Happy New Year! Day One
15 years ago
Friday, November 13, 2009
13/11/09
I can't believe it but its time for me to leave Sangam, I went to the creche for the last time today and had to wave goodbye to Katsuko this afternoon :( The time has flown by and it doesn't feel right that I have to leave. Of course my adventure isn't over as I'm off traveling!!! If I don't get a chance to blog again I just want to say thank you to everyone for all your help and I'll see you in December.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
10/10/09
Kylie wasn't well again this morning so it was just me again, there were more teachers at the creche again today as the children were still being tested. All the children were rapped up in their wolly hats and thick winter cardigans as it has become rather chilly, it even started to rain which really reminded me of England. In the morning I 1st got the children to fill an A4 sheet of paper with picture, this then became the cover of a maraca. They loved them, some were a bit to over excited and I had to do some repair work so they could go home with a musical maraca, rather than a tube of cardboard and some rice. Got a surprise at lunchtime when 
Kylie walked through the door, she was feeling a bit better and was eager to be back at the creche. In the afternoon we did English and Maths. I had a one to one with a boy who usually doesn't like to take part in educational activities which was really good, I think as he doesn't go to school he's not as confident about such things so I was really pleased he was so into doing some Maths work :) For dinner we went out to Hard Rock Cafe as a kind of leaving do, when we eventually got there we were all soaked through as the rain had persisted. It was a nice evening out with all the volunteers and Ezster and Einar even met us there which was lovely. Catching a rickshaw back was a bit tricky but we eventually found one. Only problem was that the roads had started to become flooded so it we had to maneuver around all the massive puddles - we even broke down on an empty stretch of road but thankfully the rickshaw started up again, few.
Kylie walked through the door, she was feeling a bit better and was eager to be back at the creche. In the afternoon we did English and Maths. I had a one to one with a boy who usually doesn't like to take part in educational activities which was really good, I think as he doesn't go to school he's not as confident about such things so I was really pleased he was so into doing some Maths work :) For dinner we went out to Hard Rock Cafe as a kind of leaving do, when we eventually got there we were all soaked through as the rain had persisted. It was a nice evening out with all the volunteers and Ezster and Einar even met us there which was lovely. Catching a rickshaw back was a bit tricky but we eventually found one. Only problem was that the roads had started to become flooded so it we had to maneuver around all the massive puddles - we even broke down on an empty stretch of road but thankfully the rickshaw started up again, few.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
9/11/09 Last Monday at the creche
It was just me at the creche today as Kylie wasn't feeling well. We made houses to put into the creches project area, which was fun - I was amazed that it didn't seem to hectic and crazy with just me running things. This could have been because there were more teachers there as the children were being tested, o
nly a few at a time but this meant there were fewer for me to deal with. In the afternoon each child had a chalk board on which I wrote out some sums according to their ability, a boy who has just recently joined the creche is extremely good at maths and I just hope that he will get the opportunity to go to school. 3.30-4.00pm has become a bit of a play time so we played some ball games and Carrom (which the children love and kept on nagging me about wanting to play it so I thought we might as well) I also taught them a bit of yoga which was rather fun, only problem is the teacher now wants me to teach the morning exercise :S and he older boys want me to teach them Kung Fu so they can be like Jackie Chan - I was very sorry to disappoint them but I know nothing about Kung Fu :( I decided to walk home so that I could collect some balls we had ordered (we are giving each child at the creche a goody bag on our last day which will contain a ball, biscuits, sweets and a few other bits and bobs)
nly a few at a time but this meant there were fewer for me to deal with. In the afternoon each child had a chalk board on which I wrote out some sums according to their ability, a boy who has just recently joined the creche is extremely good at maths and I just hope that he will get the opportunity to go to school. 3.30-4.00pm has become a bit of a play time so we played some ball games and Carrom (which the children love and kept on nagging me about wanting to play it so I thought we might as well) I also taught them a bit of yoga which was rather fun, only problem is the teacher now wants me to teach the morning exercise :S and he older boys want me to teach them Kung Fu so they can be like Jackie Chan - I was very sorry to disappoint them but I know nothing about Kung Fu :( I decided to walk home so that I could collect some balls we had ordered (we are giving each child at the creche a goody bag on our last day which will contain a ball, biscuits, sweets and a few other bits and bobs)
Saturday, November 7, 2009
6/11/09 Our last full Friday at the creche :(
We made 
kaleidoscopes today which was fab, the children loved running around, seeing everything in different colours. The whole morning flew by, it was probably because I was constantly putting the kaleidoscopes together, which is made more difficult with the constant harassment of 'Madame, Madame, me Madame me'
but everyone got one so they were happy. On our way to the toliet we found that the whole has become even bigger and we had to very carfully edge around it :S In the afternoon we did some maths work, one boy I was working with liked to have the sums in English and then every so often answered them in Hindi or got confused when I wrote 9 and thought it was a 1 (in Hindi one is written like 9) - I understood what he meant and he got the correct answer and that all that matters :) We also played some games; mainly billi, billi, kuutaa which means cat, cat, dog and its the same as duck, duck, goose - its always fun to play even if we do get chosen rather a lot but a little exercise never hurt anybody.
kaleidoscopes today which was fab, the children loved running around, seeing everything in different colours. The whole morning flew by, it was probably because I was constantly putting the kaleidoscopes together, which is made more difficult with the constant harassment of 'Madame, Madame, me Madame me'
but everyone got one so they were happy. On our way to the toliet we found that the whole has become even bigger and we had to very carfully edge around it :S In the afternoon we did some maths work, one boy I was working with liked to have the sums in English and then every so often answered them in Hindi or got confused when I wrote 9 and thought it was a 1 (in Hindi one is written like 9) - I understood what he meant and he got the correct answer and that all that matters :) We also played some games; mainly billi, billi, kuutaa which means cat, cat, dog and its the same as duck, duck, goose - its always fun to play even if we do get chosen rather a lot but a little exercise never hurt anybody.
5/11/09
We 
made boxes today which the children loved as they were able to decorate them and even take them home :) most of the time they don't get to take what they make home so it was fantastic seeing their faces light up when they realised. The area around the creche is becoming more and more hazardous by the looks of things, on our wak to the toilet we have to pass a huge hole which if you fell you'd be in some serious trouble. There are now also nets above the entrance to the creche which catch the falling rubble, I just hope that they are strong enough to stand the weight. The creche was closed in the afternoon for the monthly staff meeting, so I went to the train station to buy tickets to go to Amritsar, Chandigarh and Jaipur unfortunately one of the trains I found on the net doesn't exist so I'm going to have to sort something else out.
made boxes today which the children loved as they were able to decorate them and even take them home :) most of the time they don't get to take what they make home so it was fantastic seeing their faces light up when they realised. The area around the creche is becoming more and more hazardous by the looks of things, on our wak to the toilet we have to pass a huge hole which if you fell you'd be in some serious trouble. There are now also nets above the entrance to the creche which catch the falling rubble, I just hope that they are strong enough to stand the weight. The creche was closed in the afternoon for the monthly staff meeting, so I went to the train station to buy tickets to go to Amritsar, Chandigarh and Jaipur unfortunately one of the trains I found on the net doesn't exist so I'm going to have to sort something else out.
4/11/09
We
made crazy cats this morning and did some dot to dot 
colouring in with the older boys who go to school. After we had eaten lunch we went to get some rickshaw to take the children to Sangam, thankfully a teacher came with us so it was sorted out relatively easily. So we all piled into a rickshaw Kylie somehow ended up with only 3 children in hers, I on the other hand had the teacher and 7 children - odd thing was it felt as if we still had space. In total we had 30 children; 10 from my mobile creche site, 10 from Katsuko's mobile creche site and 10 from Door Step. Even though
Door Step also offer education for underprivileged children you could tell they were better of than the children from our site. The children from Door Step a
rrived in nice sparkly outfits which looked rather new, this was rather different from the children from my site some of whom didn't even have any shoes to wear. The CVP funday was fantastic we started with a tour of the grounds and then split the children into 2 groups - boys and girls. One group swam whilst the other went on a round robin, which included games, a craft and playing on the playground. I was 1st stationed at the playground and then when the groups changed over I went swimming. The children seemed to enjoy all the activitie
s, some were a bit timid 
about getting into the pool but once they got in they didn't want to get out :) At the end of the day we got everyone together and played a big game of musical chairs and finished the afternoon of with mango ice-cream by the pool. Eventful rickshaw ride back to the creche as my rickshaw broke down, I have to say when we finally got the creche the teacher and Kylie looked rather relieved - they must have been wondering were on earth is Mollie with all those children (I somehow ended up with 7 children in my rickshaw again - I don't quite know how it happened)
made crazy cats this morning and did some dot to dot 
colouring in with the older boys who go to school. After we had eaten lunch we went to get some rickshaw to take the children to Sangam, thankfully a teacher came with us so it was sorted out relatively easily. So we all piled into a rickshaw Kylie somehow ended up with only 3 children in hers, I on the other hand had the teacher and 7 children - odd thing was it felt as if we still had space. In total we had 30 children; 10 from my mobile creche site, 10 from Katsuko's mobile creche site and 10 from Door Step. Even though
Door Step also offer education for underprivileged children you could tell they were better of than the children from our site. The children from Door Step a
rrived in nice sparkly outfits which looked rather new, this was rather different from the children from my site some of whom didn't even have any shoes to wear. The CVP funday was fantastic we started with a tour of the grounds and then split the children into 2 groups - boys and girls. One group swam whilst the other went on a round robin, which included games, a craft and playing on the playground. I was 1st stationed at the playground and then when the groups changed over I went swimming. The children seemed to enjoy all the activitie
s, some were a bit timid 
about getting into the pool but once they got in they didn't want to get out :) At the end of the day we got everyone together and played a big game of musical chairs and finished the afternoon of with mango ice-cream by the pool. Eventful rickshaw ride back to the creche as my rickshaw broke down, I have to say when we finally got the creche the teacher and Kylie looked rather relieved - they must have been wondering were on earth is Mollie with all those children (I somehow ended up with 7 children in my rickshaw again - I don't quite know how it happened)
3/11/09
We had today off so we could plan for the CVP funday tomorrow - I think its going to be rather hectic and crazy but great fun. Once we were all sorted I went to Lazmi road to do a last bit of shopping before I go, it was really nice to have a bit of time out strolling around line bazar getting bits and bobs that I wanted :)
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
2/11/09 - 12 days left at Sangam
As our paintings on 1 of the walls have gone moldy we decided to mak
e some more with the children. It was all a bit crazy and 
hectic but it was great fun and everyone enjoyed themselves. As it was to be expected some of the painting turned out better than others but they'll all look great on the walls :) In the afternoon we played some games, the older children were a bit addicted to carrom (a board game which is similar to pool but you have to flick a putt and hit pieces into the 4 wholes on each corner of the square) and I can see why as its great fun :) Tacco's for dinner woooop one of my fav Sangam dinners and it was international night which meant more fun - a GREAT day!!!
e some more with the children. It was all a bit crazy and 
hectic but it was great fun and everyone enjoyed themselves. As it was to be expected some of the painting turned out better than others but they'll all look great on the walls :) In the afternoon we played some games, the older children were a bit addicted to carrom (a board game which is similar to pool but you have to flick a putt and hit pieces into the 4 wholes on each corner of the square) and I can see why as its great fun :) Tacco's for dinner woooop one of my fav Sangam dinners and it was international night which meant more fun - a GREAT day!!!
31/10/09
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!! Went to MG road for some bits and bobs and to make some purchase to take home - it felt really strange coming back to Sangam knowing it was probably the last time I'll be go to MG road, its even weirder thinking I've only got 14 days left at Sangam!!! Times flown by and I can't believe its time to go already. In the afternoon I had several Skype dates which was lovely as I could catch up with everyone at home :) We had a relaxing evening in and just watched Love Aaj Kal, a fun Bollywood movie.
30/10/09
This 
morning we decorated fish (the teachers hinted about making them awhile ago so we thought we might as well), we ended up with some brilliant pictures like the rainbow fish, we even put some googly eyes on them to finish them off :) Whilst the older children ate we entertained the babies as usual - I have to admit I really enjoy just making them smile and giggle by pulling funny faces or tickling them. Kylie also made a discovery about Deepak's 'little sister' who actually turns out to be a boy :O She or rather he has frequently worn dresses and we would have kept on believing that he was a girl if he wasn't wearing a skirt with no undies on. (He's the one on the left) In the afternoon we made bead bracelets and different types of origami which they really enjoyed. They were still going crazy for the balloons I made the other day, so i became a production line again :)
morning we decorated fish (the teachers hinted about making them awhile ago so we thought we might as well), we ended up with some brilliant pictures like the rainbow fish, we even put some googly eyes on them to finish them off :) Whilst the older children ate we entertained the babies as usual - I have to admit I really enjoy just making them smile and giggle by pulling funny faces or tickling them. Kylie also made a discovery about Deepak's 'little sister' who actually turns out to be a boy :O She or rather he has frequently worn dresses and we would have kept on believing that he was a girl if he wasn't wearing a skirt with no undies on. (He's the one on the left) In the afternoon we made bead bracelets and different types of origami which they really enjoyed. They were still going crazy for the balloons I made the other day, so i became a production line again :)
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
29/10/09
This morning we made puppets which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. 
Most of the children just copied our examples - even down to the colours and patterns on the sari, but we did get a few fab saris and 2 faced puppets which was rather fun :) 
In the afternoon we got the children to do some puppet shows which was wonderful, everyone was constantly smiling - including the teachers. I let the kids run wild with my camera and ended up with some pretty random pictures - some are actually rather good :) When we packed up we found that we were missing 9 finger puppets :S The teachers frisked the children but 1 reappeared. It was even worse than the 5 pencil sharpeners which mysteriously went missing. In the evening I was overloaded with emails
Most of the children just copied our examples - even down to the colours and patterns on the sari, but we did get a few fab saris and 2 faced puppets which was rather fun :) 
In the afternoon we got the children to do some puppet shows which was wonderful, everyone was constantly smiling - including the teachers. I let the kids run wild with my camera and ended up with some pretty random pictures - some are actually rather good :) When we packed up we found that we were missing 9 finger puppets :S The teachers frisked the children but 1 reappeared. It was even worse than the 5 pencil sharpeners which mysteriously went missing. In the evening I was overloaded with emails
28/10/09
Today was our last Hindi lesson and we learnt how to write our names in Hindi!!!! In the afternoon we went to the Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum which was full of amazing things from the personal collection of Sri Dinkar Gangadhar. There were some beautiful carved doors, a suit of armor made out of fish scales (not sure how good that would have been in a battle but who knows), combs, nutcrakers, cooking utensils and loads more. In the evening we went out for dinner with Ezster, Einar, Mina and Mina's husband, as a kind of leaving do - I can't believe I've got only 17 days left at Sangam :O
Sunday, November 1, 2009
27/10/09
This 
morning we made masks again as the teachers wanted some more to put on the walls. We ended up with loads of beautiful masks that were full of colour and sparkles, which was wonderful. After lunch a little boy came up behind me and made me jump - he was only trying to give me a flower but my reaction startled him nearly as much as he made me jump. Here are some pics of him - 
they put talcon powder on the childrens faces to absorb sweat and for some other reasons, so that's why his face is covered in white powder. In the afternoon we tried to teach the children how to do some origami (Kylie made cranes and I made balloons) but it ended up with me and Kylie becoming a production line making everyone one of each. It was a bit manic as it was the 1st time I'd ever made the balloons, so I was teaching myself whilst attempting mass production for all the kid but it turned out well so all was OK :)
morning we made masks again as the teachers wanted some more to put on the walls. We ended up with loads of beautiful masks that were full of colour and sparkles, which was wonderful. After lunch a little boy came up behind me and made me jump - he was only trying to give me a flower but my reaction startled him nearly as much as he made me jump. Here are some pics of him - 
they put talcon powder on the childrens faces to absorb sweat and for some other reasons, so that's why his face is covered in white powder. In the afternoon we tried to teach the children how to do some origami (Kylie made cranes and I made balloons) but it ended up with me and Kylie becoming a production line making everyone one of each. It was a bit manic as it was the 1st time I'd ever made the balloons, so I was teaching myself whilst attempting mass production for all the kid but it turned out well so all was OK :)
26/10/09
Back t
o the creche today :) We drew hands today and 
decorated them with Mahendi patterns, which the children seemed to really enjoy. In the afternoon we did some alphabet work and looked after the babies. Here is a pic of me rocking one of the babies, I have developed some amazing skills at being able to get them to sleep. One mum always comes and finds me after shes finished breast feeding and wants to leave, just so I can work my magic. All the children are so cute I'm really going to miss them. Kylie made the discovery that Deepak's little sister is actually a little brother, which came as a bit of a surprise I have to say.
o the creche today :) We drew hands today and 
decorated them with Mahendi patterns, which the children seemed to really enjoy. In the afternoon we did some alphabet work and looked after the babies. Here is a pic of me rocking one of the babies, I have developed some amazing skills at being able to get them to sleep. One mum always comes and finds me after shes finished breast feeding and wants to leave, just so I can work my magic. All the children are so cute I'm really going to miss them. Kylie made the discovery that Deepak's little sister is actually a little brother, which came as a bit of a surprise I have to say.
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