We arrived this morning from Delhi on an overnight bus and walked the short distance to Ankit’s house. Excited to meet the founder of the KP after much communication, we were immediately invited into his home for breakfast. After a delicious meal and a short rest Ankit took us to both Kalyehli and Seva Bharti Orphanages. We were able to meet the children at the Kalyehli orphanage, they are a jubilant group ages 5-16. There is a major language barrier between us and most of the Children and management, however luckily for us one of the older kids speaks English quite well and was able to translate for us. We feel we will be able to really enjoy our time here, and create great connections with these kids. We discussed with the management here what they were hoping to gain from our visits and vice versa how we would be able to benefit from our time spent. Upon hearing about Becca’s acting background, the couple running the orphanage requested we put together a skit that over the course of our time here which can be taught to and then eventually performed by the boys. As for our short term tasks, painting, music, arts and crafts, as well as spoken English classes have been requested. We also discussed the possibility of a camping trip. If we can raise the money for the equipment, transportation, and extra volunteers, we would love to make this a reality as the children here do not get time outside of the orphanage unless it is to go to school.
Our visit to Seva Bharti was brief as we only had a short discussion with the manager and are yet to meet the boys, ages 10-17. Visiting times here will be limited; however from the initial conversations the management here is open to us spending time with the boys on Sunday afternoons. We discussed the possibility of painting, music, cooking and teaching English and basic first aid for the sessions. We would also like to include them in the camping trip and maybe organize the trip all together giving both groups a chance to leave the orphanages and also meet and mingle.
Our final visit of the day was to the de-addiction centre to meet the management and staff. The building is very secure with several gates to get in and out and the patients there in recovery are on a very strict daily regime. We learned that if we are to visit here it will only be for an hour at a time and it will be limited as to not interfere with their program. With that being said, our main purpose here will be to give them a break and light relief from that with games, music and mind stimulating activities as has been used before.
Becca
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