New Website Coming Soon!

This will be our last Blogspot post until the new website is released but please stay tuned for our brand new blog site in the next few months. You can keep up to date with us via Twitter (https://twitter.com/GVIIndia) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/GVIIndiaKerala). 

-Peace from the GVI Kerala Team! 

New Website Coming Soon!

Namaskaram SDPY School

Namaskaram S.D.P.Y J

 

I wanted to come to India but not purely as a tourist.  I wanted to actually interact with the people.  I came across GVI and the good work they do and my combined love of India and children made the trip to Kerala a perfect opportunity. 

Currently, I am working at SDPY School in Kalathara district, assisting 5 to 10 year olds with reading and writing English.  There are also activities ‘before school’ when we read the children fairy stories and ‘after school clubs’ when there is art or disco dancing or singing.  To get into the disco dancing club, the kids have to have a GVI dance card – these are hugely popular. The kids are really good fun, they are polite and enjoy talking to us.  It’s a real pity that I am just doing a 2 week stint.  It is nearly Christmas and the children will break for the holidays soon.  Now I am actually here, I don’t want to go home, and I know that I will really miss their beaming smiles. 

The year end event is their ‘Annual Day’ and they are all working together to prepare for the celebrations.  Over the last few days we’ve seen beautiful dance sequences being practiced next to our office by kids of kindergarten age up to teenage. 

 

Last week ‘Times of India’ came to the school and did a story about us – how fantastic is that!  I was in the process of teaching four pupils from class IIIA, all eight years old.  It’s not that difficult to teach these four as, in spite of their age, they are all pretty good readers already.

In the evenings there is always something to do.  Last week we went to a Hindu festival at a local temple – there were elephants and traditional classical music and singing.  Another night, we went to see a popular Malayalam film.  Over the weekend we went on a trip to Munnar and actually got the chance to ride an elephant. 

An experience of a lifetime!

Harnake Hunspal, GVI India, Kerala teaching programme.

 

Namaskaram SDPY School

Amy's Adventure

Our introduction to students of Cottolengo School was a fusion of smiles and hands extended. Their abilities are unique, each student currently working on a creative arts or Christmas project. Already I have been able to purchase a beaded necklace crafted by one of the student. Christmas cards and hand painted ornaments are also to be sold to raise funds for next year's investment in art supplies.

 

The sisters keep to a daily routine and we're able to join the students in assembly, yoga, and outdoor activities as well as assisting creatively in their classes. Invited to teach the children a dance routine for a Christmas, my homework from day one has consisted of dance choreography and music downloads. Realising each student's individual movement capability, teaching of each movement is by way of association with an animal's movements - we have great fun doing the 'monkey', the 'tiger' and the 'butterfly' with jungle music blasting over our speakers. Even some of the Chetchies join in! And now, as the students are becoming more familiar with each movement, the dance moves can be sequenced and choreographed with Christmas music for purposes of the upcoming show.

 

Each day brings many smiles, sharing in the student's delight as they learn new skills and complete new projects.

 

 

A

 

Amy's Adventure

Diamond Dean Arrives...

Diamond Dean Arrives...

I arrived on the 5^th of October 2013 and was greeted to humid weather and a language that I had never heard. My first impressions of India had been created, a place as tropical as the Seychelles with the looks of Mauritius with cows sleeping on the road. I had just been in china and was used to the constant horns blowing off from the cars around every corner, although I have never witnessed the absolute chaotic driving of the tuk-tuk drivers or the Indians in general. Two weeks on and I can definitely say that if one can drive in India, they can drive anywhere in the world. GVI greeted me at FORT NAGAR at the new home stay that I would be spending my last two months in Asia, in a welcomed fashion. And showed me round the house immediately, making me feel at home the minute that I entered. That week, I discovered the joys of Indian spicy food, before and after. Watching traditional Indian shows and Hindi films never failed to keep me amused as well as the kind tuk-tuk drivers who brought me to school every morning. So far, I have come to conclusion that GVI, really looks after you well. And the best part of the day is when I get to go see the children at SDPY, they are so friendly and are always looking for a high five, wanting to know your name and become friends with you. There is a real brotherly love that the guys show to other guys. They make you feel like you are a part of a family. I have discovered bonding with them easier when I speak about cricket and Sachin Tendulklar, I am surprised how knowledgeable the children are when it comes to that sport.

Diamond Dean Arrives...

The Happiest Place on Earth...

One of the project sites at the Kerala base of GVI is Cottolengo Special School - to me it's known as The Happiest Place on Earth. 

I spend my days there with 'kids' ranging in age from 3years to 63years old where their disabilities include Down's Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and a range of intellectual, physical  and behavioural problems as well as problems not fully diagnosed. Before working there I'd never had a chance to interact with a disabled person - which is weird now that I think about it – and also I had no experience in school or in my family or in my career with people of special needs - which is why, when I walked into Cottolengo Special School it hit my heart hard. But then very quickly I saw the love showered onto the kids but the amazing nuns who run the school and how unadulterated the joy that was in everything they do there made me spontaneously feel at home. 

In Fort Kochi, Kerala GVI runs the Health program in the regular schools and more with the special schools. Arts in various forms like drawing, painting, different crafts, dance, music, yoga etc. arts are a massive part of the curriculum at Cottolengo special school.

GVI volunteers do amazing art projects with the special children in Cottolengo Special School and we need more passionate Arts and Childcare volunteers to work with these Specially Talented Kids to keep these projects go for a long term. I wish I should be going there every day - because right now I feel there is no place in the world I'd rather be!! 

Kavita Chopra

GVI India-Volunteer Coordinator

The Happiest Place on Earth...

Work Hard, Play Hard--A Weekend Trip to Munnar

Crack of dawn wake up and onto a bus feeling more than a little motion sick - but a couple ginger tablets soon settled my tummy and by then we were already at our first stop - the washing of the elephants! Afterwards we enjoyed a masala dosa breakfast with my new favourite thing, Indian coffee (a milky, sweet, slightly caffeinated brew) and grabbed snacks of ghatia and tapioca (dalo) chips for the road. It was around this time that the bus turned into a dance party thanks to our fabulous drivers Malayalam and Tamil tracks, here everyone got to practise their Bollywood dance moves! 

Then there was an epic waterfall or two before the real elephant experience - where I was described as a 4yr old on Christmas morning - though I've been up close to a couple elephants in my time - this was the most hands on experience - of course a super touristy wee ride, but I wasn't on a seat - just on Laxmi's back where I could feel each vertebrate and every muscle as she climbed up and down the wee hills. Here the incredibly friendly handler/paparazzi photographer really made the experience, especially when I got to hug her trunk and in the end got a blessing from the aptly named Laxmi. All for just 350Rs + tip - I couldn't recommend this more! 

After some beautiful scenery we arrived at our lush hotel tucked away in the mountains where our charming hosts served us black tea and French fries - which are usually fried with curry leaves and especially delicious! Then it was someone's brilliant idea to go and see the tea plantations - in the pouring rain!!! This hike (which I undertook with my sulu wrapped around my shoulders, jandals and an umbrella) was not only a death defying feat - at least you would've thought it was with all the screaming - but an educational experience (well whatever information you could hear above the rain), complete with my first each leech bite - and for some unlucky people their 1st - 4th bites by the little suckers!!!!! It's ok though, they only suck out the bad blood - we basically all got free organic Ayurvedic treatments! Even though we didn't see the tea plantations in ideal conditions, they were still incredible and something I'll never forget.

An hour or so later we were glad to be back at our lush accommodation - where there were more firsts for some people - not for me though, a balti* bath used to be a treat for me as a kid! An amazing dinner, caramboard, games, dance party/battles and D&Ms* completed the evening. 

In the morning we started early to the Tea Museum where we got the back story of the region and a great cuppa. Then after a quick shop in Munnar town we were on the long windy road again headed home. Napping, a hand massage and some more dancing helped pass the time, but it was definitely a long way to go for 1 night. The scenery on the way in parts reminded me of Aotearoa - but the vast mountains and valleys with some settled fog and tea as far as the eye could see was something I'd never seen before and so much more than I had imagined - the pictures I will eventually post won't do it justice - but seeing Munnar this weekend made me want to explore every inch of this varied and exciting country - it's not just a tag line, INCREDIBLE INDIA

Kavita,

26yr old, Kiwi, project coordinator

*Balti = Bucket. Balti bath means bathing from a bucket of water. 

*D&M = Deep and meaningful conversation  

Work Hard, Play Hard--A Weekend Trip to Munnar

Waka Waka (This Time for Kerala)

My name is Lois Pigneguy and I am now two weeks into my eight week arts project with GVI. The past two weeks have been spent at Cottolengo Special School, a Catholic institution run by nuns, for intellectually and physically challenged children. As well as providing teaching, the children at the school also have access to speech therapy, yoga therapy, physiotherapy, vocational training and music and dance therapy. Regardless of the language barrier, the children and nuns could not be more warm and welcoming.  The mornings at school are spent with different classes; the ability of each child varies greatly and you have to be prepared to adapt, be flexible and change your lesson ideas if it is not working for your specific class. A popular activity I did with the kids was Monster Balloons. Using card, felt tips, tissue paper, pipe cleaners and huge orange balloons, the class created their own monsters which we then attached to the wall. The children are extremely creative and considering a lot of them cannot speak English; their level of understanding is amazing. I spent a few days of last week creating a giant alphabet poster with the class. They decorated each letter and then we collectively stuck down the letters onto the poster. Singing the alphabet as well as identifying different letters on the poster has helped them gain a greater understanding of the alphabet, what the letters look like and being able to recognise them. 

Independence Day is on 15th August and I am working with a group to create a singing/dancing performance.  The kids love the music and they are having to engage in ways that are challenging to them; move in time and in sync with each other, as well as listen to me giving instructions in English! We have made slow but significant progress and it is so rewarding to see their smiles of excitement and satisfaction at the end of a rehearsal. At the end of the day we have made time to dance with all the kids in the school. Everyone gathers in the main hall area and it is a time when the kids can jump around, dance and enjoy the music. Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) by Shakira has become a popular favourite with the children and volunteers, even the nuns enjoy a little boogie at the end of school. I can safely say it is the best part of my day! 

Waka Waka (This Time for Kerala)