Hi, my name is James and I'm volunteering this year (2007) with Amida's English teaching project in India. This is just a quick update on how things have gone so far.
We touched down in Delhi about 6 weeks ago. All those hours at the Buddhist house talking about the project, India and the many facets of Indian culture had come to an end and I was here.
We spent the next 4 weeks establishing the project again in Delhi. Due to unfortunate circumstances this was more challenging than in previous years as it involved securing ourselves a place to live and delicately re-establishing relations with various groups ( i.e. drinking lots of chai). In many ways this period was a valid lesson to Sahishnu and me. Reflecting on the circumstances we found ourselves in we had to come to terms with the amount we were relying on good friends of the project to help us. Even the simplest of things such as buying a cooker or finding out where to get gas bottles from had to be suspended until someone could help us. It wasn't the most comfortable of feelings as we had to admit the amount we value the control we have over our lives, insisting we are 'independent' or 'free' even though this is never really the case… I should mention now that at least one hour of Sahishnu and my day is set aside for only the most serious of philosophical discussion!
I'm happy to say that the past Indian volunteers, Prakash especially, did very well. We are now well established in our apartment just outside of Ashok Nagar. The location is ideal as it is right in the heart of the communities we want to serve. The way the project is developing, with its new base, sums up this year's focus - take the teaching to the people who need it.
With a growing program of children centered 'outreaches' (Silampoor, Ashok Nagar, Natu Colony, Shanty Nagar), evening classes for adult (18 – 25) beginners, an advanced conversation class for the Indian volunteers and (fingers crossed) women's classes three times a week, things are really gathering momentum here.
Our challenge is to stay focused, continue to develop meaningful relationships with those around us and to teach, teach, teach.
I'll try my bet to keep you updated on how we're getting along.
Watch this space.
James.
