things to do with my students. Flashcards are good. Splitting into teams and giving points for flashcard recognition works well for my step 6. My step 2's don't listen well enough to do a team game, especially since I don't speak Hindi and their English is poor. They haven't had a lot of discipline and they don't tend to listen when I speak to everyone. However, I am able to speak to them individually and then get them working one by one. For example writing A-Z in their books. A few are great. They listen well and can do it easily. A few are smart and can do it but sometimes act up (esp my very first class with them!). A few have troubles doing it. I am not sure whether to advance the material or not since some of them haven't totally got it.

z

Also, I'm apparently supposed to focus more on oral, so I need to shift more into that rather than writing. My step 5's behave quite well and seem to mysteriously love just working in their workbook writing lowercase a-z (mainly) and colouring.

a1

a2

az

ax

ac

av

ab

I'll have to get a bit more pictures of my classes. The ones I've got mostly came from my step 5 class. Plus Govind from step 6 who wandered in (in pic "ac" with me). They all absolutely love getting their picture taken!

I wish I could have a bunch of well-prepared exercises from someone else to just use. There is a bit of history about what other people have done.

It's not bad to teach. Challenging. Kind of frustrating (when they don't pay attention or don't care about learning). I give them a look or send them to the corner if they act up! Still, the step 2ers are hard to handle. It would help if I knew more Hindi. It's hard to learn another language but even a few key phrases really help. Teaching is hard work, too! But the kids are happy and cute and slowly learn.

am

We visited a Shanti shack village last week where many of my students live. They've got their shacks wired up with electricity to power fans, lights and sometimes even a TV. They pay a government official "rent" (more like a bribe) so he doesn't kick them out or bulldoze the shack down. They also pay for electricity and water from a communal spout. They carry the water to their shacks in buckets or containers. "Rent" was about $5 / mo, water $3 / mo, electricity maybe $12 / mo. Not everyone could afford power.

an

A fan is quite important, especially when trying to sleep in the dry 40C season Feb-Apr. One family sold garlic at a local vending stand and bought it at a bigger garlic market elsewhere in the city. We visited about 4 families and they were quite proud and hospitable. They made Chai tea for us and served biscuits. We took off our shoes at the entrance and they kept their floor reasonably clean.

aa

Some of the shacks looked a bit small to fit eg 5 sleeping children in. Some might sleep on a mat on the floor or on counter space which doubled as a bed at night.

ar

Alternatively, people can put up shacks for free anywhere, but they are normally knocked down every few months by the government to appease the rich land owners that they're doing something about getting rid of local slums devaluing the area. Some of the students' families do this. When the shacks are being knocked down, they rush out and grab what they can. Then they just rebuild in exactly the same spots! They don't get electricity like the more permanent shanti villages and their shacks aren't quite as nice. Some of the permanent ones have tiles, brick+mortar, nicer gas stoves and a bit of furniture / counterspace.

at

I don't like Chai tea much (tons of sugar and fat - but it for some reason isn't much of a treat for me, makes me feel sick and I'd rather eat sugar and fat in a chocolate bar or cake or something) but I felt obligated to drink it. I wanted to politely turn it down but I could not speak Hindi. The social worker from the school was with us and refused to translate for me because she thought it would be rude!

ay

A couple of the mothers berated me for not eating enough sweet biscuits and eating like a healthy man. Finally we turned down the fifth Chai tea! I appreciated their hospitality and the gesture however. It was hard to say much through the language barrier but it was really neat to see the parents and houses of the students I taught. Some of the students could speak a little English so I could talk more to them.

au

A few Indians have red hair (from Henna?). This man was leading his cute little smartly dressed students as we were exitting Juhu Cauliwalla (sp?), the shanti village.

ao

We had Thurs to Sun off so I took a trip to the Gateway of India and Elephanta Island, the prime tourist destination in the city. The Gateway of India is a lot like the Arc De Triomphe in Paris only somewhat bigger and next to the sea.

ap

Here I am in front of the Gateway.

ai

This is the grand Taj hotel, next to the Gateway of India.

a4

Here is a view of the shore as the ferry took off. It was an hour trip to Elephanta Island.

a5

This is a naval base which used to be a prison colony. It was one of many small islands on the way to Elephanta Island.

a7

Here is the main Shiva with a serene expression. This is at the caves/temple on Elephanta Island. Many of the other carvings were shot up by Portuguese soldiers in 1500 for target practice. Thankfully they spared the main Shiva. The temple was carved in about 700 AD over a period of about 70 years.

a8

There are tons of huge cargo boats and loading cranes all over the harbour.

a9

There were many monkeys at Elephanta Island. These 3 were cleaning each other.

a10

I sat in front of one of the minor caves and tried out my time-delay shot.

a11

Mumbai skyline as I returned to the Gateway of India, I think.

a12

A typical Mumbai street. Traffic is more chaotic. If you want to turn onto a road, just cut someone off. Unless he's a big bus which cannot stop easily. Honk before you do anything. If any pedestrians are walking on the road (no sidewalk, sometimes alleyway roads get narrow, sometimes vendors spread out their goods and block off the side of the road), just honk and go. Try to guess who will move and who won't. Hopefully you don't guess wrong and hit them.

a13

Our kitchen. Gas stove. The water is unreliable and non-potable (used for boiling, cleaning, washing dishes). Ants eat anything that isn't sealed in a hard container. I left some rice in a fairly strong bag tintied up. I didn't think they liked rice. They ignored the tintied top, ate a small hole and went in! Freezer ziplocs are no good. But sometimes merely putting it in a different spot in the kitchen can foil them. But they can get anywhere if they want to. They like to climb walls. I have a suspicion that a better sealed house with screened windows would keep ants out better. Why are ants all over Canadian kitchens? Also, Mosquitoes and moths are a problem at night. It's hot so you want to leave your windows open and apparently screens are expensive. So we have plug-in mosquito repellers.

The other annoying thing is that the garbage lady rings our apartment buzzer at 7:30am every morning so we can hand our garbage to her. We cannot put it out the night before or else the rats tear it apart. I wonder if they couldn't figure out a rat-proof garbage container. The rats are so big that most cats are afraid of them. They attacked the small cat, Telly, who Tanya (the coordinator) adopted out of sympathy after seeing all the rat chew marks! I started brainstorming how to avoid the 7:30am wake-up when Amy and Josh were absolutely adamant that I also have to wake up at 7:30am if they do! I was absolutely not permitted to leave my garbage next to theirs so they could be both put out together. I even offered to take theirs and wake up to put both out but Amy didn't want that. "It's not that big a deal, just do it...Of course I wouldn't do it if I didn't have to...Don't even think about saving your garbage up and putting it in ours!" We see the rats dash around outside occasionally.

Our potable water comes from Tanya's purifier. It's a $300 system, with a $30/yr service fee and cartridge replacement. It feeds the 3 apartments and the school. We carry 20L jugs every day or so back for a refill. All apartments and restaurants have systems like this, I think. All Western apartments for sure and all reputable restaurants who expect Western customers. Local water is unsafe and may cause major multi-day diarrhea or even Hepatitis. It's hard to totally avoid however. For example, washing dishes takes a lot of water and we just use local water. Which is kind of like washing my hands which should be ok with local water. But kind of like putting local water on my toothbrush which I am not supposed to do. I am not avoiding all unpeelable fruits for 7 mos. How is a fruit washed with local water different from doing it with dishes? How about tiny shaving abrasions washed with local water? When I cut myself and wash it, I should really rinse the soap off with purified water.

a14

Juhu beach. Some Indian tourists from Punjab (in the North) wanted their photo with me and we hung out briefly. I was the only white person in sight for a while on the beach. No women would dare wear a bathing suit so they swim in their clothes. A few boys wore bathing suits. There were dead fish along the water line so I didn't really want to wade.

a15

Here is the beach.

a16

Look at that rickety bamboo tower! Notice how it has support braces going backwards in 2 directions? I wouldn't want to be on that during a stong wind!

a17

Here is a place on the beach with a bunch of vendor stands. I had some sweet and spicy soup poured into the top of hollow, thin pastry balls.

It has been really neat being here. I want to improve my teaching a little. It's hard to keep kids interested. My step 2's today (Mon Oct 29) were quite difficult. I cannot address the whole class easily since I can't speak Hindi and they can't speak English. I get them to write A-Z in their notebooks or copy words. I explain to them one by one while the others who I'm not talking to tend to act up. I send them to the corner if they act up. But today, the worst ones wouldn't stay in the corner. Or they'd promise to and then not do it. Next time I'm kicking them out of the class or to the office if they keep acting up. I could try reaming them out in English - they don't really need to understand the words! Moms and state schools quite happily hit them or use the strap on their wrists. But I don't want to hit them or even threaten it. I think I can handle them better once I figure out how. I'll try giving them something to draw (thanks to Sophie for this suggestion). I can say ABCD and they know to write A-Z in their book but that's getting old.

Update: I tried giving them drawing worksheets and they love it. They'll do a little work to get a colouring worksheet. Even more than colouring, some of them seem to love more advanced worksheets. They notice me give someone else an advanced worksheet and they come to me and say "Sir! Paper!" while pointing to the advanced worksheet! I am supposed to focus on oral and worksheets are written but they work so well!

Also, I learned out how to say "English Book" in Hindi: inglish key-tab koh-loh. So I can check if they've got their previous work finished and have earned a new worksheet.

Working a 40h work week (M-F 9-5) is a bit tiring. I only teach 2.5-4h per day. But there's also making my lesson plans for each class, helping planning field trips/etc, organizing teaching materials and small projects like helping create this wall mural. The last few days have been packed. Previously I've had a few hours to spare many afternoons. I can plan lessons and learn Hindi. I'm required to stay the whole day to set an example for the local teachers working here (Indian workers like to take off early, arrive late and take sick days very freely). Sometimes classes don't start on time and occasionally no teacher shows up. The teachers aren't paid a high salary but they get a decent salary and a chance to help the poor. I find actually teaching is fun but preparing (and marking) is not fun. But preparation is quite necessary if you want to teach the children anything and not lose control of the class (esp for younger ones).

I tried seeing a couple Bollywood movies. They are a bit silly but they do seem to have some charm. A bit of comedy, a simple plot. A bunch of dancing and singing at random moments making the movie more like a musical. I like it when they have a calm, dramatic scene and suddenly interrupt it with almost comical semi-ridiculous singing and dancing. My overall opinion, however, is that one was enough for me. They aren't terrible but they're not great. Even if I understood Hindi, I prefer movies with more complexity and deeper characters. Also, 3h (with intermission) is a bit long for a soso musical/drama. Bollywood movies seem to be quite popular here, maybe even more so than Western movies. This amazes me.

They seem to really idolize their movie-stars/music-stars here, even more than in the West. I was watching this guy in a big long dance video today and he seemed to be trying to dance really cool. He had this fatter, confident, funny guy who would also dance and chase women beside him. Some of the older boys seem to go crazy for guys like this who try to look really cool as they dance. It sort of conflicted with my Canadian appreciation for humility. I guess it is not really so different from Western pop stars.

They wire up Internet by stringing ethernet between buildings, window to window! 300Rp/mo (~$7) for 400M. Or ~800Rp/mo (~$20) for unlimited. They have DSL2 and cable modems. I found Thailand was quite well-wired, too.

Mumbai seems to always be having festivals and setting off amateur fireworks. Indians can really dance! They get the whole family involved! They dance around a shrine with incense and invite every passerby to join in! Alcohol is covertly drunk. I've been to 2 Pujas (parties) so far. I learned a popular circle dance called something like Dandar and Garbi. It involves 4 steps and any sort of flourishes you might want to add once you get the steps!

I was talking to a friend who has a theory that it takes 2-3 generations to get the street children into a better life. The first generation gets education and learns the value of it and then wants their kids to become educated. But they still expect people to look down on them and treat them badly. In India, they not only have merely poor people but "untouchable castes". Most Indian people want to get rid of castes but still discriminate against them. Partly because the lower castes are often dirty, poor and frustrated. And partly because of superstitions and prejudices (I am just guessing based on reading a couple factbooks about India). The second generation becomes better educated and feel they should deserve a better life. Finally, the third generation gets a good education and demands a better life.

So my volunteering is going well and I'm enjoying Mumbai.