EIL Intercultural Learning

Akshay Prathisthan is in South Delhi, which is a well-off area. However, from what I've seen so far of India, this means very little. Rich and poor live quite literally a few steps away from each other; rich meaning having servants to drive them around and cook their food and clean their houses, poor meaning living and sleeping on the side of the street. So although the school is in a wealthy area, the children are extremely poor. I usually take the school bus home and most of the children are dropped off at the side of the road - where they disappear to after that is anyone's guess. Some wander down the street alone, some are collected by relatives, some wait and wave as the bus pulls away, leaving them standing in a cloud of dust and dirt. From what I understand, most of them come from very poor families which have anything between 5 and 15 children.

Many, but not all, of the children are disabled. Some have serious mental disabilities - these children attend classes in the "Special Wing". There are also students who are deaf, and they attend classes together in the Hearing Impaired section. The rest of the school is made up of classes from kinder garden to class VIII (aged 15-16). Within these classes are many physically disabled children, who, mainly because of polio or M.S., have to use crutches or wheelchairs. Others are missing arms or legs entirely. School starts at 8am with an outdoor assembly and prayers. Classes start at 8.30 and each class is half an hour long. At 11.45 there is a recess and the children get a free homemade lunch (lentils, vegetables and rice). They play cricket and chasing and all the usual kids games we played when we were that age! Even the physically disabled children take part most of the time. School ends at 1.45pm, but the last class is usually games (either board games in the library or sports outside).

I'm teaching a few different grades English (class 3,4,5,7 and 8) and I help the Maths teacher of grade 2. Within each class the levels are really incredibly different. There are some children with learning difficulties and mental disabilities in the classes. I've raised this with several teachers who shrug and say there's no more space in the Special Wing and to just "let them be". "Letting them be" involves these children sitting in a World of their own while the rest of the class moves ahead with their lesson. I'm becoming more confident now in the school, so I've started working with some of these children individually. I take them out of class and do basic reading, writing and counting with them, depending on where they are struggling most. It's quite difficult and really they should have properly trained people working with them: I've already noticed some are dyslexic.. But I feel every bit makes a difference. Even if by the end of the day they can read 2 more words than they could that morning, it's progress.

I love working in the school, because the children are amazing. Despite all their problems, they are the most beautiful, happy and inspiring people I've ever met in my life. It is difficult at times, but I knew it would be. Every minute with the children makes me appreciate everything I have ever had in my own life. And that's a reward in itself.