Phoebe and I are staying in
Hosahalli to complete the project portion of this program. Hosahalli is a
region rich in natural resources and about 80% of the population in this area
is composed of rural and tribal communities. SVYM has two institutions in this
forest belt to help improve the quality of living and education for children.
Phoebe is working at the Vivekananda Tribal Centre for Learning (VTCL) while
I’m stationed at the Vivekananda Teacher Training and Resource Centre (VTTRC).
We are working on transferring student admissions and postgraduate information
from notebooks to computer databases. We also facilitate a “Spoken English” class
in the afternoons for the VTCL staff.
The English classes are fun! We’ve come
to know and understand the VTCL staff more and more as they try to communicate
with us in our language. Many of them already know English pretty well while
others are really benefitting from our help. Aside from the effort they put
into learning English, we’ve also noticed that they are very humorous. They are
always making jokes inside and out of the class, which we appreciate greatly.
Both
the VTCL and VTTRC staffs have been tremendously kind to us and have already
called us part of their Hosahalli family. A couple of teachers (Jyothi who
teaches Science and Chikkabomma who teaches English) have invited us over to
their villages nearby, and one of our favorite teachers at VTTRC, Madame
Triveni, was kind enough to guide us on our journey to and from Mysore last
weekend.
Most recently, Phoebe and I have been given the opportunity to teach
the tribal students English. They are rowdy but so much fun to be around. When
I’ve taught the students, I’ve found out they actually know less English than expected
for their respective standard. This is unfortunate but I’ve realized that VTCL
does not have the resources to improve their English education. The students
and I rarely understand each other and they can be rowdy, but they are just so
much fun to be around.
We’ve been having a great time in Hosahalli and cannot
wait to see what unfolds for us in the coming weeks!
