WOW: I can ACTUALLY teach in India!
Life at Tiny Angels is going well. I am plodding along very happy and healthy, and everyday something happens that surprises me, makes me laugh, makes me angry, makes me think, and makes me work hard. I am taking every day as it comes and soaking in every moment – the tough stuff and the beautiful stuff.
Student in Australia, a teacher in Bengal
Michelle and other Lattitude volunteers in India
Hindustan Times, 10 February 2012
http://www.hindustantimes.com/
Student in Australia, a teacher in Bengal
Tasmayee Laha Roy
KOLKATA: Takdah is a remote village in West Bengal, a few kilomentres from Darjeeling. There is just one bank in the village and hardly any amenity that can be scarcely associated with modernity, but 25-year-old Michelle Bourke is excited about coming from Australia to teach English to little kids in Takdah
Namaste from Takdah, India
Namaste everyone!
Laurie (my volunteer partner from Scotland) and I are now settled in to our new home at Tiny Angels’ School, Takdah, which is a one hour jeep ride from Darjeeling.
This area (Gorkaland) is heaven. Driving into Darjeeling, we were met with the breathtaking sight of buildings and Buddhist monasteries and temples built into the side of the cliff. It’s all fresh air, prayer flags and beautiful, peaceful Nepali people. It’s hard to believe we’re in India; it’s so clean and quiet. The first few days in Darjeeling were cloudy. But on the third day, I looked outside the bathroom window and BAM! There were the Himalayas!! You could stare at them all day.
Suggestions for India from a returned volunteer
Siobhan Marsh volunteered in India in 2007 and was recently contacted by a prospective volunteer with a few questions. Here’s some of her answers which you might also consider helpful.
India’s Ganga aati ceremony
The Ganga aati ceremony in Haridwar began just after dusk. All the people on pilgrimage gathered round the gats beside the Ganges River and lit baskets full of flowers. Throughout the night the baskets of flowers are cast into the river and float away on the current. A truly magical sight which was made more amazing by the dozens of people also washing themselves in the river.