A day well spent!
27th February marked its presence in the English E.Teach calendar as a
remarkable memory. And the reason being – we got to witness the children, who
have been using our DVDs perform in English in the interiors of
Maharashtra, almost 2.5 hour’s drive from the bustling city of Mumbai.
We reached ‘Waki Ashramshala School’ and were immediately impressed by
the warm welcome and the sight of the arrangements. A shamiana had been
prepared for the new teachers, students and others to sit and enjoy the
performances on a rather sunny day.
They started the event with the traditional
practise of lighting the lamp and garlanding the idol, which was followed by a
prayer song sung by a bunch of the older students from the school.
Then, once all of us settled into our seats, our founder Mr. Astad
Parakh, the Kendra Pramukh of Dahanu, the Kendra Pramukh of Golvad and teachers
from the nearby schools were felicitated by young children in the cutest manner
ever.
Children performed one after the other - class wise. And with each
performance our hearts were getting overwhelmed with pride.
This is what we all
are here for, what gets us going, what keeps us so focused to make this program
work - seeing the next generation blossom. And that too against all the odds.
The dream that our founder had seen and the one we all are striving towards is
to ensure that the young children of the underprivileged strata of the society
do not miss out on getting equal or rather better opportunity to excel just
because of their lack of English communication skills. But when we saw these
children perform, who have been using our DVDs only for the past six months, we
felt good!
For all the new teachers who had recently enrolled and had come for the
training - this was good motivation or rather reassurance that they were doing
the right thing. To help them understand our program better, Mr. Astad Parakh
also took to the mic and said a few encouraging words along with some basic
instructions.
Mrs. Gover Mukarabai from the Asha Kiran School for the Hearing
Impaired in Dahanu, who has always been very supportive of our work and uses
our DVDs in her school, had also joined us there. She also had some very
important things to say to the crowd. The Kendra Pramukhs for the two regions
of Dahanu and Golvad also spoke to the audience and implored everyone to use
this tool provided to them to better the English skills of the next generation.
This was followed by a small talk by our facilitator, Reshma Bhoite, who
especially works in the interior regions of Maharashtra to conduct trainings.
She said some very relevant & motivating things to the teachers present
about their value in a child’s life and their role in moulding a child’s future.
Once the kids took the final bow after their last performance, we got to
taste the local cuisine for lunch, before getting into the next session - the
teachers' orientation program.
Reshma, with the help of a few children, demonstrated in detail, to the
new lot of teachers how to use the DVDs effectively.
Some of the best
teaching practices she reiterated for the teachers were:
·
The importance of praising and encouraging children
while they are learning a new and daunting language i.e. English
· We implore the teachers to make the children speak
English as much as possible, so the teacher must replay the ‘Repeat after me’
section of our DVD clips at the end of every page so the children get a chance
to sample the sound of English on their tongues
· And most importantly REPITITION. The more the
children listen to & watch our DVDs, the more they will slowly-slowly
absorb the language. One or two viewings is not adequate.
All in all, it was a Monday very well spent - we brought home
not only the contagious smiles of the children there, but also their hopes of a
better tomorrow.
Help us reach far and wide. Please spread the word. Please help us
create a base for the children to build their futures.
