My First week in Delhi!

My first week in Delhi has been amazing. I am living with a great family in Green Park, a nice neighborhood in the South of Delhi. The streets are all lined with trees and there are parks around practically every corner. The Jerath family consists of the father, Rocky; the mother, Geetika; the 20-year old daughter, Rishika; the 13-year old son, Rahul; and Rocky’s sister, Nina. They have all been so welcoming and I felt at home immediately. They enjoy How I Met Your Mother, and when I learned that I knew right away we’d get along. There is also another volunteer here, Gabby, who is 19 and from the UK. She is a firecracker. Funny, bright, and able to banter with everyone, Gabby and I hit it off right away. She is also an invaluable guide. She has been here since January and knows her way around. We are working at the same project, and she has shown me the best ways to get there, the best places to eat, and the best places to get orange juice on the street.

            We are working at the Delhi Commonwealth Women’s Association Hospital, although it is more like a clinic as there are no beds and none of the patients stay overnight. The medical aspect of volunteering at the clinic involves mostly observing the doctors as they treat patients throughout the day. Nearly all interactions are done in Hindi, though, so it is a challenging process. There is also a van that drives out to poorer areas to distribute medicine: Gabby spends most of her mornings in the van. She is training to be a nurse and has worked in a hospital before, so she already has some experience. The aspect that appealed most to me at the hospital is the nursery school that they run for local children. Every day, nearly 100 3-4 year olds gather in 4 classrooms to learn their ABCs and the Hindi equivalent. The day consists of a period of writing, a period of reciting the alphabets, a break for recess, and then a period of doing colors, numbers or songs and poems. I have been working there since Monday and I really enjoy it. The kids speak no English, so I communicate partly through my broken Hindi but mostly through hand gestures and facial expressions. All the students are adorable. The teachers have been very kind and welcoming to me. Throughout the morning I will assist with writing, quell disputes over blocks, and once or twice I have led the class in Twinkle, Twinkle and Baa Baa Black Sheep. Sometimes I just sit and observe the teachers, who all have divinely inspired patience. I am gaining quite a lot through watching them.

            In the afternoon, after a leisurely lunch break during which Gabby and I explore the surrounding neighborhood and then settle down in a park with some street food, Gabby and I tutor older students who attend a local private school but are sponsored through donations from the DCWA. This is also an entertaining experience, as I get to see what sort of things they are learning in school. Most of it is fairly similar to what we learn in the States. One of the boys in 6^th Class is taking French, and as I was helping him with his homework I experienced this bizarre, international phenomenon of communicating in 3 languages at once. While the curriculum is very comprehensive, the way of learning is very different than what I experienced growing up. They do practically everything by rote. One girl was studying for her science test, but it seemed to me more like she was learning lines than studying. They can repeat their notes verbatim, but when you ask them to give their own example, or extrapolate just a little bit, they are lost. It’s definitely made me appreciate the “not for school but for life” aspect of my education. Nonetheless, the kids are quite bright and it is fun getting to know them. I think I am going to enjoy my 7 weeks working at the hospital. 

Two photos of the outside of the hospital -- more pictures to come!