Joining us from Poland for close to 7 months, Anna Pacześ, one of our long-term volunteers writes about what it was like to work with physically and mentally challenged children in Arani, Tamil Nadu. She gives an insider’s perpective to what volunteering in India is all about, talking of her own personal journey through the months, from first impressions to final goodbyes. We hope you visit us again Anna!

‘May: Here I am!  My dream came true – I’m in India. I work at Arani, TN at the Day Care Centre with differently abled children. To be more exact I should say my workplace is [in a] rural area. That’s a challenge for me, but isn’t it all about [developing] yourself? Thankfully my project is connected with my studies back in Poland, so maybe it’ll make the work a bit easier. I just wonder how am I supposed to remember all the names of my students? There’s so many of them and the Indian names are so difficult… [what’s] more, the kids don’t speak English. The work won’t be easy.

June: okay, I already know all of the names of my students. I can be proud of myself. I can even say what [each of the children] can do. They also know who I am. It’s so nice to see them smiling when I enter the room. I also had first [Tamil] classes… This language is so difficult, but I know some basic words and phrases. It has to be enough for now.

July: “Health on Stage” work camp in Mysore. Nice city and amazing volunteers from all over the world! I couldn’t even imagine [having] so much fun there…we spread awareness of health connected issues – open toilets, dirty water, Dengue. We made some performances in slums, schools and villages. I was acting! So far I [don’t like acting], but this time I truly enjoyed it! It couldn’t be any better.

August: [I’m] already halfway [through] my project. It’s so satisfying to see I taught something to my kids in the project. Priyanka knows that after “four” is “five” not “six”, Raju can make addition above 10 now, Ramkumar buttons his shirt by himself. I enjoy the time I spend with them… I still have so many things to do with them.

September: I [collected my days off] and went on well-deserved holidays. Direction – North India…Plan: 10 days from Amritsar to Varanasi, on the way “must see” Taj Mahal…  I visited so many new places, met lot of new people. I came back to work with new ideas and new [determination].

October: Every day is a holiday. Gandhi Jayanthi, Sarasvathi Pooja, Eid Al-Adha… So many days off and I want to go back to work with my kids! It’s not much time left to the end of my project. I think it’ll be two last, but most fruitful months. I still have so many plans. Daily work with kids brings me even more ideas. Now, when I know kids well I can guess what they will like or don’t like. This work is easy 🙂

November: I have to go back to Poland soon. It’s so sad to leave. I will miss my friends, kids from the project and of course real Indian food! Biryani, vada, dudh peda, masala tea… I will come back one day, for sure.