For about 4 months, we have been conducting sessions about sea turtles at 6 different schools, for 5^th to 8^th Standards. We are 3 volunteers from the Sea Turtle Conservation project and, together with Manjesh and Manju, we try to create awareness on sea turtles in the coastal area of Karnataka.

At the beginning, we spent a lot of time gathering information and creating a structure for our session. We also learned a lot by ourselves, as we only knew a little about sea turtles before we joined the project.

We visited several harbours and beaches around the Kundapur region, and had an interaction with the fishermen community about sea turtle rescue and conservation. We got some knowledge on fishing methods, and information from them. It was so pleasant to meet the people and talk about their lifestyle and what are the difficulties they are facing in their daily routine.

We prefer an open method of teaching, where a lot of games and interaction with the students happens. We think this method helps the children to understand and remember the knowledge shared, more quickly. It is also always nice to see the children enjoy the games and creating good energy for the session.

While we talk about the topics, everyone is taking a turn, as we try to share the parts of speaking equally. In the first sessions, we were very nervous about speaking in front of the class. Now, we became more comfortable about speaking in front of people and also, holding all the sessions in English. It is still very helpful to have a translator with us, so that all the children get the chance to understand the whole session. We are more familiar with the structure of the sessions, so it is no problem anymore to switch the different parts of the session.

Furthermore, we were always enthusiastically welcomed at the schools. It was a pleasure to see the children’s excitement, and the knowledge they kept from the sessions before. We were impressed to discover how much knowledge about turtles and the environment the children already had at this age.

Overall, we were always looking forward to visit the schools and to meet all the teachers and children. We enjoyed seeing a variety of schools and discovering the region around Kundapur. We got many insights into the Indian school system and colourful classrooms. Additionally we hope they will keep their knowledge and that they stay motivated to share their knowledge with others.