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Published: February 22nd 2012
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The "four" volunteers
Natalie, John, Me and Heather on our way to a traditional Indian wedding. Heather, Natalie, and I arrived at our new homestay in Faridabad late last Sunday night (February 12/12) after a long day spent in Agra visiting the Taj Mahal. Our new host family consists of Shri (dad), Mamta (mom) and their two daughters Naisa (age 4) and Naima (3). Another important member of our new family is a volunteer named John. John has been staying in Faridabad with Mamta and Shri for the past ten weeks. The three of us girls had no idea what a whirl wind we had just been dropped into.
First stop on Monday morning was to the slum school which would be our home base in the weeks to come. What an awesome and completely overwhelming experience. As we walked along the dirt roads lined with
garbage, stray dogs, and livestock we could feel the excitement in the air. "Hello maam", "Hi", "What is your name?" Children of all ages stopped what they were doing to come and shake our hands and practice
their limited English. They were thrilled to see us! WE were thrilled to see them! The bright eyed, big smiling, dirt covered children that swarmed us as we walked down the street really
were the best welcoming
committee. We knew right away that we were in for something unexpected and potentially life changing.
The knowledge and insight that John has gained during his time in Faridabad has proved to be a very valuable asset. Unfortunately for John, he has had the challenge of transferring to us, in only a few days, the knowledge that he has gained over the course of ten weeks. John gave us an introduction to the culture, beliefs/values, and traditions of those living in the slums without consideration for the fact that this much information in such a short time could result in our brains crashing from an overload of information. Lucky for us, we came to Faridabad as blank slates, eager to learn, with hundreds of questions locked and loaded, ready to be fired whenever the opportunity presented itself.
John clued us in to the work he has been doing and welcomed our involvement in the amazing projects that were already in progress. Wow! How were the three of us blessed enough to be in this perfect place at
just the right time? So here it is: A week prior to our arrival, John had established
some very important relationships with the Sisters (Pushpa, Prasanna, Sweta, Asha) at the Carmel Convent private school.
The Sisters were impressed by John's work in the slum and offered to integrate 15 students from the slums into the Carmel Convent school. The education being offered is from first standard through to tenth
standard (first grade to tenth grade). Sister Pushpa has arranged for three teachers to volunteer their time and teach the students in a separate afternoon class (from 2:00-5:00 p.m). The students will have access to the same classrooms, computers and learning resources as the other Carmel students. After our 15 children catch up to the rest of the students they will be integrated into the regular classes.
As if the above mentioned generosity was not enough, Sister Pushpa has started a collection of notebooks, pencils, erasers, etc. from the 1625 Carmel students. To have the support and participation from the other
students is inspiring. An education at a private school is a huge gift for the slum students as it opens up opportunities that would otherwise be impossible. Nearly 100% of the graduates from Carmel Convent School
go on to college and all students will be fluent
in English by graduation. This school has a very good reputation and their is great competition for the limited spots offered each year.
So this outlines the great opportunity that has been presented to Natalie, Heather, John and I as we aer the ones that will be helping with the selection of these 15 students. We have been spending some time in the slum school evaluating each child's motivation and potential and helping to narrow the focus as best as possible. This has proved to be more challenging for us girls as we have not had as much time to get to know the kids and just putting a name to a face is a huge feat. All of the kids are so great and are deserving of this experience and we have the difficult yet amazing opportunity to change a life. We have focused our attention on selecting young girls as without our help they are destined for lives of illiteracy, arranged marriages, and child rearing. The community has not shown an understanding in the value of education and those that have, would send their boys to school before their girls as they will be able to support
the family. Girls are seen as more of a burden because investing in their future will only prove beneficial for their future husband's family. We are witnessing some important steps to revolutionizing the lives of these kids/families/community as a whole.
We have attended interviews with the parents of the children to get a sense of which children are at the highest risk of not getting an education without this opportunity. The slum school teacher/social worker, Mitlesh, has served as our translator with some help from our house mother, Mamta, as well. During the interviews we got to see where these kids are living. Most families are living in small one bedroom brick houses (the size of a backyard shed) that they have rented. These houses are dark, with dirt floors, with small cooking stoves fueled by dried cow patties. The families sleep on the floor and the bathroom duties are done outside along the canal with no real concern for privacy.
We have hardly stopped long enough to catch our breath over the course of the week and it is difficult to imagine that so much could be accomplished in such a short time.
So what can
you do to help? Please pray for us and the community of Faridabad and please check out John's blog at johnschupbach.wordpress.com to learn about the opportunities available for offering financial support and/or sponsoring an individual child to go to school (fees for uniforms, shoes, backpacks, books). This project has been named The Squalor to Scholar Program. Thanks and God bless.
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