Well the Sundarbans are completely different to Kolkata. No noise, no rush, no smells and no constant beeping. The Sundarbans are peaceful and calm and the sunsets are beautiful. Although the rooms are so cramped, the school campus we are living on is really nice, dusty open spaces cobbled paths and lots of palm trees. There is poverty in the area but it's not the ugly kind you see in photographs. It's more that the people just live simply ñ they use what they have.
The food is lovely although a shock to the system. The toilets are not the worst, we actually have European ones, and the shower is a pump a few minutes down the path. Having a shower here is quite a difficult procedure (especially at night) it makes me feel so grateful being able to have hot water at home at the tough of a button. No wifi, no washing machines, no street lights. It all makes you think. It makes you focus on what you're doing there and then. When you wash your clothes, you are only focusing on that job for half an hour.
Teaching is a lot of fun, work and nerves all rolled into one. I teach the children at the high school which is so enjoyable and rewarding. Half of the students and loreto girls get auto rickshaws to the high school every morning. I teach class 5 girls with Damien and Neha.
The kids are so attentive and eager to learn and it makes you feel so loved for doing something like this. You need a lot of enthusiasm and concentration to teach. You also must focus on all the positives when you correct them. Corporal punishment is still used in the school and kids are forced to rote learn useless English in order to not get hit with a cane. Their school books are absolutely atrocious and contain very difficult and meaningless exercises for children who are learning English for the first time. Therefore we encourage the children by focusing on the positives, with high-fives, thumbs up and clapping. We teach them basic vocabulary at first, going on to form sentences with them. We play games and sing songs. Yesterday, it was very rewarding to see each girl being able to stand up at the top of the class individually and introduce themselves, and talk about their family and what they like.
We teach for two and a half hours and then head back on the rickshaws to the campus. It's tiring stuff and our afternoons are mostly free. However we do do voluntary reading with the kids in the Jharkhali school and also carry out surveys with local families. In our free time we usually walk to the village or go swimming. In the evening we play cards, football or chat on the roof...or sleep. Last night we all had a huge game of Mafia that Hugh started. It gets dark quickly so you have to get things done before 6.
So far okay except on Wednesday and Thursday when I was sick and fainted. Most people get sick though when they are here, and it's over before you know it. At the moment I am being jerked back and forth on a rickshaw and attempting to write this down, so my writing is practically illegible, but you won't obviously because it will be typed up.
Well that's all for now.
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