Khamma Ghani! (Greetings in Rajasthani language)

It has been an incredible time in Kotri.

We awoke to our first breakfast at the haveli where we discussed the plan for the day. We did our daily morning ritual of taking turns reading a quote from our 8,789 Words of Wisdom book to start the day off with positive thinking before getting ready to head to our first day of community service. We walked to the local school to start our projects. We divided the group into two: one on construction and one working with students in the classroom. We would rotate each group after about an hour and a half. Teams of two or three were assigned to different classrooms which they would stick to for the duration of the program to create a stronger connection between the local students and your students. This will also create a space for real learning. The construction project we decided on with the community was to take an old kitchen space and restore it for storage. This will free up another classroom for the students to have more space to spread out. The old kitchen is falling apart and our students are working with two locals to lay concrete on top of what is currently bricks in need of repair. We want to create a place that can be sealed properly to keep rodents and other pests out so the school can safely and hygienically store their food and supplies for the students. The first step was to water down the interior and exterior of the building and begin to chip off the current seal between each brick to be replaced with new concrete. Meanwhile, Anne Marie and Grace took one classroom of students ages 9 and 10. Ava F., Alice, and Izzy took on a class of younger students, around the ages of 6, 7 and 8. They both began with games to get the students engaged (although their excitement and energy levels were already off the charts) and then moved towards more interactive learning such as learning phrases like ¨My name is…¨ The students switched around 10:30 am and Anne Marie, Grace, Izzy, Ava F. and Alice moved to construction, Ava, Ruby, and Wavy took a group of 7th graders, and George, Isabel and Alta took a group of second graders. The construction shifted to mixing cement and carrying it over to the worker who was putting it on the wall. They also continued to chip away the old cement on the building. After work, we came back to the havali to clean-up and get ready for lunch. We gave the students some time after lunch to relax before heading into the market in Nadol to get materials for their independent projects. We took local forms of transportation to the fabric store, accompanied by Tara Ji, who would be helping us with the embroidery work in the village. Everyone picked out material for a chunnie (a scarf), a blouse and a skirt to be made by the students in the village as projects, creating a traditional Rajasthani outfit. We also picked up a traditional Rajasthani turban for George. Neerav bought fruits and other foods and Lauren bought materials for the local school students to be used in the classrooms. After the market, everyone went back to the haveli to gather their new materials and we went to the workshops/homes of Tara Ji to bring the chunnies and Vimla Ji (the tailor) to bring the skirts and blouses and get measurements. We came back for dinner and then met on the roof for our nightly ritual. We did more exercises to get to know one another including asking them a series of personal questions such as, ¨Three adjectives others might use to describe me are…¨, ¨I learn the most when I…¨, ¨My definition of adventure is…¨, etc. It was a great exercise that facilitated discussion and we got to know a lot about each others’ personality types and interests. 

July 2, 2018

We started off our third day with breakfast, reading from the words of wisdom book, and a briefing of the day. We began assigning students responsibilities in the days before, including taking turns in pairs to wash the dishes after each meal and, doing the group journal and blog posts. We went to the school for community service, taking turns working in the classrooms and doing construction. The students had new supplies from the market and made name tags for the classes and began teaching colors using colored chalk and markers. One part of the wall had been cemented the day before and now, the students were mixing cement to lay themselves on the bottom half. After community service, we came back to clean up, go to lunch, and then gave the students an hour of relaxation time before heading out for their first day working on their independent projects. Some students went to embroidery and some to the tailor. Other students worked in the kitchen helping make Indian cuisine.  Some explored the village to do a photojournalism project. We all came back together to do henna after the projects and two local women from the village came to teach everyone. Everyone took turns as the women drew unique and beautiful designs. Everyone was super excited about henna. After henna, we had dinner where Fateh Singh and Neerav told us that we had an opportunity to participate in some family festivities at a local wedding due to happen in the next couple of days. We had been talking about Indian weddings for the past couple of days and everyone expressed a serious interest in attending. After dinner, the students immediately went and dressed in their Indian attire to attend the ceremony. Fateh Singh and Neerav led us through the village to the ceremony where we observed the traditions of a pre-wedding. Women danced to loud drum beats as donations for the bride and groom were blessed. students were invited to dance with all the local village women. They had a great time. It was a beautiful cultural experience.  We were beyond lucky to have the opportunity to participate.

July 4, 2018

After breakfast and our morning ritual, we headed straight to the school to start our community service. The students went to their classrooms where Ava F., Izzy and Alice taught about animals. Grace and Anne Marie taught verbs. Today’s construction project was to lay bricks and fill in a space to make a new wall. They switched around 10:30. Everyone learned how to lay and cement bricks. After community service, we came back to freshen up and go to lunch. The routine had come into play now on the second day with an hour to relax before beginning independent projects at 2:30. Today, the students will be switching rooms so we gave them time and supplies to clean their rooms and pack. Everyone set out on their independent projects, due to meet come back at 4:30 to relax, shower and get ready for our first Indian dance class at 6:00 pm; to teach us traditional Rajasthani dance. The dholi (drummers) came and played while locals taught the group dance. We did a cultural exchange where we tried to teach them some common American dances. After dance, we went to the roof to watch the sunset together and then went down to have dinner.