Denise (India)

I have been a volunteer with Mondo many times in the Kalimpong area of India, on my own, with my friend and fellow teacher Jenny, with my husband Andrew and with my sister Lorna.  We have taught at Alpha Primary School and also done teacher training with Nico. The last trip was in 2019 when my sister and I did a week’s teacher training with all the Mondo schools and it was a wonderful experience to share our knowledge and experience with all the teachers. It was my sister’s first trip to India and she loved every minute of it. Volunteering has enriched my life immensely and getting to know the Rai family, (Santa Rai is the Mondo Foundation Country Manager), has been both a privilege and a pleasure. They have taken me and my family into their homes and made us so welcome. I hope to return again to work with both the children and the teachers and continue our friendship with all  the lovely people out there.

My first visit to Barranumber, near Kalimpong,  was with my friend Jenny.  We were both still working teachers so our only free time was during the summer holidays.  This meant we were in the village both during the monsoon and during the school summer holidays.  With no school curriculum to follow we set up a summer school for 4 weeks and provided a wide range of fun activities for children aged 3-11 years.  The children had lots of imaginative play and role play opportunities, painting , creating books and newspaper, singing and dancing.  It was great fun for us and the children.

My visit on my own had two special highlights.  I suggested to the teachers at Alpha that they could celebrate their Nepali culture, history, language, life cycle events etc with a school production.  I gave them £25 for resources and left them to it.  They and the children were brilliant and put on a most amazing show and all the families came to watch.  I was so proud of the children and the teachers of what they had achieved. The second highlight was a trip to the Science Centre and Nature Museum in Kalimpong.  All the children had work books to complete and it was an exciting day out for everyone.

My visit with my husband was carefully planned to encourage the children to develop their conversational English through songs and role play.  We took with us materials to create a café, a shop and  a doctor’s surgery. We also encouraged the children to make their own stories and books in English.  We encouraged the teachers to join in all the role plays and to understand how learning English can be a fun, practical experience, not just from books. We also set up a lending library and allowed the children to take the books home and return and exchange.  Songs, rhymes, dancing, painting and problem solving for maths and science were all successful learning techniques.  Andrew and I also did a week’s teacher training with Nico where we tried to encourage active learning.

My recent visit with my sister Lorna was entirely focussed on all the Mondo teachers in the Kalimpong area..  The theme was using story books to develop all aspects of the curriculum and encourage active learning  rather than book based teaching.  All the teachers entered our workshops most enthusiastically and we all had such great fun.  It was a pleasure and a privilege to work with all the teachers.  Our over riding message was to reinforce the importance of telling, reading, writing and making up stories. Also to focus on active learning rather than rote learning.  We tried to show how even with limited resources and money fun activities can be planned to help develop the children’s English language skills.

All my teaching in the Kalimpong schools has been extremely rewarding. It has been enriching to work with the teachers, children and the Rai family. I really hope someday I can return.