I like to see something different a lot – Amelie Hagemann, Germany
By now, I am 5 months in India.
The orientation week in the beginning, at the FSL Centre, was very good to get to know some Indian habits, but in the light version. I also met some other volunteers who would work in the same area as me, so I did not feel alone at all.
In my project – Regular Teaching at Moodugiliyaru School, is a second volunteer, Luise. She already was there 1 month earlier, so I immediately had a schedule and taught together with Luise. The teachers in school, the head teacher and our contact person are all really supportive and want to make sure we are feeling well.
I like my host family a lot, and the accommodation is really good. I spent a lot of time with my little host sisters and the aunt. They always show me some religious functions and tell me things about Indian traditions.
So, a normal day starts for me with the wake up scream of the cock. I get up at 7 o’clock and get ready. Around 7:30, I have breakfast with my host family. After that, my host sisters get ready for school and leave for their school bus. I can leave later, so when they and my host father left, I prepare some stuff for school. Around 9 o’clock, a teacher from school comes and picks me up and together we drive to school.
Then, from 10 am till 4 pm, we give lessons to Standards 1 to 7. With the higher Standards, we can do a lot and I see real progress. Standards 1 and 3 are hard to teach because they do not understand so much English, and we do not understand so much Kannada. I do not think that the lessons which we are giving there have such value.
After school, I come home and Anita, the aunt, makes tea and small snacks for me, Kanishka and Anushka, my host sisters. The rest of the afternoon and evening I spend with reading, learning Kannada, or go to Kundapur to the gym.
So, I can conclude that after 5 months, I feel really good in India. I like my work at the project, I have a good relationship with my host family and also with the neighbours, where I stay often and I already saw a lot of India and its culture.
Compared to living in Germany, I could not say where it is better or worse. It is just different. And I like to see something different a lot.