BACK OUT IN THE FIELD

Rusheel Nayak
This morning’s discussion during Swadhya was extremely interesting because we compared and contrasted the basic tenets of Hinduism to other major religions around the world.  We set out for Jadrangal, another CORD village, where we learned about the local agriculture and farming techniques.  It gave us all perspective because we understood the effort the farmers put into growing crops and the difficulties they face daily in providing their families with food.

            Although that day’s Mahila Mandal was interesting, the main attraction was the Balavihar children, who were so much fun to play with.  Initially, we just introduced ourselves, but they all were so excited to introduce themselves as well…in English too!  We taught them a few body parts in English, and when they were experts, we tried to reinforce these concepts by singing and acting the game “head, shoulders, knees, and toes.”  Also, we played “Gandhiji says,” a spin on “Simon Says” with the same body parts.  The children understood the game immediately, and everyone had so much fun!

            In addition, we also played “duck, duck, goose” with the children.  All the children were begging to become the “goose” so they could run around and be cheered by the rest of the crowd.  After all this fun, we gave the Balavihar kids a small lesson in hygiene.  We talked about constantly washing hands, sneezing into one’s sleeve (instead of one’s hands), and brushing teeth.  We gave everyone stickers before leaving.  Our favorite part of the day was when one small child gave us all a flying kiss as we were leaving the village!

Meera Parat

This was by far the best day of them all! Interacting with the Balavihar and Yuvti Samuh kids was a lot of fun! They were a lively bunch and they opened up a lot to us in the end. There was a mix of boys and girls. They all introduced themselves in the proper manner, and then we got into teaching them some health and hygiene issues, body parts, and then played games with them. They learnt quickly and we hope they will follow most of the things we taught them! Playing “Duck, Duck, Goose” was a big hit, and we could tell that they were becoming more and more comfortable with us strangers. In the end, at least 5 kids had asked us to come to their house. Unfortunately, we had to leave, but it meant so much that they respected us and had opened up to us so much in just an hour and a half.

Krishna Narra

Although these kids weren’t able to understand us as easily, they showed great enthusiasm in learning what we had to teach or introduce to them. They did a great job in understanding “Ghandi says” as well as the “Head and Shoulders” song. They also listened patiently as we explained hygiene.

Sonali Nayak

Playing with the Balavihar kids was so much fun because they were so innocent and eager to learn. We taught them about body parts and hygiene. After learning “head, shoulders, knees, and toes,” Ritu, Vishal, and Abu bravely volunteered to sing the song. All the kids were so sweet and happy. Despite only wearing “flip-flops” the kids did not hold back while playing “Duck, Duck, Goose.” They dove, skidded, and lunged. I had as much fun watching them as they had playing the game. At the end, we took a group photo, and passed out animal stickers. By the time we actually left, each child’s shirt, arms, face, and hands were completely plastered.

Gowtham Raja
The day started off with me being extremely sick, and when we got to the Mahila Mandal I took rest while the rest of the group toured the local agricultural methods that were implemented by CORD workers that ensured a higher crop yield. After this, the group met with the women of the Mahila Mandal and it was somewhat difficult for us to interact with them due to our language barriers. However, later the Balavihar kids showed up and this proved to be the highlight of my trip. They were so eager to learn about us and where we came from and they were so happy just for us to interact with them. 

Group photo with the Balavihar Children

Teaching the Balavihar children about the India and the United States

Playing "duck...duck...GOOSE!" with the Balavihar children