Thursday – A day at JSMT
I was excited to wake up Thursday, with the sound of birds chirping and mosquitoes buzzing in the background, armed with the knowledge that I would finally be able to spend some time with the girls at the JSMT School.
Kamala accompanied me to each class, one at a time, and introduced me as a visitor from the United States. The girls would all stand (and not sit until given permission) but were extremely shy. Some asked questions, but many did not speak English or were not confident enough to speak up. After making the rounds, we went back into some of the classes to sit and converse with the girls. I was asked simple, yet difficult questions to answer across languages and cultures. What do you do? How do you like India? What do you think of our school? What do we need to do to succeed? What are your hopes for us? How do Americans view India? How do you feel about us?
It was challenging and interesting to have time with these special girls. I have no idea what it’s like to live in the conditions that most of these girls go home to each day. Alternatively, the majority of these girls have never left this small village and have no real sense of where I am from. I really enjoyed speaking with them, most of all seeing their big smiles and the hope in their eyes. This school has not only changed their life, but the lives of their family members as well.
We returned to the house for lunch and met another visitor to the school — a man who came for the day to give a seminar on management. After eating with him and learning more about his work, we walked over to the school to sit in on his lecture. It was two and half-hours long and in Hindi. While it was challenging to stand the heat in the small room, which was packed with over 150 people, the concepts he was teaching were interesting and important. I was impressed with the discipline the girls showed by sitting still on the ground for over two hours.
After the talk we stood outside and waved goodbye to the girls as they headed home. They were so full of energy, passion and excitement. Their serious classroom faces turned to big grins as they hooked arms and skipped out of school. I couldn’t help but think that students in the U.S. would learn so much more if only they appreciated the chance to go to school as much as these girls.
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