Mona and my time is winding down here in India but there is still much work to be done. We are in the midst of working out long-term plans with an environmental group doing work in Hyderabad, the RIDHI Foundation. The Foundation is involved in eco-friendly projects like cloth bag distribution and tree planting campaigns. We are hoping to work out a cooperative relationship between this group and the school in Vijayanagar Colony as a means of instilling social activism into the students’ curricula. There is a new Head Master in charge at Vijayanagar, who seems open to progressive initiaives in education so we think this idea could really take off.

The students’ final projects are nearing completion. At Nalgonda, the boys have shot most of the footage for their video on Independence. We need to interview some elders in the community in order to get an authentic voice in the piece, but the students have already done much work toward creating an informative and entertaining look at the meaning and importance of Indian Independence.

At Vijayanagar, the students have really taken to the social activism aspect of their project on the environment. As part of the video, we wanted to raise funds in order to buy a tree that the students could plant on the school grounds. However, it seems there is insufficient space / inadequate soil for this idea, so we are thinking of distributing potted plants that the students can tend at their homes. This relatively small action by the students would show how anyone can combat air pollution, even if only in a small way. We started our activism at Vijyanagar by selling flower and vegetable plant seeds to different people in the community. We soon sold all of our seeds and then began simply asking for donations to our project. The effort and enthusiasm of the students has been great and they’ve collected much more than I think Mona or I expected. This past week, we were able to get a couple members of the previously mentioned RIDHI Foundation to come and do an interview with the students about our topic and their organization. The kids enjoyed having these visitors in the classroom, especially since they spoke their language . We are now working out the logistics for each schools’ closing ceremonies wherein the students will get certificates to commemorate their involvement in the program and pictures of themselves and their friends in the class that they can take home . Given the students’ repeated requests and enduring persistence, it is also reasonable to assume a dance party will happen somewhere during these last days.

In our time off from work, Mona and I have had many interesting, comic and memorable cross-cultural/societal experiences. For me, a highlight has been the encounters I have while going for jogs around the Hussain Sagar Lake situated in the middle of Hyderabad. Firstly, it is strange for the people here to see me in shorts. I guess you just don’t wear shorts in Hyderabad. Then, it is quite more strange for the people here to see someone running around for pleasure in the middle of the city. And a foreigner at that! Upon seeing me during a run, people will pull their motorcycles over to the side of the road and ask if i need a ride somewhere. They will give me seriously concerned looks and enquire “what are you doing…where are you going?” Others take less personal avenues of interaction and offer exaggerated impersonations of my runnning style in front of me or will simply holler “nice jogging!” at me from the road. One supremely bizarre encounter has given me good ammunition for a story which I haven’t yet tired of telling. One day, while I was walking toward the Lake, a man approached me with a tin box and a metal Q-tip. He said “hello sir…one minute, sir…soap for your ear?” I was very confused but stopped anyway, arrested by his confident pitch. In a flash, before I could react, the man had jammed his metal Q-tip into my ear and was wiping off the wax onto his arm, declaring for all in earshot to hear “see sir, very dirty!” Oh my. Dirty, my ears were. Ready for a public cleaning of them, I was not. I quickly made leave of the man though he repeatedly assured me he was somehow licensed for what he was doing, offering me a laminated business card which looked very much like something he typed on his home computer. Regardless of his credentials, I will remember his handiwork for some time to come.

During our time here, it has been great to work with Prithvi, our High School partner. He has been to many of the classes at Vijayanagar Colony and has really been indispensible for translation and general help throughout the day. We were unable to convince him to make a digital story about himself (I think he was too shy / modest for this concept) but he has informed us he’s thinking of making an animation on the environment. We’ll keep you posted on this. Prithvi comes across as very serious and has a tendency toward being a perfectionist, even in very imperfect situations. This can lead to some funny and memorable scenes. He will throw his hands up in the air and guffaw when a student fumbles their English. He’ll declare “no, it’s ALL wrong!” when what I believe to be a relatively insignificant part of a take fails to come up to snuff. His sincere eye on quality regardless of context is enviable and pretty rare for a kid his age. It is clear that Prithvi enjoys working with the kids and the students really appreciate his presence. We really hope he will be able to do work with the students in the future, perhaps even independently organizing a small project with them over the summer.

The presence of a native speaker in the classroom is very helpful (at Vijayanagar it has been mostly Prithvi; at Nalgonda, we have had little help with this). We find that we can definitely teach the students in English and make quality video projects despite the language gap. But when teaching, you really want to connect with the students in a way that goes beyond writing on the board and holding a hand as it attempts to naviagate a mouse across a computer screen. You really want to be able to communicate in a meaningful way with your kids. This has been difficult at times. Conversations with our variously Telugu and Urdu speaking students can end as soon as they start. “Hello…how are you…fine…” End scene. And repeat about 100 times a day. I’ve done enough emphatic hand shaking and prolonged smiling here to last a life time. Taking interactions past the greeting stage has a 50/50 chance of success. But it’s always worth the effort, as whether or not the students understand your words they can always understand the attention and regard you are giving them. Mona and I have become adept at some cross-lingual short hands as a means to interact with the students. It’s useful to use body language and emphatic hand gestures to get a point across. Drawings sometimes work. Fewer words is always better and these should be spoken slowly and loudly. You can judge comprehension by the expressions on the students’ faces as well as their body language. Confusion sets in at a squinted eye, scratching of the head, or inappropriately fast nodding of the head. Total disinterest and frustration manifests itself in a pained facial expression, initiation of conversation with a nearby classmate, or outright departure from the chair. I think that though some of the students know relatively little of what Mona or I are saying, most have still extended their trust and interest in a very encouraging way. And when in several years I look back on teaching for this project, I will remember more than anything else the positive energy and enthusiasm of the kids, something which is universal and understandable to all.

Ge ready for the final videos – they will be here very soon!