Zambia 2013 - The BookBus is Back!!

The Bookbus is back on the road in Livingstone, Zambia for the 2013 season!

The first two weeks of project this year have been during the school holidays so we have been running holiday clubs which, as always, attract so many children, the number increasing steadily over the week.

The Bookbus is here!

The two weeks have been very different but with the same fun, enthusiasm and cries of “bookbussy” following wherever we have been.

Week one, we spent at Zweilopili community school in the Dambwa area of Livingstone. This is one of the more densely populated areas of town and many families will be living in one room, maybe the parents are selling at market to raise some money leaving the older children to take care of the younger ones. We were expecting maybe 50 or so on our first day but there were over 100 and by the Friday is was almost 300!! A lot of flexibility and preparation each night from the volunteers ensured that the week went smoothly and no child was left out, despite the huge numbers!

 

With the younger children we read Brown Bear, Brown Bear and made Bear headbands after being on a “Bear Hunt”. We made 280 sets of lions’ paws after reading “Cats cats and more cats.” Elephant heads and colourful birds appeared after the “Rumble in the Jungle.” The bigger kids read about bears, lions and snakes and attempted quizzes, anagrams and word searches, some even making up their own.

Every day we left accompanied by smiles, waves and shouts of see you tomorrow, but the week sped by and soon it was Friday and time to say bye for the last time during these holidays.

During the second week we were based out in the village of Sinde, only about 15km from town but a world away from town life. On the way to school we have to drive through the national park and we saw giraffe, zebra and wildebeest, not bad for the morning commute!  In the village the families live mostly in mud and thatched homes and there is no running water or electricity. In charge there is a headman, who the volunteers were lucky enough to meet during a village tour, which one of the preschool teachers took them on, so they could see firsthand how people life in these Zambian villages.

Every day we were greeted by kids all along the way, waving and smiling and then running along behind the Book Bus, eager for the activities to start. We parked up outside the village pre-school and soon more children emerged from the bush, we started with about 30and ended on Friday with 150! Word spreads fast when the Book Bus is around. We taught the children under the big trees, dividing the big and small ones and encouraging reading, creative skills and imagination!







On Friday we continued our “Book in Every Hand” program and gave each child their very own book to take home, we had to have some strategic lining up, organised by the big kids, to ensure the children got the right level of book and that chaos didn’t erupt. The children were very excited and it was great to see them all walking off into the elephant grass with their colourful crowns, proudly holding their new book. This is literacy in motion at it’s best!

Kelly - May 2013

BOOKBUS INDIA - THE SUMMARY!

The crayons are packed away, the books donated, the yellow shirts washed for the last time and the volunteers all back home:  The six week trial of Book Bus India is over. We have come a long way since the first day when we nervously climbed in the jeep not knowing what to expect, driving to school along unfamiliar roads with a bag full of books and minds full of curiosity.  That day we received the warmest welcome imaginable and from then on, every day, we eagerly jumped in the jeeps, looking forward to what the day would bring: it might be a game of volleyball, a jeep stuck in the sand, 100 bear headbands or another rendition of the banana song!

The final banana song!

A big thank you to ALL at Mandore Guest House for making our stay so pleasant, answering all our questions, looking after us, feeding us fantastic food and making us feel at home.

Thank you to all at Mandore Guest House

 

A special thank you to Surendra, who in his capacity as honorary project manager, did us proud, without his contribution this pilot would never have succeeded.  And thanks to Sanjay for his all his help, photos, driving and for putting up with all the crazy people in yellow shirts for singing in his jeep!

 

14 volunteers, 10 of them past”Book Bussers” came out to join the project in Rajasthan, their stays ranging from 2 to 6 weeks .  I think I can say that every one of them, myself included, has had a fantastic  experience here, both at school and away from it.  I would like to thank every one of them for their commitment and contribution to the project, their dedication and hard work and their unfailing senses of humour which made every day successful and also great fun.

We have been made to feel welcome wherever we go.  We have experienced dancing, drumming, the colourful festival of Holi, the local markets, cows everywhere, stand offs with camels, the impressive fort, the interesting Indian use of the roundabout and too many other things to mention. We have explored the blue streets  of Jodhpur, the Thar desert at Jaisalmer, the temples at Ossian and the lake palace at Udaipur. We have been given flower garlands, scarves, copious amounts of chai, speeches, pink hair and genuine smiles.

At school the children are ever eager, keen and a pleasure to teach. The teachers are dedicated and interested to learn. The communities are welcoming and grateful.

I think we can safely say the 6 weeks were a great success, full of unforgettable memories, for all those involved. The teachers, pupils and volunteers alike have had their eyes opened to new experiences and new ways of learning.  It has been a genuine cultural exchange with every party benefiting from the coming together. We have learnt about Indian customs, education, costumes and culture and the children have learnt in English about colours, numbers and opposites, to name just a few.

When the long term project in October begins many more children, schools and communities can benefit from the Book Bus visits: the books, the activities, the exposure to English and the joyful, interactive way of learning.  And hopefully many more volunteers will come to Mandore, to work with these eager students, gain an insight into their way of life and to experience the hospitality and warmth of the people of Rajasthan.
 

Kelly April 2013.

 

 

 

 

 

The Sixth Week - Part Two!

The second half of the final week was just as much fun but quite different. Thursday was a national holiday so all the volunteers took the opportunity to make one final trip to Jodhpur for sightseeing and shopping. Many scarves, lots of fabric, saris, teas and spices were bought but by early afternoon we were all back at the Guest house to escape the heat.

So many colourful things to buy!

The impressive Jodhpur Fort

During the final week we have been distributing bookshelves and books to all the 5 schools we have been working with. Surendra organized custom made shelves with plenty of room for more donations in future. We have given the schools a mixture of English and Hindi books. Some are Indian stories and some from UK and we have distributed all the books we have used over the past 6 weeks. Hopefully the teachers and the pupils will be able to make use of the new libraries in their schools. Sanjay and I took Thursday’s school their books on Wednesday to ensure they wouldn’t miss out. All the teachers seem really grateful for the donations.

Book Donations

On Wednesdays we have been working with all the classes from 1 to 8 and it has been amazing to see how much their confidence has grown, they are happy to see us come and eagerly await their turn, wondering what things are inside the BookBus bags! Some of the pupils in class 7 and 8 are exceptionally bright and it was great to see their excitement when they understood the exercise of a code challenge, where A=1 B=2 etc, at first puzzled, when it clicked you could see their sense of achievement. Wednesday’s school is a Sanskrit school, which means that as well as learning Hindi and English the pupils also learn Sanskrit from an early age, a subject which is usually reserved for high school children.

 

On Friday Sanjay decided to take us on a “cross country” ride to school. A kind of route that has no “real” roads and shows you exactly dry how the landscape is, how the people live and farm there. It was all great fun, especially when we got the 2 jeeps stuck in deep sand! A lot of pushing and dry branches under the wheels and we were out but not before we all got a sand bath! The highlight of the ride was seeing a huge orange and yellow rattlesnake slither across our path like lightening; too fast for cameras but a great sighting.

 

The children at Friday’s school made sure we had a fantastic last day. They are always so full of energy, keen to learn and happy to take part in anything. The teachers really got stuck in with the colouring and the activities too.

 

 

Pipe cleaners were all out by Friday but the children here got windmills which are always a hit wherever they are made. The last books were distributed, the final worksheets filled in and the last renditions of favourite songs were sung and then it was time to leave. It was a very fond but sad farewell with many smiles and waves and a promise of more times together in the near future.

Kelly April 2013

Sixth and Final Week - Part One!

The final week of the Bookbus India pilot project has come and gone and so much has happened, it's going to take 2 blogs to write about it all.

 

This one is about the final Monday and Tuesday, both days we were treated to spectacular farewells. This week our topic was action words, with the youngest ones we read Jazzy in the Jungle and made hidden monkeys. With the middle kids we did fill in the blanks for action words, read about what rabbit could see and hear, played verb bingo (which was massively popular) and made rabbit finger puppets. Then with the older ones more words, advanced worksheets and bingo and reading of the gingerbread man. As a final treat all the pupils made pipe cleaner glasses....another big hit with the children, parents and teachers alike! And a good way to use up the massive amount of pipe cleaners brought out from UK!

 

Many of the parents and community members showed up for the final day and we also had some special visitors from the Ministry of Education, who were interested in seeing what the Book Bus has been doing. Here, schools are divided into blocks; the Mandore block has more than 240 schools and some of the top people in charge of this block came to visit us on both Monday and Tuesday. They were impressed with the pupil’s enthusiasm, the volunteers’ commitment and the joyful interactive way we were teaching. We have Surendra to thank for introducing our programme to the Ministry before we even arrived, for explaining the mission behind our project and for organising their visits. It is always good to work hand in hand with the local authorities and it is so much easier for them to understand our work when they see it first hand.

The weather is really heating up here now, the past week the temperatures are reaching 40 in the afternoon and afternoon naps are becoming more common!. The landscape is becoming dryer and dustier every week so it’s always great to come home to Mandore Guest house with its green gardens, cool drinks and shady sitting areas.

After teaching at Monday’s school we were presented with flower garlands and beautiful, colourful scarves by the teachers, pupils and members of the PTA. Lots of speeches were made and although it was very sad to say goodbye, we all left on a high note with the children running behind the jeeps waving and smiling. They kept saying see you next week but we had to explain see you in October instead.



Monday School
 

Tuesday School

 

 

At Tuesday’s school they hooked up a PA system to the battery on a tractor, ingenious and amazing! Again flower garlands and speeches all round. We were very impressed with the head teachers speech in English, which included all our names and the pupils performed some marching and other exercises that they do in physical education and practice for national holidays and important occasions. Once again it was very hard to say goodbye, we have really seen the pupils and teachers embrace what we are doing and they are already looking forward to our return, as are we.

 

Headteacher of Tuesday School, Surendra and Kelly.

 

The last Volunteer Crew.

Kelly April 2013

 

5 weeks down....1 to go!

The fifth week of Book Bus India is now finished. The 5 weeks we have spent at school have given us a real insight into the education system in rural Rajasthan. This week a long term, 6 month project beginning in October has been confirmed, so we will be using the knowledge and skills learnt to help us prepare an interesting and beneficial program.

During the course of the 5 weeks we have seen a huge increase in the confidence and creativity of the pupils of all ages. What was at the beginning alien to them has now become a highlight of their week. They look forward to the visit of the Book Bus and to the books, activities and crafts that we bring along. We always try to give the children a worksheet that can then act as a kind of revision guide. It is amazing how many pupils bring back the worksheets, week after week, to proudly show us. So we distributed plastic document wallets this week for them to keep their papers in, a big hit.

Each week we have been working with a particular theme, this week opposites for the older classes. We began with flash cards in a big group and then broke down into small groups for the reading and activities. We read goldilocks and then played matching games with the children having to find the opposite paired words, eg hot and cold, fast and slow. It is very rewarding to see how much of the vocabulary from the previous weeks they have been remembering and the big posters we have been making to put up in the classrooms during teaching are still up on the walls. The enthusiasm is growing every week and these children really have a desire to learn.

Going on a Bear Hunt.....

With the younger classes we read “Hello, Goodbye” continuing the opposite theme and then the old favourite “We are going on a bear hunt.” It is just as popular here as everywhere else. We waded through rivers, stumbled over tree roots and tiptoed into caves to find the bear, which interestingly in Hindi is Balu (Jungle Book name inspiration spotted!) And the other cool fact of the day, the Hindi word for forest is jungle!! Headbands made their first appearance of the project and were an instant crowd pleaser.

Bear Headbands - A crowd pleaser! 

The teachers, whom at first seemed almost shy of us are now fully into the swing of the project and actively participate in our reading and activities. They are really interested in looking through the books, making the crafts and observing our teaching. They are keen to see the ways in which we bring the books to life and appreciate the benefits of small group work. Many of the teachers, who are expected to teach English, only have a basic understanding of the language themselves. So they are keen to learn and to practice their conversation skills.

Teachers are really interested in our work and love
helping out their pupils.

This coming week we are distributing books and book shelves to the 5 schools and we will have to say bye to all our new friends. It is hard to believe that we are entering the final week of the project, but it is great to know that in October the Book Bus will be active in India once again.

Kelly 7th April 2013

My Book Bus India Experience.

Jean has just finished four weeks as a volunteer on the Book Bus India Project. Read what she says about her experience at school.

“Ma’am, ma’am,yeh?” asks a child holding a crayon and wanting to know if it’s the right one.  It’s a question we’ve grown accustomed to in the last four weeks as children seek confirmation that what they are doing is right.  After a tentative start, our mimes, songs and visual aids have scaled the language barrier.  Our routines are now so familiar that many children dive into activities such as wordsearches, or labelling a diagram of the body without much prompting.Listening to their chatter as they help each other complete tasks is a joy; and very rewarding to notice that they are remembering new words and phrases and making connections with concepts we taught previously.

String has been in great demand to tie to fluttering rainbow fish and twirling snakes, as are urgent requests for smiley faces for work well done.  Teachers, some reticent at first, have joined our activities, translated instructions, and kept our visual aids displayed in their classrooms.In our Monday school, village teenagers turn up and delight in reading alongside their brothers and sisters.  Adults from the village also drop in to classes and smile their approval.  The sense of community is very strong and we are always warmly welcomed.

Teaching is not just one way – we’ve learnt a few everyday phrases, to count to ten in Hindi, and the names of basic colours and animals.I shall probably remember forever that margermunch, our favourite word, means crocodile.   

Jean Ashbury. Volunteer Book Bus India March 2013

The Festival of Colour!

We have had 2 days of public holidays here in India during the 4^th Week of Book Bus, this is for the Holi festival, also known as the festival of colour. It is the time when winter ends and summer commences and is always held at full moon in March. It also symbolises the triumph of good over evil and is a time when social barriers are broken down as all people come to together to celebrate, throwing coloured powder and water over each other, reaffirming the idea of one brotherhood.

On Holi eve, men and boys parade through the streets beating large drums and dancing with sticks, they lead the people to places where bonfires are built which then are lit to symbolise the legend of the burning of Holika: the triumph of good over evil.

''The legend says there once lived a devil and powerful king, Hiranyakshyap who considered himself a god and wanted everybody to worship him. To his great ire, his son, Prahlad began to worship, Lord Vishnu. To get rid of his son, Hiranyakshyap asked his sister, Holika to enter a blazing fire with Prahlad in her lap, as she had a boon to enter fire unscathed. Legend has it that Prahlad was saved for his extreme devotion for the lord while Holika paid a price for her sinister desire. The tradition of burning Holika or the 'Holika dahan' comes mainly from this legend."

Last night we went to watch the burning of Holika in Mandore around midnight. All the woman placed flowers on the dry sticks before lighting them, then the young men had to tear the bonfire apart to save Prahlad. They place ears of wheat into the fire as offerings for the fire god and to signify the coming of a new harvest. Some people say the name Holi has been derived from a Sanskrit word "Holka", which means cereal roasted on a pan over the fire.

This morning was the part of the 2 day celebration that gives Holi the name of Festival of colours. The family that owns the Mandore Guest house,where we are staying, gave us bags of coloured dye which we used to throw at each other, later it was dissolved in water and thrown. It is a joyful and fun festival with all people taking part. Holi lowers (but does not remove completely) the strictness of social norms, which includes gaps between age, gender, status, and caste. Together, the rich and poor, women and men, enjoy each other’s presence on this day. No one expects polite behavior; as a result, the atmosphere is filled with excitement, fun and joy.

Several groups of local men playing drums and dancing entered into the guest house and encouraged us to dance with them. Celebrating Holi with the family here has given us a real insight into the festival that other tourists will not experience. How many chances in adult life do you get to cover yourself in multi coloured water and dance and sing?

 “The legend from which the tradition of playing colours started is full of colours in itself. The story goes that the very colourful Indian god, Lord Krishna was jealous of his soul mate Radha's fair complexion, since he himself was very dark. 

Naughty young Krishna complained to his mother Yashoda about this injustice of nature. To placate the child, doting mother asked Krishna to apply colour on Radha's face and change her complexion according to his choice. Playful and mischievous Krishna appreciated the idea and implemented it. The game of applying colours thus gained so much popularity that it became a tradition and later it turned out to be a full fledged festival. “

During Holi colours are played in the morning , then people go home and clean themselves up, although some of us were “got” with the more permanent dye, leaving some faces and hair different shades of pink! Traditionally families go around visiting in the afternoon and evening. Here in Mandore there is a big parade of Men playing drums,singing and dancing which moves through the town, heading for Mandore Gardens. This is one of the few times when people are allowed to drink so things can get quite heated. Only men take part in the parade and woman watch from the rooftops. We also watched the procession from the roof of the guest house. It has been amazing 2 days and we really feel we have experienced an Indian festival in true Indian style.

Kelly 26 & 27 March 2013