I will go to India (FSL-India) for six months and work in a school for children with special needs“ I said this sentence so often that I almost got sick of it.“Why India? Is that not a bit risky?” This was the reaction most of the time.

I remember moments full of excitement, doubts and anticipation. Have I taken the right decision when I applied for an IJFD in this special country? But at the end of my thoughts, I always had the same answer: definitely yes! Now I am sitting here, having all my bags packed and thinking back on my time volunteering.

I will miss many parts of my Indian life. For example the daily welcoming of my students: „Good Morning Akka(Sister)!“. At least seven kids run up to me to ask me „Oota aitu? What you ate?“ This question is very important to them, but not only in my school but in India in general.

After the morning prayers, all kids take their seats at the table of their teacher. Depending on how many teachers were there, I always had between two and seven children. The lessons consisted of learning the alphabet, Numbers and short vowels. I must honestly say that it felt kind of hard for me to follow the teaching methods as learning by heart and copying is very present in Indian schools. I did not feel like it is the most effective way of teaching as most of the children do only know the spelling of words but not the sounds of letters. But as some of the children obviously can read, I decided not to change the teaching system as it was told me to be. I must admit, the three hours of lessons in the morning without any break were not only tough for the children. As they were always full of energy, they felt like moving and not like sitting quietly. It cost my nerves several times to prevent too much noise in the classroom.

But at the same time, so many happy and funny little moments showed me that my work was worth being done, even though I realized that being a teacher is not the profession I want to have my whole life. For example when the little autistic boy started to sing the ketchup-song. Or when the other child slipped and started to apologize to the floor. Or that moment when the little girl, whose brain got damaged by epileptic attacks starred at me from the other side of the classroom, smiled and sent me some kisses. These moments were very special to me. Also, the progress that you sometimes see helps you to stay motivated. When the numbers from one to ten are written correctly for the first time or the concept of subtraction is being understood.

I must say that these six months were very important to me. I have opened myself to a new culture, have learned a lot about myself and where my priorities are, have hopefully given some of my own culture and most of all; I have met so many important people and good friends. I cannot believe that time has run up so quickly and if I could talk to my past-self one year ago, I would definitely encourage me to apply for this awesome adventure.