First Impression, August/September 2008
Ms. Griselda Murray Brown


I arrived in Jodhpur early on 27th August. Having spent three weeks traveling through Kerala, Karnataka, and Goa with some friends, it was not the noise and confusion of Jodhpur’s morning rush-hour that struck me, but the Rajasthani heat, which is more intense than in the south. After breakfast at the guesthouse, I met Govind and we discussed my role as a volunteer at the Sambhali School in Setrawa; though we had similar conversations over email, it was great finally to talk face to face!

The following morning we were driven to Setrawa, a desert village roughly two hours west of Jodhpur, where the Sambhali Trust has established a girls’ school. As we pulled up outside the school, a handful of small girls rushed from their sewing and crafts lesson to greet us. They seemed a happy, friendly group, and, although they could speak little English, I felt welcomed.

I taught my first English lesson that evening. Having had no previous teaching experience, I asked Rekha, the local teacher who works at the school, what she would like me to do. “Oh, they like singing”, she replied casually, before leaving me alone with the twenty or so 5-12 year olds known as ‘the younger ones’. I quickly discovered that although they could sing the rainbow song (and could do so very loudly), they could not match the names they were singing to colours in the room. I chose one girl, wearing predominantly red, to be Red, another wearing yellow to be Yellow, and so on, and lined them up to make the colours of the rainbow. The girls then sang the song pointing at the Red girl (who simultaneously jumped up), as they sang the word ‘red’, the Yellow girl as they sang ‘yellow’, etc. until the singing got so loud that Rekha came through to check I was alright! The lesson continued in a similar vein, and it became clear to me that my work here would be as more about teaching through playing games, and providing the girls with a space in which to have fun and build confidence, than about teaching perfect English. I was buzzing after my first lesson, and look forward to getting to know the girls individually.