Emily (India)

I absolutely loved my experience in India and would advise anyone considering volunteering to do so. It all started when Mondo Trustee, Hirsh, came to visit the school where I worked to discuss how the funds we had raised were helping Pioneer Preparatory School in Sindebong Busty, Kalimpong. This was one of our house charities and I was immediately drawn to the possibility of being able to visit the school and see the work that Mondo Foundation do. Fast forward a few months and I found myself on my way to spend the summer of 2019 in the Himalayan region of India!

Due to exams, I was only able to stay at Pioneer School for a week but during this time I really immersed myself in everything that the school had to offer. I particularly enjoyed teaching the younger students who I did lots of storytelling and puppetry with. The school were also rehearsing for their celebrations for Independence Day which included lots of drills and dance performances which were fascinating to watch.

My second placement was at Alpha Nursery School in Barranumber Village and the pupils were very excited to receive a volunteer. I stayed with NB (the headmaster) and his wife and they made me feel extremely welcome. My focus for my time at Alpha was to enhance interactive teaching, promote English conversational skills and encourage more reading in English. Lots of lessons are still taught from text books, however the children welcomed some role play, use of competitions and quizzes, story telling and games into their lessons.

As a drama specialist, I was particularly interested in creating role plays during conversation classes where the children had to interact with each other, for example we created a ‘shop’ where students had to ask for/ sell things. NB offered extra tuition at the end of the school day and I became very close with the students who stayed on for this. In the short break we would play football together and I often taught them new games and English songs.

During my stay I also had the opportunity to accompany Mondo Foundation’s Country Manager, Santa Rai, to several other schools to assist him with some teacher training. The focus for this training was on ‘interactive’ teaching and we were also able to take lots of resources to the schools. I found it incredibly fulfilling to be welcomed into so many different schools and to see so many children enjoying their learning. The teachers in all the schools work incredibly hard and often have very limited resources, yet they are always so friendly!

See the children at Alpha Nursery School, Barranumber having fun filming on Emily’s phone: