Sink or Swim

I found myself just hanging out on Monday with Sheldon & Sue...the retired Canadian couple from Manitoba who came out last year to help out with Ladli. Sue is a retired CIBC employee....a very small world it is!

I went with them to the Laxmi location....a 10 minute walk from the hotel. This location was started up just 4 months ago and has yet to have real structure. The girls still live on the street....I think one of them is a child prostitute.

I didn't do much other than just listen to what the experts had to say (Sheldon & Sue). The girls are all over you......mostly just playing with my hair. They are all pretty dirty. I hope none of them have lice.

Yesterday was my first day at Sodala. I actually thought I would just be 'job shadowing' with the two teachers....Sarita & Kamlesh...........but I was wrong.

Here I am sitting on the floor watching the girls set up their little desks (those plastic foot stools). I also take one and take out my recently purchased notebook and new pink pencil.

I notice the girls form a semi circle around me and start looking at me.

Oh Oh....am I supposed to be doing something?

I ask Kamlesh...the teacher....who barely speaks or understands English.

She tells me....."you start...you teach."

Great. I hadn't even thought about what I would be doing..

I had the girls write down their names in English....after I had one of them try to translate what I wanted for me.

My students: Anita (13), Tannu (13), Suman (12), Usha (10), Manju (12), Kavita (12), Sunita (13) and Fujana (14).

They all helped each other with the spelling and writing down of their names.

I had absolutely no idea what level they were at...so I started with some basic stuff....A, B,C's and what words they knew that started with each letter. A few. Good I'm thinking.

I was so lucky to have Anita in the class as she translated what I was saying.

Having no idea on how long I was supposed to 'teach' .... I ask Kamlesh and she tells me to 'change...now you teach math'.

MATH????

Good thing I rock at math. The girls loved that. We spent time adding and subtracting.

They all cheated.

I couldn't.

I had no calculator and had to really add up the stuff I put on the white board.

Like I said...good thing I rock at math.