Who am I?
My name is Mariona. I am 23 years old and I originally from Catalonia (Spain). I came to India as it had always been a dream for me. I had heard about it, read about it, and wandered how the life is there in reality.
I have been living in this country for two months now, and I already feel as part of it. A part of me belongs to all the kids who have been calling me “Akka”, to those for whom I was “Mariona teacher”, to those who have fed me, taught me some Kannada, showed me how to wear a “SAARI” and always given me a smile.
Project: I worked for one month in a Kannada Medium School at Basrur. The town is not far from Kundapura (20 minutes’ drive approximately) and there are buses running regularly from one place to another. It is not difficult to reach the school if you are finally able to identify your bus! It took me a couple of weeks to get used to it, and to the conductor’s shouting.
I worked from Monday to Friday, from 9.30 to 16.30, with an hour to lunch. However, I only taught for 4 hours per day, so as I could have time to prepare the lessons and rest a little bit. No teachers or students knew much English, so my aim was to teach them some vocabulary and introduce some grammar through games, songs, exercises and drawings.
In the beginning it was hard because the kids didn’t know me, i didn’t know them either, and I ignored their English level. But everyday it got better and better. Kids are amazing. You get to understand each other and get along with them even if you don’t speak the same language. The relationship with the teachers I would say it is harder, due to communication problems. But in the end you realize things work out. You can always try to talk to them, and explain any complains you may have. The coordinators can be useful and helpful in some cases. And even if they can’t express themselves properly, you can see how much they appreciate you and wish you well.
Although I was a little bit worried at the beginning, now I am so sad to leave the project, and everybody with whom I worked. I learned a lot from both teachers, kids and I also learned about the Indian education system and roles.
Host family: Living with an Indian host-family is one of the best things of the volunteering program. It doesn’t only make you feel as if you were in your own home, but it also allows you to live Indian style and learn as much as you want about Indian culture.
Of course, it always depends on the host family you have. But in my case they have been like my second parents and brothers for a while. I lived in a nice house in Kundapura. It was modern, clean, and much better than I had expected. I lived also with my host parents’ two sons, with the grandmother and with another volunteer with whom I shared the room.
Life wasn’t hard. My host parents never obliged me to do things, never forbidden me anything either. Instead, I have spent such good evenings at home. We used to sit on the living room, altogether, talking about the differences between India and Catalonia, me teaching them some Catalan and we would laugh at our small problems.
The language barrier was not a huge deal. Even if it took a long time to explain things, with some patience we could talk about every day’s life and make some jokes.
Travelling: Weekends are free for FSL-India volunteers. Moreover, there are lots of holidays in India. That allows you to travel around and see lots of the country while working. Karnataka itself has some nice places to visit, so one can always go for a weekend trip nearby and enjoy. However, if you have time and will to spend some hours in public transport you can travel around neighbour states such as Goa or Kerala.
I would encourage everybody to do a volunteering program and to spend in India, if possible, at least four months.
Mariona