“E” is for elephant By Brittney Schwab

“E” is for elephant

After over 2 days of traveling we arrived in the county of things being bedazzled. It is amazing. We arrived in Kullu under a cloud of darkness. I had no idea of the beauty that would await us when we woke. I woke up with the anticipation of watching my village team (team red) love and teach these precious kids. Our journey to our school is over 45 minutes each way, up winding roads, near the top of the mountain. We departed the bus and hiked around homes, animals, apple orchards and again farther up the mountain we went. We entered the school to the kids saying their morning prayers. After dividing into groups the teens got to work. I instantly saw the love they had for the people of India.

Toni taught the kids about health and body parts on the first day. She played with Mr. Potato Head and did head, shoulders, knees and toes. The kids loved showing that they knew their body parts and could keep up with her pace. On the second day she taught about eating healthy with fruits, vegetables and grains.

On the first day Lilly was the group leader. She walked around with Shavani, our interpreter, to get the kids their name tags. She kept the red team on time and jumped in when needed. On the second day she kept the kids moving with arm movements for up, down, left and right along with other prepositions from English.

Aidan taught construction from Everyday Living on the first day. He was able to get the kids, even the rowdiest of them, to settle down and to build things. He was able to engage the kids and they loved him. On the second day he was the group leader and did eye exams for the whole school. One of our littlest looked at the eye exam and saw the letter E and told us that E is for elephant. It was so cute.

Oakland taught animals from Mother Earth on the first day. The kids were mesmerized by his enthusiasm and the constant smile on his face. He ended the lesson with spinning the kids around with pin the tail on the donkey. On the second day he taught the kids about insects and let the kids put insect puppets on their fingers.

Tyler taught introductions from Getting to Know You on day one. He helped the kids make portfolios to hold their crafts for every day. He is our village strong man and the kids love to hang on all his limbs with more waiting to jump on him. On the second day he had a tea party with the kids with crackers and lemonade while teaching manners.

Brooke always has a smile on her face. Day one she taught the kids about family members. She had the kids cradling a baby in their arms for mother and swishing their hair back for sister. On day 2 she was jumping on papers teaching them the months of the year.

At our school we have over 40 kids in our village and the teens are able to adapt to the rambunctious groups to the well behaved ones. The children love the teens and look forward getting to spend time with them. My eyes have been opened to the beauty that every place has and has made all the hard work and sacrifices to get here worth it. Being away from my family, friends and loved ones has been hard but seeing the pure love and joy the people of India have has been one of the greatest experiences of my life.