GREETINGS FROM INDIA! Vanakkam!
I am happy to give you an update on the work that has been accomplished by the 36 volunteers who served on the India program over the past six months. They worked on a variety of projects. The assistance of sponsors has also made a difference in the lives of the children that we work with. These children have been given the opportunity to study and enjoy their childhood, unlike the over 5,000 children who still work as child laborers in Chennai. Examples of the work of Global Volunteers are below.
St. Joseph Social Service Center
We are finishing up renovating the facility at St. Joseph Social Service Center, we have already added a new toilet for the facility, have put new tiles on the floor and walls of the main hall and on the veranda of the building, and are in the process completing the painting of the entire facility. We have given a complete face lift to this facility which is now bright, clean and neat. The hosts are very happy and no one can imagine now that this place once looked so dilapidated and badly needed repair. This place now looks so good with new paint.
SEAM Children's Home
We continued to give love and care to the orphans and deprived children at SEAM children’s home and also taught conversational English to them. Their bright faces always lights up the hearts of our volunteers. The host at SEAM children’s home says that Global Volunteers have given so much love to their children. Nowadays all the children look very happy and look forward to the evening when the volunteers come to work with them.
Assisi Illam Home for Children
The orphaned babies at Assisi Illam have grown up and they are in the age group of one to three year olds. These small children are really fun to be with and all the volunteers love their time with these children. The volunteers also helped out with the day care children. We have a new way in encouraging the children to practice writing the alphabets and number on the big black board and the kids and volunteers are having fun together. We are also tutoring the older children at Assisi Illam and the children in the neighborhood in the evenings, which is turning into a nice experience for our volunteers.
St. Joseph School
Volunteers taught conversational English and grammar to all the grades at St. Joseph school and also assisted the kindergarten teacher in teaching the class. The volunteers also got to participate in the cultural events of this school for the Christmas celebration, Pongal festival, sports day celebration, and outing to the children’s park. All of these celebrations make this a unique place for our volunteers to work here. Volunteers also continued to teach psychology to the novices of Bethlamite sisters at St. Joseph school. There have been a few new novices and this has remained the best place to volunteer for volunteers.
Grace School
At Grace School volunteers taught conversational English to all the grade levels, from kindergarteners to fifth graders. We are seeing a big change in this school with the enthusiasm of the children and teachers to learn English from our volunteers.
St. Joseph Hospital
We started working at the hospital in giving care to the patients, assisting and teaching the nurses, and just being with the patients and talking to them and wishing them to get well soon. We started to work at the St. Thomas hospital and have sent a few nurses who assisted the local nurses and also taught them.
Our volunteers have had special experiences here. For example, Joelle Imolte fell in love with the children so much that she cried many times just thinking of leaving the children. Aleatha Scholer had a wonderful 80th birthday celebration with our hosts and children and also got to be the Santa Claus for the Christmas celebration with the children at SEAM.
Our volunteers participated in the Christmas celebrations at all our sites plus were able to attend the Pongal celebrations (harvest festival) at St. Joseph school and St. Thomas hospital. Plus they were able to participate in the Chennai Sangamam – a five-day cultural event showcasing the folk dance and music of Tamil Nadu. The huge ganesh idols for the ganesh puja attracted the attention of everyone. And the highlight was going to the beach on Kannum Pongal where over 400,000 people attended. There was a sea of people.
I encourage you to join ups on upcoming service programs which are also timed around Easter and the cultural celebrations at the end of the school year at all our sites. For those of you who cannot do another service program soon, please do continue your service as a sponsor through the Global Volunteers Child Sponsorship program or by telling others about your India experience as an Encore Team member.
Sincerely,
Stephen Raja Chinnapan
India Country Manager
