THE MOST EYE-OPENING AND THRILLING EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE, Tony in Philippines

 MANILA,THE PHILIPPINES

1^st MARCH – 17^th APRIL 2013

Hello everyone my name is KATLEGO PAPA TONY MAKHURA a Botswana national studying in UNITEN and I am one of the recent EPs to out of AIESEC UPM LC. I have always had the passion for making a positive impact in other people’s lives and that together with my passion for travelling propelled me to finally go for GCDP exchange program in the Philippines.

I got involved in a project called G.O.A.L which was later changed to KICK4ED, which was aimed at using football as a tool or medium of bringing basic education to Pilipino kids of all ages and mostly from underprivileged communities and also in the process promote football as a sport in THE PHILIPPINES at grass roots level.

Altogether there were five EPs from Russia ,The Netherlands, Germany, Penang Malaysia, and myself included, and we volunteered in three places at once all under the same KICK4ED project .first off was KRISS LIBRARY in Don Antonio heights Commonwealth where we dealt with kids mostly in elementary school to around grade 5 from 2-5pm Mondays to Thursdays. We integrated a wide range of fun educational activities and games mostly to enhance their mathematical and English speaking, reading and writing abilities and top it all off with lessons in basics of football. A recipe that worked like a well oiled machine as the numbers of kids who came for our lessons increased daily.

The second place where we volunteered was in Barangay Marilag Project 4, where we basically did the same thing as at KRISS but slightly different in that we conducted coaching clinics for futsal instead of football but the reaction was still the same. The kids loved us and made sure to attend every coaching sessions well on time and really participate in whichever activities we had planned for them.

The third place was for DREAM BIG PILIPINAS at a library in Buayang Bato Mandaluyong city where we tutored kids from grade 1 up until college in mathematics and English. At this library we did one on one tutoring from Monday to Wednesday 3-7pm and just like the other two places the reception and response of the kids to us was a heart-warming one as by the 3^rd week more than half the kids were showing noticeable improvement in speaking and writing English. But unlike the other two places, at DREAM BIG we met the kids for football coaching on separate days from tutoring days. The clinics took place in Taguig city near Mandaluyong in an indoor field with artificial turf. The kids really enjoyed themselves and were very keen to learn from us as much as they could and they really did.

The kids at KRISS library sent us off in style as they danced and sang for us in both English and their native tongue TAGALOG and as one can imagine it was a heart-rending moment as its never really the right time to say goodbye especially to adorable souls like them.

But of course as we all know that all work and no play makes jack a dull boy, during the holy week(the time around the Easter holidays)I had the opportunity of travelling to one of the biggest and beautiful islands in THE PHILIPPINES called CATANDUANES which is a very peaceful and tranquil island with a lot of virgin beaches and very clean water. We visited a few farms where various fruits indigenous to the Philippines and some to that island only were grown and even got to see a cock farm where roosters are raised and trained for cock fighting which is legal in the country. Although I don’t know how heaven looks like, i still think it was like a little piece of heaven. Of course in the big city i also had the chance to enjoy myself at several hip and happening spots.

 Throughout our exchange program I am happy to say we received cooperation and assistance from the kids we worked with, their parents and most of all the LCs of UNIVERSITY OF SANTO THOMAS AND UP DILIMAN and to them all I would like to say thank you very much for making my job less difficult and my experience a very memorable one toppling all I have ever had so far in my life. All in all being there for six weeks was pretty awesome because I made a lot of friends and learnt a lot but most of all the true value of family and togetherness and what it really means to be happy because I consider Filipinos to be the happiest people I ever met. It was just an all round beyond expectation experience in which I spent around RM6000.00 everything inclusive and if you ask me that is the best money I ever spent. So I urge all of you guys to try it out.

It Was Beyond My Expectation, Farhana in Romania.

C.H.A.N.G.E. 2013, ROMANIA

2 Feb-6March 2013

AIESEC Bucharest

I Photos of romania

Hello everyone , I am Sanjida Farhana. I have heard about AIESEC a lot and the life changing or challenging experience this student driven organization give to its member. So I thought to give myself a chance so i raised my EP form and in 14 january 2013 and get matched in 25 january it was like a super fast process . I wanted something different to experience for myself something which is difficult to get when u r in your comfort zone .
Romania - is so different from the places i grew up, people , food and moreover weather. From the tropical weather i suddenly went to 0 degree celcius which was so cold for me . When i arrived in Romania after 18 hours of journey i was very warmly welcomed by AIESEC Bucharest members. They wrote my name in a paper in very nice way. Thou I was so scared but it flew away and never came back during the whole stay in Romania. Then I went to AIESEC Bucharest office their my TN-manager was waiting for me . Her name is Roxana Dragomir and I meet all the EPs for the C.H.A.N.G.E and other running project. Well now let me introduce the project which made me go to Romania .
C.H.A.N.G.E is a project about the under privileged children. So we basically go to the centers where children stay to give them ideas about the places we came from teach some basic english and moreover have some fun with them so that they can forget their condition for a while being . We were 10 EP from different country .
I came to people from country i never thought i could come across . In my project EPs where from China , Brazil , Indonasia, Taiwan,and Paskistan. I was paired to work with a very sweet girl from China . Her name is Grace in English but her chinese name is Du Bingang . We had so much fun in working. We went to 4 centers and came across lives of many children . The stories where so heartbreaking and sad that it was hard to keep the tears away.
During intership center i visited was St.Marys . We were warmly welcomed by the children thou they have very little knowledge about english they were trying their level best to talk to with us . They were very amazed and happy to see us . We had one romanian translator Alex with us one AIESEC member . Kids were amazing they were so enthusict about the place we came from . We conducted our country presentation and then played quiz games we also offered them some of the gifts and candies as a reward  when they answer right . Then we went to St. Nicolas the kids were super duper nice they are cutest and the most aesum kid ever . They even showed us their traditional dance and where very very nice to us . They made us believe that even thou life has problem all it takes positive attitude to make things prefect. 

I made very good friend with all the EPs they were so supporting   ... I also took part in the Global village and represented the culture and tradition of my country Bangladesh it was beyond my expectation i felt that moment. AIESEC intership changes many bad attritude you have with in your self. Like i never imagined sharing my room . well I shared my room with 6 amazing girls . I had chance to explore their life . Girls were from Peru, Maldova, China, Taiwan, and Indonasia .
I am very glad that i meet them all.

i had also the chance to explore romania and had fun with all the members in AICSEC Bucharest.

:D

An Asia Girl Has Gone to Romania Alone, Li Shan.

Grow Summer 2012, Romania

25 June – 1 August 2012

AIESEC Suceava

Hi, everyone! I am Li Shan. During the last summer break, I had took up my courage and made a decision to go for exchange to Romania. It was used to be a dream to go for exchanged when I first heard of it from the other organization when I was still in secondary school. It was then a dream for me to keep pursuing with until in university, and thus, another reason for me to join AIESEC.

You might just be very curious why did I choose Romania. The reason was just simple enough, to explore a totally different culture and get some culture shock, to understand more about the different education system between Asia and Europe and doing whatever I can to contribute to this society. People around me were very surprised when they first knew me that I will be heading to Romania for my exchanged. However, I am really glad to tell you that I had made one of the best decisions in my life. And, this is how I started my adventures journey.

I had my internship in one of the city in North Romania, Suceava and the project that I participated with is “Grow” project. It is a national education project that is collaborated between NGO, named School of Value and AIESEC. Basically, School Of Value will provide a Train the Trainers conference and designed a manual for the trainers to deliver the session to the high school students. Meanwhile, AIESEC will conduct recruitment of the trainer.

This internship kicked start by a training conference which held in one of the city in Romania, Predel. The conference was a 5 days 4 nights conference sponsored by the BRD Hotel. The main objective of this conference is to prepare us to be a qualified trainer and integrate us into the Romania culture. All of the trainers and the Organizing Committee President from different LC are compulsory to participate in the conference. It was an awesome conference as it was my first ever international conference in my AIESEC life. There were around 55 delegates from all over the world such as Portuguese, Poland, Estonia, Korea, China, Singapore, Brazil, Pakistan, Mexico and Ukraine participated in this conference. It was cool as I got to expose how an international conference run and at the same time exposed to the diverse cultures from the other participants.

Generally, my project is about to conduct and deliver the  sessions to the high school students here. As we have only 4 EPs back in my LC, we paired up in order to conduct the sessions in a more effective way. I paired up with a Pakistan EP, Fahad to deliver the sessions to the group of Grade 11 students, which is from 16-17 years old. On the other hand, the Brazil EP, Nelly paired up with Hong Kong EP, Matthew to deliver the sessions to Grade 12 students which are between the ages of 18 to 19 years old. Each of the pair has 2 batches of students. We have a total of 10 sessions to deliver which include team management skill, leadership skill, career orientation, budget, time management and etc. However, we are required to complete 10 sessions to each batch of students within 2 weeks. During the session, we weren’t just lecturing about theory. We brought up the knowledge through all the interactive activities and tried to share our own experience as much as we can. In my opinion, it was a very effective way as you got to grab the student’s attention and assisting them to acquired the skills through these activities. At the same time, we are more bonded with each other.

Life in Romania was fun and full of activities almost every day. Every day, either the AIESECers or the students here invited us to visit around the historical places around the city or hanged out together for bowling or snooker. It was really great as although we guided the students during the formal session, but we actually learnt a lot of things from my students themself. They were always so excited to share with us their culture and history especially when we visited together to the museums or castles. I got to know a lot more about the Romania culture, history and language from them. Besides, they even taught me how to play snooker and bowling as these are the common sports in their country. Throughout these 7 weeks, I had a lot of my first and only experience here. I tried a lot of the things that I never expect myself will be doing before I came. Singing and playing guitar under an  apple trees, singing in a pub, teaching the secondary school students, trying various kind of traditional Romanian food, went to the countryside and saw such a big herd of sheep for the first time and meeting Dracula at the Bran’s castle are all the memorable experiences that still remained so fresh in my mind.

Words just couldn’t describe my 7 weeks internship in Romania. It was just way beyond my expectation. I explored myself and found my passion. I become a more confidence, mature and independent person. I had made a lot of friends from all over the world. Seeing the changes among my students and how they explored themselves for their future direction were my great satisfaction during this internship. I felt so grateful when my students gave me a group hug during the last session and told me how much they appreciated you for the impacts that they I had brought to them. They sent me off in tears during my last day in Suceava, telling me how much they wished me to come back struck me that how much I had influenced them. I am just never regret the decision that I had made to come for this internship.

In Sucaeva, Romania.

The first life changing experience he has ever had in Taiwan, Kian Ann.

Hi, my name is Afron Ngan. I’m the EP for AIESEC LC UPM. I get matched in May of 2012 by a project called Taiwan Farm Fun Taiwan. Obviously the country that I will heading to is Taiwan. Is my dream to go to Taiwan as during childhood I always watch Taiwan show, their foods is awesome! Every time I just get to watch on the TV but couldn’t have a chance to taste it. But now I got it;) But is just not simple as that. I chosen this project is because FARM this word. Farm is really new for me as I never try before. We all know that to be a farmer is very tough, work hard everyday under the hot sun. But they play an important role in our life. If we doesn’t have farmer, where can we find our food, vegetables. How can we stay healthy!! That the purpose why I choose this project. Try to be a farmer. And yes. I been arrange to a leisure farm called SHINNAN. There are famous in strawberry, pumpkin and honeydew. The people there all are very kind. And we as international volunteer, get two partner from Taiwan local university which will be help and guide us throughout the way, so we won’t feel lost. And I get two cutie girls. One is Amy and another is Elaine. Both of them help us so much;) Throughout this programme I get to know the difference between GCDP and travel. By through this programme, we are on Taiwan newspaper and also their top sales magazine called “ YI ZOU KAN” During the first conference we went, they organize a global village for us to showcase our country. That why we are on newspaper;) Secondly, my leisure farm are so famous that publish in the magazine;) And I was called to be the model. This is one of the impact that I make. Besides, I do help the leisure farm to improve their farm and business by design out creative product, making blogspot and promote through social media. Other than that, we do make some environment construction in the farmJ The most important part is I become a English teacher which taught the kids in the farm to speak English. They are shy and because is rural area, their English is poor. That the reason why I’m here, to encourage them to speak English more;) And I did that;) I’m proud of it. In this semester break, most of my friends choose to find part time job to earn some money, but I different with them;) I spend my two months exploring something new, gain knowledge, meet more friends, and also cultural exchange. I don’t regret for it, instead, I will take GCDP again.

It changed my whole life, I will miss it a lot.

Wen Jun, A tough yet memorable journey in China.

Dare to Dream 2012 , China
7 Jul-15Aug 2012
Organised by AIESEC AU UIR
Written by Yu Wen Jun, LC UPM

On 28.11.2011 , I have made an important decision that is going to ripple my summer in year 2012. My EP form was raised. Roughly 6 months later, I found myself in Beijing, roughly 4352.35km away from my comfort zone in Kuala Lumpur.

I joined a project which focuses on child education in rural area. Expectation was go to a rural school in Xi’An , Shan Xi province to teach. Plan did not go well, a scandal happened in the district which happened to be our original destination involving national image of China and human right groups.The local government closed down visiting of foreign in an attempt to black out the media, according to the locals. The organizing committee had to make plan just 1weeks before 20 exchange participants arrival and omit the planning for around 5 months. ( lobbying with local authority, gaining permission, activity planning, site surveying, communication with the school and local residents, accommodation planning, logistics planning, sponsorship finding and ETC ) Seemed and sounded gloomy and bleak for an intern who has just arrived with big hope
and enthusiasm.

First week, training and teaching plan making. We too, went sight seeing around Beijing whenever our time table permits. The interns and local Chinese buddy bonded. Miscommunications happened but it is a learning curve for everyone. Dropped my wallet and experience an emotional roller coaster ride for 12hours before getting it back from a beautiful soul. Losing wallet in a foreign country with people around you who you have
met for less than a week is no joke. Gotten tonnes of help from friends here. Met some other interns from LC in Beijing.

Second week, departed and arrived at Shipu, Ningbo province, The plan B. We interns were surprised that our target audience was actually tuition centre students instead of regular day time student. Another issue arose was homestay planning, the moment we arrived, we were not assigned to respective homestay family beforehand. It was done hastily, rich family discriminates on race and place of origin of the interns and some
interns were left unattended at the end of the day. Tears dropped and argument happened. Recruitment had to be done days before our teaching starts. The respond was unsatisfactory. Way below expectation.

Third+forth week, teaching in Shipu started. The age range of our recruitment is from 4-17 years old. Arranging for time table was a hassle. The students assigned to me was mostly high school students with low English proficiency. Generally, English teaching in China focuses in writing and grammar which is far from appealing and interesting from a student point of view. It has become a burden, a task, rather than a platform to diversed and global knowledge. An intern was hospitalized due to food poisoning and two Chinese buddy headed home earlier due to a fist fight involving locals. Tears dropped and argument happened. Crisis happens every other day, literally.
.
Fifth week, bid goodbye to Shipu, the project officially ended. But all the interns stuck together for travelling. We went Shanghai for around 5days before leaving to Beijing. I got myself another project to take part in, result of networking during my days in Beijing. The project in Tianjin was a proper one. Farm surrounds the school. Only one water source in the school, but its not in the toilet. Drinking water has to be fetched approx. 300meters from the school. We take bath in student’s place everyday after school. Three meals was prepared by ourselves from the crop harvest brought by our students. Daily routine was simple and meaningful.

Sixth week, bid goodbye to Tianjin. Back in Beijing again, reunion with some of the interns who was still there. Spent a few days exploring Beijing with some company before returning Malaysia. Despite the abrupt change of plan, AIESECer and local organizing committee committed in delivering an incredible exchange experience for all the interns. Their effort and hard work was undeniable and applaudable. Words cannot describe how indebted I am and how I appreciate all the bonds I have made in China. I miss them now and will be always missing all of them.

I cannot stress enough that the journey was meaningful and packed with unexpected events and happenings. When everything is smooth and in favor of us in any of our undertaking, there is not much learning curve and discovery along the way. On the contrary, I experienced otherwise in my 42 days in China. Am proud of myself with the decision back in 28.11.2011.

THE END.

I will definitely remember this for a lifetime.

A little girl found herself in a Huge Land-China, Chooi Shawn.

Hello, everyone, my name is Shawn.  It might seem ironic to many of you but I am not a guy.  As of December 2012, while I am writing this, I am 19 years old and still doing my A-Levels as a JPA scholar.

First, let me start by telling all of you how I got acquainted with AIESEC UPM.  Back in January 2011, while waiting for my SPM results, I got the chance to attend two workshops organised by myHarapan Youth Trust Foundation.  It was during these workshops that I met AIESECers who got me interested in their activities, especially the exchange programme, or more formally known as the Global Community Development Programme (GCDP).

However, it was only in January 2012 that I got in touch with AIESEC and was referred to Evelyn Yee of AIESEC UPM.  Thinking back right now, I think I was trying to combine my love for travel and the desire to get involved in the real world and humanity but most importantly, I wanted to do my tiny bit in making the world a better place.  Well, that was how my journey with AIESEC started.

Throughout the course of a few months before my trip, I liaised with Evelyn who guided me through all the paperwork and preparation needed prior to departure.  With the flight ticket booked and the Visa done, all I needed to do was to make sure that I studied for my end-of-semester examinations and off I went to Beijing, China.  It seems that I was very excited for my stint right?  Yes and no.  I was looking forward to it, initially, but only when I was at the airport that it dawned on me that it would be the first time that I would be travelling alone, away from my family for 6 whole weeks!  I knew that if I allowed myself to cry, my parents would simply say that it was my own decision to go on this exchange.  No, don’t get me wrong, my parents were fully supportive of my decision to go on this exchange but they left the ultimate decision to me.  I tried to stay strong in front of my parents and siblings but at the departure gate, the tears flowed anyway.

What have I got myself into?  This was the exact thought that went through my mind when I found myself all alone waiting to go through the immigration at the Beijing Capital International Airport.  That was not all.  When I was brought to the place that I was staying for the next one and a half-month, I was almost in tears again.  It was definitely not ideal but despite that, I knew that I was prepared to face something like this.  Somewhere deep down, I knew that it was something that could made my experience even more meaningful and I would come out of this stronger, more matured and more ready to face anything that come my way in the future.  Well, it was true.  So, there I was sharing the room with three other young Chinese teachers of the school.

I am sorry I have totally forgotten to introduce the project that I have participated in.  Basically, I was an assistant teacher in the Shaliwen Bilinguistic Learning Centre located in the outskirts of Beijing.  It is a rehabilitation school for deaf children, mostly under the age of six.  I was tasked to help the teachers to teach the children who have recently got hearing aids, to listen and speak.  This is besides the daily job of having to take care of the basic needs of the children, some of them who are staying full time in the school.  Imagine children as young as two years old staying away from their parents!  I was told that some of them could not recognise their parents after being apart for a period of time.

I must say that my experience of being a teacher for these special kids was really a fulfilling one.  First of all, the children are simply adorable, almost all of them at least.  There is this particular boy who doesn’t seem to sit still even for one second, practically went against all my instructions and even fooled me around!  But somehow I felt that he was just craving for attention and that was the only way he was going to get any from me as there were too many kids to care for!  They love me and I love them back likewise.  Right now, I really miss them and also the time when I sang and danced with them for a whole 30 minutes every single day.  I miss Xin Hai, the little boy who called me ‘mummy’, Hong Zhou who would give me a big wet kiss whenever he saw me, Shi Qi who was the polite and clever one and the blue-eye boy (yes,he has one blue eye and the other black in colour due to a medical condition), Guan Cheng who would imitate me scolding the other kids, in fact sometimes doing it for me.  All of them made my life at Shaliwen a very memorable one. 

I realised that life for the kids and teachers at Shaliwen is not an easy one.  The kids wake up at around 6 am every day and school goes on from 8 am to 5 pm.  In between classes and therapy, there’s also play time, meal time, bath time and also the time to watch Sponge Bob Square Pants.  The children had to undergo intense therapy session (even though sometimes unwillingly) so that they are able to catch up with other children of the same age.  The limited number of teachers in the school means that the young teachers had to take turns to take care of the kids at night and during the weekends.  Due to the distance, time and cost, many of the teachers can only go back once-a-year during Chinese New Year.  Not only that, by the end of the day, everyone would be so tired that all of us just wanted to go back to our dorms and rest.  When I was there, by 10pm, everyone would be sound asleep.

Well, after a long week in the school, the weekends were the time that we really enjoyed ourselves.  I used ‘we’ here because I have made two good Singaporean friends, Li Xuan and Chor Yen who were also at Shaliwen under AIESEC.  They arrived a few days after me but I must say that we hit it off right away.  We made plans for all our six weekends, making sure that we covered all the must-see places in Beijing.  In the end, we managed to cover The Great Wall, Summer Palace, Forbidden City, Tiananmen, Wang Fu Jing and we even took a bullet train to Tianjin and spent a night at a luxurious yet cheap hostel over there.  Thanks to our friends and buddies at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) who accompanied us on many of those trips and made sure that all our needs were taken care of.  I even celebrated my birthday with my Chinese friends as well as EPs from Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.

In conclusion, I came out of this experience as a better if not more matured and independent person.  Words cannot describe the impact that my short stint in China has on my life.  Shall I start by sharing my experience of my narrow escape after my hand was grabbed by a stranger while out jogging in the early hours of the morning?  Well, that’s a whole different story, fortunately nothing happened and it was entirely my fault.  No time for that now!  Or shall I relate my experience of having to stay overnight in the AIESEC office of UIBE after Li Xuan and me failed to sneak into the girl’s dormitory despite our buddies doing whatever they can to bring us in for the night (we just came back from the Great Wall)?

 

Throughout my trip, I have done things that I have not dreamed of doing, ever.  I have stepped out of my comfort zone and faced my fears and insecurities.  I forged new friendships that I am sure that would last a lifetime.  I am now more confident, independent, matured, determined and the list goes on and on…

However, most of all, I am more confident in moving on with my life.  I have found my passion.  I have found what I want to achieve in life.  I have found more of myself.

The kid that changed my life.

Yong Leng, A city boy living in a suburb India for 6 weeks.

Place: School for Deaf and Mute, Ahmedabad

Date: 1^st July – 16^th August

Organised by:  AIESEC Ahmedabad

I was getting down from guy hostel, a narrow and dark stairway that joined to the playground. The kids were in the playground, a little girl was riding on swing, playing herself. The boys in a big group stand on the right position, waiting for the cricket game to start, while the unplayed group stand at the side watching it. I saw some kids run to me, waving hand with their lovely smile. They were not spoken, or should say, they couldn’t spoke. This is how I experienced in the first day I am here, in the School of Deaf and Mute in Navarangpura, Ahmedabad.

First of all, I would like to express my thanks to the following people for their support and assistance with the internship. First from the School of Deaf and Mute, I would like to acknowledge the chief minister, Mr. Y.P Desai for giving fully support on every work that I carried out, besides providing free food and accommodation. Next, I would like to express much of my gratitude to all the school staff, including the students who welcome me with pleasure, treating me like the special guest. From School for deaf and mute, the best gratitude goes to Mr Jayesh Gadhvi, for always providing assistance and cultural heritage explanation to me. I must not forget to thank to all the foreign interns that joined me, pushed my internship to a succeed. Last but no least, from AIESEC Ahmedabad, Mr. Rishabh Patel for his many contributions to this internship and for being my very responsible manager picking me go and back from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.

I took a flight to India in the 1^st July 2012. When I walked out from the airport, the local time is 10.00 pm, approximately 3 hours late behind the Malaysia clock. The crowded residents were standing outside the airport, I found my local TN manager, Mr. Rishabh Patel in the crowds. I was took to a house, where I meet the other foreign interns. Only one was participating in my project. Then we move to Mr. Patel house, to stayed overnight.

The next day, I have my very first local meal in Rishabh’s house. Onion with lemon as the appetizer; plain capati with Indian tea as the main course. Then, me with the other interns departed to the School for Deaf and Mute, where we will be staying over for the rest of internship period. The school located at Navarangpura, opposite the Times of India, in West Ahmedabad.

The moment I entered the institution, I knew I should throw away my pride if I want to mix well with every single person in the school. I think myself as a deaf person so the students do not reject me. They maybe hearing impaired, but they have no different like normal people.

Living in school is something unexpected. The life I experienced here was simple. The kids attended class for 6 days a week. The afternoon class starts at 11.30am to 5pm, while the morning class begins at 7.30am to 11am, only for Saturday and certain State events. The hostel residents shifted to canteen at 7am for breakfast, 10am for lunch and 6 pm for dinner. Girls in the hostel need to wake up in very early morning, perhaps 6 am for daily clean work; the guy could wake up anytime they like, but not as late as 8 am. During school day, you would not find any boy hiding under sheet. The early bird would walked to canteen for some light breakfast. Then the playground began to fill with boys. The girls were on eye watching by the hostel supervisor, they only allowed to come down from the hostel during the lunch time.

This institution is not only for the hostel residents, some of the pupils took public transportation to school every day. I see some difference between hostel and home stay kids. The boys who stayed in the hostel were majority were from poor family while most of the homestay boys owned a mobile phone. These students may financially different, but yet there were mixing very well with each other. The better would share their electronic gadgets to the poor, while the poor feed the better with snacks.

The institution equipped with facilities that required to train the handicapped child. Education from pre-school until secondary twelve standard is impart with no charge. Each student will be given text books regarding to different subjects of normal school. They study their mother tongue, Gujarati, Mathematics, English, Geography and History. Few classes were set specifically provide intensive training in handicrafts to the student. The selected children stand chance to learn to printing, binding book, tailoring and drawing. For somehow, I feel the institution was weak in infrastructure management. Indeed, a desktop was set up in every class but some had already broken. Teaching materials failed to present to students graphically from the monitor which then lead to dull and boring teaching session.

I would say, I was treated pleasantly by the local people during the period I stayed in India. I am deeply touch by the effort made by the school stuff to provide a convenience environment for me and the other interns to stay. While preparing food for the hostel kids, the chef also prepared non spicy dishes for treating interns. They tried to fulfill requirement demanded by us, even if we asked for a long journey trip. If we were late hanging out after 10pm, at least a call we will receive from the school stuff. They said, this is part of their duty and responsible to take good care of us. I always have a great conversations and learnt a lot about the festivals in India. Again, I would like to thank them, sincerely from my heart.

 Every student was taking me and the other interns as special guests of the school. They prepared everything they could to provide a comfortable environment for me to stay. Every night, hostel will be cleaned by students themselves before we go to sleep. They asked me to join them for every meal, make sure my stomach always full. Then they cleaned up my plate. They rarely say ‘no’ to me even it is against their religion and culture. I could understand they are trying not to make me disappointed or upset. I am glad that these students taking me as part of the student even we could not speak orally.

In the first day of school, I was taught some basic local sign language. It was not as tough as I thought. At least until the day I left India, I was able to say goodbye to them with the sign patterns I learned. These deaf children were talkative like normal person. They would sat in a big group after shower, one will start expressing his ideas with sign patterns while the others were looking silently. Sometimes, they talked never end until they were asked to sleep forcely by the hostel supervisor. They may silly but yet they turned serious if they were asked. The elder student he told me, they enjoyed to be deaf person even they don’t spoke. These students love to talk with me individually, treating me like their big brother. They think I made their conversation funnier, but they never know they made the talk itself interesting. I could feel that the deaf children have strongly faith in me. They made me feel I was needing to them. Sometimes they shared their feeling, love to see me becoming part of them. So, one day I put on their school uniform attend for their class. Everywhere I walked, the people were looking at me with a welcoming smile and gave me a thumb up.

School of Deaf and Mute is an institution recognized by the State Government social defense department. I was glad to be part of the drawing competition organized by the social defense department. The students were equipped with plain paper with crayon provided by the social defense. They could draw anything as they like. These students were gifted with creativeness, I was impressed by every pieces of creation they made. Then, I went with the students to other state in Gujarat for a handicap community event. I see students actively participate in the event, they worked hard for chasing glory. They bravely compete with students from other states, same like a normal person. Once again, I acknowledge their abilities as a part of community, they may not speak but they are same like normal person.

Special education for deaf and mute children is a complex field which requires endless interest and spirit. Living with deaf and mute children makes me realize that the need to change bad perception on them. Undeniable, they are categorized as disable community, but they can involve in all curricular activities like normal person does. All we can do is to help them feel more confident with themselves and their ability to communicate with others. This is also one of the reasons I came for this project. I never regret to spend my internship with this special community.

With the students.