|
Final Impression, May 2009
Ms. Adriana Contreras
In the six weeks that I spent volunteering at Sambhali Trust, I grew to know the culture and especially the girls of Setrawa. Being in Setrawa could be trying at times, but the benefits and experience that I gained far outweighed those trying times. While you are removed from the Jodhpur office the amount of support that I received from everyone in the “big city” was an enormous help. If circumstances would have been different in my own life, I know that I would have opted to stay in Setrawa for a much longer time.
Before going to Setrawa most everyone in Jodhpur told me how sweet and open the girls were. I really had no idea of how involved in the project most girls were until I arrived in Setrawa. Unlike in Jodhpur you spend most of your day with the girls. This was even more so for me, as I was placed into a home stay with Usha, the local teacher’s family.
At first I was a bit apprehensive about staying with a home stay, as I had never really staying in anything of the sort, but I figured that being with a family was better than ever having to feel lonely. Usha’s family was very nice, and did everything in their power to help me feel at home. There were some issues that were, at first, difficult to deal with, but with time I grew more accustomed to the routine and began to feel at home.
One of the biggest issues that I had to deal with was the complete lack of personal space. I was given my own room, which turned out to be the family’s pooja room, and storage space area. The family in fact intended, and tried their hardest to give me privacy, but Indian standards of privacy are no where near those that we have in the western world. While I had a room, and a bed I slept with the family on the roof of the house. On any given night it wasn’t just my family that would sleep on the roof; it was also pretty much everyone else, meaning that there were whole families sleeping all around us. At first this was a little strange, but again I grew used to it.
Indian’s personal space boundaries are something that also begins to mingle with their noise level. The family usually woke up at around 6:30 every morning. Since I slept alongside of them I usually started to wake up when I heard them moving around or with the constant cries of dogs and peacocks. If all of that didn’t wake me up then the family’s calls to one another did. Every morning I was sure to hear “Eh Usha!” or “Eh Usha Mami!”. So I learned to wake up early, which in a way was better because the temperatures became almost unbearable well before noon.
After waking and taking a shower Usha and I would begin to walk to Sambhali School at around 11 o’clock for the morning sewing class. We would make it about twenty meters before hoards of Sambhali students would start walking along with us. The sewing class was one of my favorite parts of working with Sambhali because you got a chance to really get to know the girls. While Usha and the older girls would work on sewing the small girls and I would be working on various arts and crafts. The arts and crafts ranged from coloring and painting, to making greeting cards.
After the sewing class Usha and I would walk back to her house where we would eat lunch. Usha and her mother are both very good cooks, and you get a chance to see what traditional Indians eat. Lunch and dinner usually consisted of one or two vegetables, with about four or five chapattis. Because Setrawa was so hot during the months that I was there, we usually tended to take a nap during the afternoon, in order to beat the heat. Then at around five o’clock we would once again make our way over to the Sambhali School.
The five o’clock class is the large class of the girls, and on most days about twenty to thirty girls come. In these classes we would divide the girls into two groups; the big girls, and the small girls. This division was worked out due to their level of English. The small girls learned really basic things like body parts, and colors, while the big girls began learning how to conjugate simple verbs. Every Thursday we would have a test in the big girls’ class. This was something that the girls asked me to do with them. They really enjoy getting graded, and they managed to turn it into a fun competition.
All of the girls in Setrawa, and every other villager that I came into contact with, are really happy to have Sambhali in Setrawa. Because of Setrawa’s small size, and lack of foreigners everyone knows who you are right away. You’ll find that if you go to Setrawa on the bus people will almost instantaneously start directing you towards the school. Its small things like this that shows how eager and helpful the people of Setrawa are.
Living and teaching in Setrawa was one of the most valuable experiences that I have had in my life. The girls make you feel right at home, and let it known that they are grateful for your help. While it is trying to stay in Setrawa as the only foreigner, you never feel lonely because you are always in the presence of others. I am very grateful to Usha’s family for helping me in my stay in Setrawa. I would return to help out in Setrawa for a longer period without hesitation. Living and working with this group of wonderful rural Indians is something that the next volunteer should definitely look forward too, and that I will surely miss.
|
|
 |
