Right now it's my turn to discuss my projects and give you a better idea of what it is I do but before I begin I need to clarify that it's Tropico 2 that I'm playing which is even more fun as you get to be a pirate, Yaaarrgh!!! So with that being said, let us proceed.
I mainly work in 3 different projects: Howrah Drop In Centre, Small Boys Home and Punorjibon. Being one of two male volunteers here at the minute and Liam arriving to co-ordinate the English curriculum, I feel I have an obligation to provide some form of male interaction to the boys.
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Moni and Shona messing about
outside the DIC |
Howrah Drop In Centre:
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Picture of myself and Rahul
taken by one of the boys |
I make the long trip accross Howrah Bridge twice a week, it can take up to an hour or more to get from Tollygunge to the DIC but well worth it. It's difficult to assertain exactly what is required in Howrah due to it being a drop in centre and the numbers in attendance change everytime I visit, but mostly I just focus on giving the boys some form of positive attention. Be it through drawing and colouring which they enjoy, going to a nearby park to play football or running a photography project with them, the core aim is to allow them to become comfortable with you and hopefully encourage them to seek assistance from Hope when they feel they need it. Worksheets with basic English grammar and words are always brought and sometimes used, but this is at the boys' discretion.
Small Boys Home:
I teach some basic computer skills to a group of 6 boys 4 days a week, Monday to Thursday. The boys are a challenge I will admit, aged between 8 and 11 the boys as you would expect have only one interest when it comes to computers and that is..... you guessed it! PLAY GAMES!
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| Messing with Soubagya and Bishu |
Now I love games and if I wanted myself, Subho, Biswajit, Soubagya, Bishu, Ramjan Sk and Chak Rada would spent 2 hours a morning taking turns playing some classic Sega games but instead I have to fight them on the merits of learning Microsoft Word. As you can imagine it is difficult but even more so due to the fact that they are pretty good at it already thanks to previous volunteers. Luckily they recently received a scanner printer which has drawn their focus but I doubt the House Father, Suman, would be very impressed to hear the boys spend their time photocopying (xeroxing as it's known here) pictures of the famous Bengali actor Dev...
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| Photoshop Class |
Punorjibon:
Commonly known as my second home considering the amount of time I spend there on a daily basis. I spend 7pm to 9pm aka dinner time, Monday to Friday, running a photoshop class with any of boys who are interested in learning. I began with one boy, Biswajit (who has no need for me such is his talent) and now the number of sttudents has gone up to 12.
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L to R: Biswajit, Jagdish, Deepak,
Tapan and Ankush |
On Mondays and Fridays I also run English classes similar to Elaine, on Mondays I work with Jagdish and Sujan (who I'm pretty sure Elaine is trying to steal from me) and Fridays it's Bapan and Ankushs' turn, these are one to ones as each boy has his own level of understanding and they can be self conscious in groups.
And finally Tuesday and Thursday after lunch I work with a number of boys in regards to weights and fitness. This is very relaxed and I just try to put across what exercises hit what muscle groups and how to maintain technique. Overall they're a great bunch and are always willing to learn, bar it being dinner & tv time.
So that is my week in a nutshell, sometimes I supplement this with office work but that is depending on their need for me at any specific time.
Patrick (17th of November 2010)
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