Report from Kristel/ verslag van Kristel

Kristel Marien heeft haar verslag over haar tijd in Udaipur hier verwoord.

On January 17th I arrive in Udaipur. Elma Snijder is with me. I will stay in Udaipur for almost 8
weeks and the purpose of my visit is to help the NGO Matra Sansthan. I live together with Tarun
Aroras family during my stay. Whole family and all the local members of Matra Sansthan are very
helpfull. In the first weeks I also get a lot of support and help from Elma and Marja. I visit
Barischool, Nal Ka Bilwhara school and the house Hari Home and meet all the teachers to talk
about the programm I hope to realise during my stay.
I buy some materials, I have some Hindi-English books and I have prepared my lessons. So, after a
few days I'm ready to start teaching English. I go several days a week to Barischool and one or two
days a week to Nal Ka Bilwhara school and Hari Home. I'm not a real teacher and my methods for
teaching are totally different than the methods the local teachers use, but the children like it. They
are very interested and motivated to learn new things. I also try to stimulate the creativity of the
children by making art works. They like painting, colouring, cutting paper, etc. Besides that we
sing, play and dance. Some teachers are interested in the way I try to get the children interested in
learning English. I hope that I can inspire them to teach in a more creative, interactive way in the
future. I see that the children enjoy this way of teaching English and I hope that they will learn more
now. If teachers who are interested are willing to implement my way into their programm a step
forward would be made for better and quicker learning English.
I give my programm to the responsible members of the NGO so it can be used by other volunteers
in the future. The materials and books I used are for the children of the schools and Hari Home.
I know that my stay in Udaipur and my work for the NGO won't create big changes, but I'm happy
that I could give some children a good time. It feels good to see that there are people in Belgium
and India who care for the children of the villages around Udaipur.
I had a great stay in Udaipur thanks to the children and the teachers of the schools, the family Arora
and all the people who were so friendly and helpfull. I learned a lot of the culture and the way of
living in India and I will never forget the people who made this possible.