Educating the kids: the story
From Cmi Spark
Contents |
Brief history
A spark from Bodhayan
Bodhayan Roy, a first-year B.Sc. mathematics student at CMI, was keen on using his energy, spare time and resources to helping under-privileged children. Bodhayan began by considering an orphanage. His plan was that CMI students can spend their spare time teaching the orphanage kids (viz orphans).
In a discussion group among the first-years, it was decided that Padmavathi (a first-year B.Sc. physics student at CMI) would ask a person she knew about details of orphanages and how CMI students could contribute to the work.
A redirection by Kshitij
Kshitij suggested to Bodhayan that instead of seeking students at orphanages, CMI students could direct their energies to educating and improving the lives of the children of the construction workers involved in constructing the CMI hostels. A general discussion among the first-years led to the conclusion that the Social Service Wing (as it was then called) would work towards improving the lot of the cosntruction workers.
Attempts at getting started
Vipul (a third-year B.Sc. mathematics student at CMI) discussed the possibilities with Bodhayan and suggested that if Bodhayan was serious, he should ask Mrs. Rajeshwari Nair (office person) for the background of the children and whether past efforts had been made to educate the children. Bodhayan sent a mail to Mrs. Rajeshwari, and she replied saying that the children were not Tamil, but Telugu, and that their parents had come from Andhra Pradesh. She also said that this had been a handicapping factor in past efforts to educate the children. However, she lauded Bodhayan for his efforts and asked him to get in touch with Professor K.V. Subramanyam, who knew Telugu.
Going there, getting introduced
A select group of first-year students went along with Professor K.V. Subramanyam to meet the kdis and their parents. Some of the parents were enthusiastic about their kids learning stuff. Bodhayan and the other big kids got introduced to the small kids. The four small kids were: Satyanarayana (alias Satish), Vasu, Bhawani, and Sireesha.
Formal contact begins
Daily sessions
It was decided that a group of 5-6 volunteer teachers would go and interact with the 4 kids for one hour every working day. This session was usually held in the afternoon, at the gate of the to-be hostel (it is still being held). By default, the volunteers were first-year students, but occasionally, students of other years, if free, would pitch in and relieve the first-years.
The general pattern of a daily session:
- The volunteer students (including at least one Telugu speaker) assemble. One of the volunteers picks a packet from the office. The packet comprises slates, chalks, pastels, a few pencils and a pen.
- The volunteers track down the students, and after a few games of hide-and-seek, all the students and volunteers settle down at the steps of the hostel gate.
- One or two of the volunteers teach Satish the alphabet and concepts of basic arithmetic. The medium of instruction is a mix of Telugu and English. Satish has his own notebook and all work done is recorded in that notebook.
- The other volunteers help around with the other kids, play with them, and take care of them in general. Bhawani is encouraged to experiment with using the chalk on the slate. Vasu and Sireesha are a little shy, and the volunteers generally just play around with them.(Bhavani is also extremely shy)
- At the end of the session, the volunteers collect the belongings, mop up the place (not really!) and dump the packet back in the office.
Other activities
I don't know of any, please fill in.
Please click here for a Progress report on the kids.
