16 Unforgettable, Moving and Special are the three words I would use to describe my five- week volunteering experience in India. I travelled to Kolkata, thanks to the Volunteer Abroad programme and The Hope Founda- tion on the 5th of June. My journey began in Dublin, where then I flew to Dubai and lastly onto Kolkata. The flights were long but I felt so welcomed to the country. Everyone was so polite and friendly, I instantly felt at ease! This was my second time in Kolkata but my previous trip was for a much shorter stay with my secondary school. The heat, the beeping, the stares, smells, all flooded back into my memory. Our first week in India was an orientation week. We really got a taste of The Hope Foundations mission throughout this week, it is truly dedicated to promoting the protection of street & slum children primarily in Kolkata, and the most underprivileged in India, to pro- mote immediate and lasting change in their lives. We visited a wide range of the chari- ties wonderful projects, whether it be through protection, education, health and wellbeing, drug rehabilitation or life skills and vocational training. I started my work towards the end of my first week. I couldn’t wait to get to work. The vol- unteer co- ordinatator really took in my inter- ests, skills and past experiences when plac- ing me in my projects. As a Social Care here in CIT, I had just finished my first year of place- ment and I really felt like I learnt a lot of broad and universal theories which I could bring into practice in my projects! I was placed in two Crisis Cen- tres, one male (two times a week) and one female (three times a week). These two homes provided immediate care and protection with a tem- porary shelter home for boys and girls who experienced violence, abuse or neglect throughout the streets of Kol- kata. Services like counselling, nutrition and rehabilitation were offered in these homes. In these projects, I was mainly there to have fun with the boys and girls, e.g., Singing nursery rhymes, colouring, drawing, simple games. These were the best activities for the crisis centres as the children were placed there for only six months and had very little if not any English! The children were straight in from hazardous and dangerous situations on the streets so some were shy and still quite shocked etc, and some were outgoing so it was mainly trying to mix these personalities! I was also blessed to work in a girls home, Keertika, where 25 amazing girls were sup- ported through the provision of healthcare, education, protection, counselling, nutrition and recreation activities. Many of the girls had fallen victim to trafficking, physical, emotional, psychological, and sexual abuse or were at great risk and danger of such violations and neglect. I taught English to these girls three times a week along side three other volun- teers. The Hope Foundation have a Life Skills unit in the middle of Kolkata city. The unit delivers high-quality vocational training to individuals that are unable to avail of such services else- where. Professionally designed training which provides the young women and men with the opportunity to receive training and a job placement to provide for their families. There were many key trades taught here, includ- ing, catering and hospitality in the Hope Café where we ate lunch daily! Computer, knitting, sewing, clothes design, hair and beauty and video and photography! I was working in the computer room with an- other volunteer twice a week where we taught English to a class of 20. The students had an hour first of computer skills and then an hour of English class. The people in the classes ages ranged from 16-25. We had a syllabus to follow which was a massive help. During our classes, we did interactive activities to boost the student’s confidence. A lot of them had English but weren’t used to speaking it aloud, so we really focused on this aspect for the pe- riod we were teaching. I really enjoyed seeing them improve and slowly but surely become confident speaking English, as each student had extraordinary potential! It was very re- warding at the end of the day. VOLUNTEER ABROAD 2018 INFORMATION EVENING ON WEDS 8TH NOV FROM 5.30PM TO 7PM IN THE STUDENT CENTRE COME ALONG, GET AN INSIGHT AND FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN APPLY FOR A VOLUNTEER ABROAD SCHOLARSHIP AND BURSARY by Ciara Carroll Kolkata, India, Summer 2017
Transcript
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Unforgettable, Moving and Special are the three words I would use to describe my five-week volunteering experience in India.I travelled to Kolkata, thanks to the Volunteer Abroad programme and The Hope Founda-tion on the 5th of June. My journey began in Dublin, where then I flew to Dubai and lastly onto Kolkata. The flights were long but I felt so welcomed to the country. Everyone was so polite and friendly, I instantly felt at ease! This was my second time in Kolkata but my previous trip was for a much shorter stay with my secondary school. The heat, the beeping, the stares, smells, all flooded back into my memory. Our first week in India was an orientation week. We really got a taste of The Hope Foundations mission throughout this week, it is truly dedicated to promoting the protection of street & slum children primarily in Kolkata, and the most underprivileged in India, to pro-mote immediate and lasting change in their lives. We visited a wide range of the chari-ties wonderful projects, whether it be through protection, education, health and wellbeing, drug rehabilitation or life skills and vocational training. I started my work towards the end of my first week. I couldn’t wait to get to work. The vol-unteer co- ordinatator really took in my inter-ests, skills and past experiences when plac-ing me in my projects. As a Social Care here in CIT, I had just finished my first year of place-ment and I really felt like I learnt a lot of broad and universal theories which I could bring into practice in my projects!
I was placed in two Crisis Cen-tres, one male (two times a week) and one female (three times a week). These two homes provided immediate care and protection with a tem-porary shelter home for boys and girls who experienced violence, abuse or neglect throughout the streets of Kol-kata. Services like counselling, nutrition and rehabilitation were offered in these homes. In these projects, I was mainly there to have fun with the boys and girls, e.g., Singing nursery rhymes, colouring, drawing, simple games. These were the best activities for the crisis centres as the children were placed there for only six months and had very little if not any English! The children were straight in from hazardous and dangerous situations on the streets so some were shy and still quite shocked etc, and some were outgoing so it was mainly trying to mix these personalities! I was also blessed to work in a girls home, Keertika, where 25 amazing girls were sup-ported through the provision of healthcare, education, protection, counselling, nutrition and recreation activities. Many of the girls had fallen victim to trafficking, physical, emotional, psychological, and sexual abuse or were at great risk and danger of such violations and neglect. I taught English to these girls three times a week along side three other volun-teers. The Hope Foundation have a Life Skills unit in the middle of Kolkata city. The unit delivers
high-quality vocational training to individuals that are unable to avail of such services else-where. Professionally designed training which provides the young women and men with the opportunity to receive training and a job placement to provide for their families. There were many key trades taught here, includ-ing, catering and hospitality in the Hope Café where we ate lunch daily! Computer, knitting, sewing, clothes design, hair and beauty and video and photography! I was working in the computer room with an-other volunteer twice a week where we taught English to a class of 20. The students had an hour first of computer skills and then an hour of English class. The people in the classes ages ranged from 16-25. We had a syllabus to follow which was a massive help. During our classes, we did interactive activities to boost the student’s confidence. A lot of them had English but weren’t used to speaking it aloud, so we really focused on this aspect for the pe-riod we were teaching. I really enjoyed seeing them improve and slowly but surely become confident speaking English, as each student had extraordinary potential! It was very re-warding at the end of the day.
VOLUNTEER ABROAD 2018 INFORMATION EVENING ON WEDS 8TH NOV FROM 5.30PM TO 7PM IN THE STUDENT CENTRE
COME ALONG, GET AN INSIGHT AND FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN APPLY FOR A VOLUNTEER ABROAD SCHOLARSHIP AND BURSARY
by Ciara Carroll
Kolkata, India, Summer 2017
17
One day a week, I was placed in another girls home, but the girls who stayed here were much closer in age to myself! The 18 of us got on so well, it was as if I was talking to my friends at home! It made me feel like I was at home when I was with these girls. We visited this home every Wednesday! Addition to visit-ing their home weekly to dance, do each oth-er’s hair and makeup and have just a chat with each other, we also started to play basketball with the girls three nights a week! This was a fantastic way to get to know the girls. I really loved participating in the basketball, we made great friendships and it was great to see the girls truly enjoying themselves. Every day was different in Kolkata. Transport to and from projects were an experience in itself! Some children might have be upset or frustrated, and all they might need was some cheering up, someone to make them laugh or smile! Although I worked every day, I was finished at 7 and managed to see the hidden gems Kolkata (The City of Joy) had to offer! We visited temples, cafes, markets in evenings and during the weekends we had off too! The differ-ence in culture was surreal but impor-tant to see, there were such diverse ways of living, like for example a men’s section and a women’s section on the bus and trains! I was given the opportunity to go on The Hope Foundations night watch service that runs through the night. This is a well-equipped ambulance with a doctor, nurse, and social worker on board. I was excited but nervous to go out on the night watch because I knew it would be a serious eye opener. An eye opener it was. During the day, you don’t realise how over populated Kolkata actually is, as everyone is busy and on the move, but at night, the over crowded streets of Kolkata are highlighted and are seriously brought to your attention. We went to about eight different sites in Kolkata to offer care and support, one site was under a flyover. A small space and about 30 families crapped under this cold and damp, motorway flyover. I was in awe, they were all so happy and upbeat when we arrived, as if nothing was wrong? There were children starved with no parents, women shaking with the cold, men who were addicted to drugs but still trying to hold their fami-lies together. This really changed my outlook on life. We need to be grate-ful for every small thing in our lives, no greed, no selfishness. Life is too short. On my flight home, I was so sad to leave all the boys and girls in the homes, but we had so much fun and we learnt so much together. Then I was thinking what I could I tell volunteers who are about to begin their experi-ence, as a piece of advice? I would tell them that it is very hard to change a whole countries poverty. Every volun-teer, including myself start off think-ing that we can destroy and get rid of poverty forever. I wish this could hap-pen and I know, believe me, it is so
frustrating to see personally. What I learnt is that we must break down the cycle of poverty slowly but, surely. Making minor differences is such an improvement. Making someone laugh or smile, learning new songs, new words and sentences, new dances, or even learning how to play a new sport is a start! As Mother Te-resa once said, ‘We can do no great things, only small things with great love’. All these simple small things can really mean so much to someone. I brought home very special memories that I will cherish forever more. I made amazing friends with other volunteers that I know will last a life time. I am so thankful and deeply grateful to have gotten this unforgettable, moving and special opportunity, thanks to the Volunteer Abroad programme in CIT.
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