Mentor India: Kabaddi, Verb Dumbcharades and Paragraph Vada-Pav
After setting high standards on week 4, it was a challenge to keep the 5th week session as engaging and interesting for the students. We left no stones unturned, and with hours of research and preparation, we were on our way!
It’s amazing how we never hear any of our team members complain. Everyone manages to contribute fully to the cause, while making sure all their personal commitments are addressed to as well. We have a team of supermen and superwomen! It takes heart to travel 220 km week on week, to spend about 12 hours on a Saturday, and at least another 12 hours preparing the content among other arrangements.
None of us have the luxury of ample time and money! But that has never stopped us from going all out. What keeps us going is our passion to serve those who are in need of something we have to give. Our returns?
The respect we get from the villagers when we walk down to the school…
The giggles, smiles and excitement of the students when they see us climb the stairs to their classroom from the windows…
The support we have been receiving from all of you in different forms!
These are the rewards that we’ll cherish for an eternity! This is what rejuvenates us and energizes us to prep up for the next week, the minute we’re done with the previous one.
If you have been following our programme from week 1, you would have gotten an idea about what Mentor India is really based on. It stands on 4 main pillars- Confidence Building, Public Speaking, Communication, and Career Guidance. We try to set up a good foundation amongst the students in 30 hours for the above areas—with the help of guest teacher volunteers and the core team of KnowYourStar.com—which the students can then build on.
So, we started our 5th session by going through the homework we had assigned to the students the previous week. Meanwhile, teams geared up for the first activity of the day- The Verb Enacting Exercise. It was both educative and fun. This was followed by a casual discussion on various professions that exist in India.
The next session was to teach the students effective paragraph building, which we taught them with our indigenous Vada-Pav concept! It worked beautifully; the exercise ended with the kids framing small paragraphs with broken English, which was still a big leap from where we began 5 weeks back!
The highlight of the day was indeed the innovative Kabaddi commentary challenge, and we were delighted with the response. We clearly know now, that the answers to every question lies within ourselves, our own culture, and our own soil! We were proven 200% right and if you’re looking for fresh-out-of-the-oven Kabaddi commentators (Pro Kabaddi League style), you know whom to contact!
We ended our session with some street-play practice, which was taught to them the previous week. With a promise to bring to them the most memorable session of Mentor India on the final Saturday—27th February, 2016—we left Chikkarasinkere with satisfactory smiles and happy hearts!
