PROMO 2011
Our two week Promo trip to India in March was certainly different. From riding camels and elephants to playing cricket with the Indian children almost everything was new and exciting.
Getting to the school was a two day journey from Delhi. We took a bus to Agra for our first night in India. As we travelled through the city and surrounding countryside, we were surprised to see lots of people covered in different brightly coloured paint but we learned that it was a special two day holiday for the Holi Festival and this is one of the traditions. Next, we were supposed to take an overnight train to Jodhpur but a national train strike forced us to take a bus via the city of Jaipur. This gave us time for a quick next morning visit to the hilltop palace but with an unexpected and original means of transport up to the top – using some of the two hundred or so elephants – all of which were painted up for Holi.
We eventually arrived at the SKSN school at 10pm on our second day. First thing next morning we had a tour of the school and to find out more about the work they do. We saw classrooms, bedrooms and we met the technician and the equipment he used to prepare customised prosthetic limbs for the children. The pupils range from 5 to 18 years of age and all of them have some sort of physical challenge, ranging from amputations to severe loss of function following polio infections when they were younger. Boys and girls study together but they have their own separate boarding facilities and everything is provided free of charge to their families by the SKSN charity.
Before we went we all prepared many lessons that we could teach. This was so that we were prepared for the range of ages and abilities we were going to teach. However nothing could have prepared us for the actual experience of teaching. All the children were so excited and eager to learn which made this the most rewarding part of our entire experience. On the first day at about 5pm by which time the strength of the sun had diminished and it was a bit cooler, we had our first game of cricket with some of the children. Cricket is really important to the Indian children shown not only by their clear love for the game as they played it but also by the great atmosphere created by India’s World Cup efforts throughout our stay.
The culture of SKSN was truly amazing and we were privileged to visit their temple for the evening prayers. Everyone sat cross legged while they prayed to their gods. Boys and girls sat on different sides of the marble courtyard of the temple, bells were rung and candles lit during well rehearsed songs of worship.
Overall our trip to India was an incredible experience. We were able to learn about Indian culture through observation and personal engagement. We visited many iconic sites like the Taj Mahal, the Red Fort and the palaces in Jaipur and Jodhpur and we had fun shopping in the markets. But the best part was spending time in the school. We made many new friends who wrote us letters when we left.