Manami Miyamoto - Japan

I felt like I was time traveling when I got to Roldih, the village where the Dakshinayan project is located. I was there for about 5 months in 2008. I loved the experience there so much that I knew I had to come back again. When I said I would go to India again this time, my family and friends were very worried because of some bad things they hear from the news. I knew, however, that Roldih is a peaceful, lovely place, and if I didn’t go this time, I might not be able to have a chance to go back again and would regret it for the rest of my life. This time, I stayed there only for 2 weeks, but I had such a wonderful time, and I don’t even know where to start...

First of all, there have been some changes at the project; many trees have grown, a new building has been built, a western-style toilet is there (!!). When the students came to school in the morning, however, I knew that those changes did not matter much to me and that children were what I had come for.

All the classes were taught in English the last time I came, but now all them except English are taught in Hindi. Those who pursue further study after completing Dakshinayan classes go to Hindi-medium schools. Some students use their local or tribal language at home and do not know any Hindi before coming to Dakshinayan, so it is essential to improve their Hindi. While I was there, I taught English in Class I, II and III. Students’ enthusiasm and positive classroom atmosphere were the main thing which brought me back to the project again. Teaching can be challenging because of the language barrier and limited materials available at the project, but that made me become more creative. Students are always willing to learn and throw out their own answers even when they do not understand the questions. Their attempts without fear of making mistakes are inspiring and encourage me to try whatever I want to do.

In terms of teaching, there is a textbook for each class, but it is basically up to a teacher how to conduct a lesson. As a half-yearly exam was coming up in September, I was asked to focus on reviewing what students have learned so far. There are no CDs or audio supplements for a textbook, so pronunciation and intonations seemed to be difficult for some students, but introducing some phonics and rhyming words seemed to help them understand a little and students seemed to enjoy it. Introducing some English songs could be another thing I could have done. Anyway, the priority was put on the preparation for the exam, but I also wanted them to talk about themselves in their own words. It worked well for the students in Class III. While I was writing questions on a blackboard, I heard students reading the question word by word and translating to Hindi, helping each other to make sense of the questions. Their answers were not necessarily accurate in terms of grammar or syntax, but what I appreciated more was their own attempt. After a few days of introducing questions to talk about themselves, some students started to bring a dictionary and started to use what they wanted to say. 

Another thing I loved was staff and teachers at Dakshinayan. Siddharth, the founder of the organisation, was not at the project this time, but I was able to talk to him on the phone and his words encouraged me, just like it did last time. Mitali, who lives in Kolkata and currently manages the project, went to the project with me and let me sit with her in class for the first day to see how she taught. The three teachers, Haldha, Parmanant and Mungal, who were staying at the project all the time, were all fun to be with and loved teaching. Mungal is a former student from Dakshinayan, Parmanant is from the village where many students come from and Haldha is from a village 8 km away from Roldih. It was great to see teachers from local areas, being enthusiastic about teaching. We talked about teaching and school, which stimulated my motivation.

The life at Dakshinayan is simple. Solar panels are there to generate some electricity, and it is used for the lights at night, which was very exciting for me as they weren’t there 5 years ago.

A day starts when the sun rises. We wake up around 5 or 5:30, have breakfast, get ready, and the assembly starts at 7:15. Classes start at 7:30 and finish at 11. After that, we get ready for lunch, which could take 2 to 3 hours as we start from making fires.

Being without electricity and away from the convenient modern life can be challenging for some people, but this lifestyle suits me well. After lunch, there is so much time for volunteers to enjoy life there. I remember the first time I went there, I thought it could be boring if the school finished in the morning, but I figured out there were so many ways to keep yourself busy in the afternoon, such as preparing for classes next day, reading books, learning Hindi and Santali, a tribal language in Roldih, and learning some religious values and cultures and playing football outside on barefoot. A day is gone before you know it.

Students come to Dakshinayan to study not because there is no schools in the area but because schools are mostly just buildings without teachers. Dakshinayan provides an opportunity for the children to learn. Seeing a graduate teaching or hearing some graduates pursuing or trying to pursue further education in higher school made me assure the importance of the project. It is a small-scale organisation. It works very closely with the people and the community without any interference from outsiders, which I loved from the beginning. This, however, leads to a financial difficulty of running school. Getting some funds from outside organisations will affect what and how to teach as the outcomes of the project, which often needs to be shown as numerical data, are usually required. Providing a place to study and giving opportunities for people to learn may not necessarily show numerical outcomes but will give a way to further enrich their life.

It is a beautiful place with wonderful people. I thank all the people involved in the project to let me have a chance to teach there again, even for a short period of time. Adjusting to different things can be always challenging no matter where you are. I assume the lifestyle in Roldih is quite different from what many people in the world are used to, but experience is so rewarding that always stays in my heart and keeps me going.