Sneham visits in Thirumangalam, the kids there, they were really enthusiastic. Whatever they wanted, we taught. At the beginning we thought we could prepare a set of PPTs and from the PPTs, we would teach them generic stuff, like your rights, social science and all that, but then they were like, Akka, can you teach me math? Can you teach me English? And we were like, okay, why not? Hence we sat and prepared the syllabi.
Sometimes, we used to give candies from the store near us and then teach whatever they wanted. We would prepare the material for the school visits sitting in Sathya sir’s office. In the empty Ph.D scholar’s room, we’d count and segregate so many stationary items and list and count- so much of counting! Then segregating and distributing them to the kids to see how happy they were. We’d conduct games, play with them and often they’d be fighting within themselves to see who'd win.
It was really fun especially if there was negative marking as well. If a kid used to be naughty and you go, “okay minus five” to maintain the discipline, of course, in a light hearted manner. The kids remembered me, every time I went back, they’d remember me. I did not know how that was possible and I don't know how, every kid remembered me. Like I'd enter a class and I'd be like, “Kids, Naa yaaru nu nyabagam irukka” , which means ‘kids, do you remember who I am?’ and they used to shout my name, “Jafrin Akka” and I was like, okayy, woahh, y 'all remember me. That made me feel so happy, like okay, I've made enough of an impact for these little fifth grader kids to remember me and not only me, everyone.
They remembered almost every one of us because that's the impact we were making on them. Even if it wasn't too big of an impact, we were just providing them with basic supplies. We didn't do much, but even for that, just to see the caring smiles on the kids' faces, I feel like, yeah, VITeach is doing a good job and I hope we can improve on what we're doing right now because it's an amazing experience being with VITeach.
When we conducted the stationary drive, I think I was the event coordinator for the first stationary drive. It was a tough time but people donated a lot, like a lot, but then again, some people were new because this was just fresh after COVID so they would just like not look at us or pretend they couldn't hear us when we were trying to market it, which is understandable. We got a lot of donations from that. We distributed it to the kids during the pongal celebration. VITeach has given me a sense of purpose. I know it sounds very cliche but seriously I really liked helping the kids and yeah it made me feel happy about my happy end you know proud of myself.
The highlight of my journey was seeing the kids recognise me every time I go there (Sneham and school) . VITeach has given me many unforgettable memories and being a part of the board, I have learnt many lessons as well. I'll always relish the feeling I get while teaching the kids and having them understand it. Overall, as a VITeacher, I have gained many friends and learned new things and I will always be grateful for that Light a spark, ignite a fire ♥️
Writer: Baalamurugan SP
Editor: Pragnya Srikrishnan
Sneham visits in Thirumangalam, the kids there, they were really enthusiastic. Whatever they wanted, we taught. At the beginning we thought we could prepare a set of PPTs and from the PPTs, we would teach them generic stuff, like your rights, social science and all that, but then they were like, Akka, can you teach me math? Can you teach me English? And we were like, okay, why not? Hence we sat and prepared the syllabi.
Sometimes, we used to give candies from the store near us and then teach whatever they wanted. We would prepare the material for the school visits sitting in Sathya sir’s office. In the empty Ph.D scholar’s room, we’d count and segregate so many stationary items and list and count- so much of counting! Then segregating and distributing them to the kids to see how happy they were. We’d conduct games, play with them and often they’d be fighting within themselves to see who'd win.
It was really fun especially if there was negative marking as well. If a kid used to be naughty and you go, “okay minus five” to maintain the discipline, of course, in a light hearted manner. The kids remembered me, every time I went back, they’d remember me. I did not know how that was possible and I don't know how, every kid remembered me. Like I'd enter a class and I'd be like, “Kids, Naa yaaru nu nyabagam irukka” , which means ‘kids, do you remember who I am?’ and they used to shout my name, “Jafrin Akka” and I was like, okayy, woahh, y 'all remember me. That made me feel so happy, like okay, I've made enough of an impact for these little fifth grader kids to remember me and not only me, everyone.
They remembered almost every one of us because that's the impact we were making on them. Even if it wasn't too big of an impact, we were just providing them with basic supplies. We didn't do much, but even for that, just to see the caring smiles on the kids' faces, I feel like, yeah, VITeach is doing a good job and I hope we can improve on what we're doing right now because it's an amazing experience being with VITeach.
When we conducted the stationary drive, I think I was the event coordinator for the first stationary drive. It was a tough time but people donated a lot, like a lot, but then again, some people were new because this was just fresh after COVID so they would just like not look at us or pretend they couldn't hear us when we were trying to market it, which is understandable. We got a lot of donations from that. We distributed it to the kids during the pongal celebration. VITeach has given me a sense of purpose. I know it sounds very cliche but seriously I really liked helping the kids and yeah it made me feel happy about my happy end you know proud of myself.
The highlight of my journey was seeing the kids recognise me every time I go there (Sneham and school) . VITeach has given me many unforgettable memories and being a part of the board, I have learnt many lessons as well. I'll always relish the feeling I get while teaching the kids and having them understand it. Overall, as a VITeacher, I have gained many friends and learned new things and I will always be grateful for that Light a spark, ignite a fire ♥️
Writer: Baalamurugan SP
Editor: Pragnya Srikrishnan