Six Spanish Volunteers came to Pune at the beginning of July wishing to share their creative activities with 'our' children. The workshops are being carried out in all of our Projects: Yashodhara Shelter, Day Care Centers and the Primary Schools that Asha-Kiran works with.
Ana, Elena, Montse, Álvaro and Ane (accompanied by her son and daughter) have brought with them interesting and different ideas such as handicraft making, painting, juggling and puppet making, body language, etc. One of the Volunteers, Maddi, is making videos and a photographic record of the workshops. The activities selected were chosen from nearly a hundred Volunteers who finally made up a group eager to experience, learn and share their knowledge and solidarity with the children.
When the workshops began at Yashodhara, there was an explosion of creativity on both sides. The children had been waiting for the Volunteers, since they knew that people from Spain would come and bring 'a special extra' to their daily activities. The Volunteers, on the other hand, were expectant of how they would be greeted and the impact that their proposals would have, but as usual, the children opened their arms and welcomed them with big smiles and full involvement.
They found work in the Day Care Centers shocking because of the living conditions in the slums where the Centers are located. Feelings of solidarity were aroused and they shed a tear here and there, but the workshops went on amidst joy and enthusiasm.
In the schools, the Volunteers found children who were quite shy and withdrawn at first, but, seeing that they could express themselves naturally, gave free rein to their spontaneity.
Life in India contrasts dramatically with life in Spain ... it invites one to let go and relax again and again. Hence, the Volunteers have also had to make significant adjustments in things like being flexible in view of constant plan changes, simplifying their activities, adapting to the food and non-stop rain, learning to listen to local people in order to get the real gist of what is said, and so on.
Therefore, enrichment and development is not individual or unidirectional, but is born out of a balanced and caring symbiosis between adults, children, activities and environment, which benefits everyone.
Ana, Elena, Montse, Álvaro and Ane (accompanied by her son and daughter) have brought with them interesting and different ideas such as handicraft making, painting, juggling and puppet making, body language, etc. One of the Volunteers, Maddi, is making videos and a photographic record of the workshops. The activities selected were chosen from nearly a hundred Volunteers who finally made up a group eager to experience, learn and share their knowledge and solidarity with the children.When the workshops began at Yashodhara, there was an explosion of creativity on both sides. The children had been waiting for the Volunteers, since they knew that people from Spain would come and bring 'a special extra' to their daily activities. The Volunteers, on the other hand, were expectant of how they would be greeted and the impact that their proposals would have, but as usual, the children opened their arms and welcomed them with big smiles and full involvement.They found work in the Day Care Centers shocking because of the living conditions in the slums where the Centers are located. Feelings of solidarity were aroused and they shed a tear here and there, but the workshops went on amidst joy and enthusiasm.In the schools, the Volunteers found children who were quite shy and withdrawn at first, but, seeing that they could express themselves naturally, gave free rein to their spontaneity.
Life in India contrasts dramatically with life in Spain ... it invites one to let go and relax again and again. Hence, the Volunteers have also had to make significant adjustments in things like being flexible in view of constant plan changes, simplifying their activities, adapting to the food and non-stop rain, learning to listen to local people in order to get the real gist of what is said, and so on.Therefore, enrichment and development is not individual or unidirectional, but is born out of a balanced and caring symbiosis between adults, children, activities and environment, which benefits everyone.
