In the morning, we went to a catholic mass in Konkani, the native language of most residents. then we went to this place called "The Big Foot Legend" where we learned not only about the legend, but also the life of a village during Portuguese colonization.
It is said that "One image is worth 1,000 words." So to show you the diversity of Canacona with its Portuguese colonization, I will post some pictures of its church, temple, fort and beach. In the morning, we went to a catholic mass in Konkani, the native language of most residents. then we went to this place called "The Big Foot Legend" where we learned not only about the legend, but also the life of a village during Portuguese colonization. After church and the legend, we went to the "Basilica" and then to the "Temple." - what a diverse sight-seeing experience in one day. Look for the cows. There are always cows to entertain us. It was such a Sunday, Sunday, where we left the hotel around 6:15 for our Catholic Mass in Konkani, and came back to the hotel around 9:00, just to eat dinner at our hotel and go to sleep. Through this short sightseeing tour, we could experience the richness and diversity of Goan's culture, a place people can pray for St. Francis or Hindi Gods, where women can wear dresses to church and Sari's to their temples, a place where the architecture is very much Portuguese, but most people do not speak Portuguese, a place where you can eat Portuguese plates, or a delicious Indian plate, like we had at the "Ritz Restaurant," called Fish Curry Rice. We are thankful for this beautiful experiences and lessons we had an opportunity to share with our host family: Francis, Jophi and Tony.
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From Monday - July 18 until Saturday - July 23rd, Debbie and I visited a school in Canacona, Goa - Jawahar Navodaya - a residential co-ed school. Our host teacher, the best ever, was Francis Anthony, an English teacher who went to ILE exchange program for 5 months to New York.
What can I tell you about that school? Wow, there are no words to describe our feelings towards the school, the school community and the students. They were all so receptive and they all welcomed us with open arms and hearts. On the 1st day, we received this royal treatment where,during the assembly, speeches were made for us, children read our biographies, we received flowers, Mr. Kanan, the principal, and Francis, both said nice words about us. We felt so special and grateful; it was a little bit overwhelming. Then we went to observe some classes, and even without as many resources as we have, teachers did an incredible job engaging the children on their lessons. The lessons are a little different from ours. They were more traditional, but all the children were attentive and eager to learn, what, in my opinion, are the most important components one needs to be able learn. We ate lunch at their cafeteria. How awesome was to see the kids serving each other! They take turns serving and being served. At the end, they all clean up the tables and wash their metal trays, which they keep in their rooms. This whole week was a week of observing students during classes and assemblies, observing teachers during classes and staff meetings, sharing and learning good teaching practices, but what I learned the most was about an important Indian cultural factor: the teaching of moral values is very important for schools, families and communities. Through their assemblies and textbooks students learn the importance of always doing what is right, not for themselves only, but for the whole community. The individual cannot be happy unless his/her community is also happy. This value is what unites India, with so many languages and religions, the value of “righteousness' and the value of respecting and tolerating different races and religions. Also, we fell in love with the children. They have so much love and happiness in their hearts. You could see it through their constant big smiles to us. Besides observing and teaching and co-teaching some lessons, we had the pleasure to attend to three programs: 1. Speaking skills - 11th grade 2. An elocution contest where we were the judges. 3. An awesome cultural program produced by the children. The Speaking Skills test was done by their English teacher, Francis Anthony. Each child was supposed to first talk for a minute or two about a chosen topic (no notes) and then the other student would ask the student who just spoke, a question. Then the other students would do the same. After both students talked, they both had to read a real-life problem and try to find a solution for it. Example: Your neighbor is wasting too much water.The topics impressed me a lot, topics such as: 1. Why too much patriotism can be dangerous, since we need to see us as World citizens with no borders. 2. Culture- why it’s important to keep some cultural aspects, but how we need to change and transform accordingly. 3. Indian culture- some aspects. And many other ones. Not only they spoke a great and clear English, but also one could observe that as teenagers around the world, they have ideals and dreams, they want to change the world, they want to serve noble causes. On Friday, the students presented their elocution speeches with topics ranging from having a positive attitude to Ideal Education. Again, one could see here how well-grounded these children are and how important for them is to do the right thing and follow their dreams and ideals, not for themselves only, but for the whole community. Then, after the elocution, we attended the cultural programs. Almost four hours of different typical dances, from different parts of India. The dances were choreographed by the students and it was so beautiful, each one more beautiful than another. At the end, Debbie and I presented our dance, “La Macarena.” and the 11th grade children came to dance with us on the stage. It was a blast for them and for us. This whole week was a lesson for us teachers on the value of teaching the kids the right thing, not only at home, but also at schools through character development programs and classroom meetings and assemblies. Students need to feel they are part of a community and that community is like their family. They need to do what is best for everyone, not only themselves. This is the most important lesson I will bring to my school when I come back. My principal does believe in a character development program and I believe I will be able to help on inspiring teachers when talking about the great experience I had in India, where children believe in the power of love and community, and also respect. Thanks to all the teachers, the principal, Mr. Kanan, the vice-principal: Madam Mala, the students and the community. I will carry all of you in my heart and mind forever. Video of cultural program coming soon. Debbie and I left Bangalore and went to Goa International Airpot on Saturday morning. We arrived and went to visit Colva Beach, where the cows also like to hang out.
There we found a "Kentuckee Fried Chicken," and a Brasilia restaurant, very multicultural. That was the first time we met our wonderful host teacher Francis Anthony. He was very attentive and asked if we really wanted to eat fried chicken, we opted for getting a chai and snack at the "Brasilia," which had Brasil only in its name, the rest was all deliciously Indian. After snack we left to the hotel and got to rest. This impressive woman, Poona Bir Kasturi, CEO of Daily Dump, is an environmental innovator.
The trash problem in India is massive, so she has been trying not only to educate people, but also take actions and find solutions. For example,her team has designed a compost pot here in India and they have the patent, but they do not charge anybody if they want to copy the product. It's a simple solution made in India for the Indian population. We went, along with her, on a trash trail where we got a lot of lessons about their recycling system, or the lack of it. We were so impressed with her work, so here we share some of her presentation and her website; dailydump.org On July 14th we went to visit a school in Bangalore: RBANMS- an English Medium School- that means, all the subjects are taught in English. I was so impressed to see how happy the teachers were to go back to school during their vacation. Then, when we got to the school and we saw the kids, it was an incredible and beautiful scene to see the happiness in all of us. We were having contact with kids again. We were a group a happy children going to the candy store. Each teacher observed a class. I observed an English teacher. The teacher was really sweet and counting only with a small blackboard, chalk and pictures, she did an incredible lesson; first about wild and domestic animals, and then they read a story and answered questions about it. All the kids were sincerely interested in her lesson and answering questions. But the most impressive was to see how well-behaved and attentive they all were. You can see they all follow rules without questioning, but you can also see their eagerness to learn. All the teachers felt that way. It was a wonderful experience and a lesson on their culture, a culture where following the rules is the norm and where children see education as an important tool to change their lives. The kids were all so cute, we couldn't help but smile and feel tenderness in our hearts. Look for yourself. After lunch, we attended a presentation by Maya and Indira, from "The Teacher Foundation." It was a brief explanation of the Paradoxes of India. I love the comparison below: "A Case of Six Blind Men and the Elephant." India is a country with so much diversity, but at the end this diversity comes together to build unity. It's basically like a quilt, it wouldn't be the same without one piece. India, a country with 1.3 billion people, has 22 different official languages, many different religions (Hindi, Muslim, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, etc). The 29 states and 7 Union Territories were set up on linguist basis. See some basic facts and try to understand how India can work out its motto: "Unity in Diversity." India is the fastest growing economy in the world, but poverty is still at extreme high levels. India has incredible level of technological achievements. However, in some states "Honor Killings" are still existent. Astrology is an official class. Students from India have an outstanding educational success abroad, however most of the poor children drop out before completing 5th grade, many have to work. India is country where the ugly and the beautiful are side by side, literally. According to Maya, very close to Ambani's residence there are slums and filthy spot. Look at same pictures to check it out. This was the end of my day, I was so sleepy that I couldn't stand stay awake anymore. However, I had a dilemma: It was 6:00, should I go to sleep or should I go eat dinner? Well, dinner was included in our stay and if I would go to sleep I would starve myself. What a paradox...? Hunger or not hunger... I ended up going to dinner, and the buffet was wonderful. But as my husband says, I did like "Blah, que come y se va." (Blah, he eats and he leaves.) Tomorrow we are visiting a school, we, the nerds, are so excited because we will be seeing kids again. Viva. In our tuk-tuks -2 tuk-tuk for 5 people - we went to a store where there were thousands of pashaminas, artifacts and many other interesting things. The salesman's eyes were glittering with happiness seeing 5 eager tourists enchanted with all that he presented us, so many colors and textures, so many options. At first, we were scared with the prices: Rs 3,000 rupees, oh no... Then we would calculate it in US dollars: menos de $50.00 for a silk scarf, not bad, but you know...the prices for foreigners, basically aliens, are so much more than regular prices. I bargained and I got my scarf down to $2,000 rupees and then, when I went to pay, I asked for more discount, he gave me 15% more. I felt so smart that I felt like laughing. But I know he was probably laughing because he knew he was the smarter. As we say in Brazil: "Ri melhor quem ri por último." (Laughs best who laughs last.)
After a brief nap of about 2 hours, I decided I couldn't wait to meet India. I woke up and went to eat breakfast at the breakfast buffet. Wow, what a buffet,from omelet to doza, from fruits to all different kinds of sweets, from cappuccino to Chai tea and all kinds of juices... The breakfast bar is already a lesson on Indian culture and its rich variety of spices and flavors. Time to go on an adventure...Then, a group of us- Shane, Becca, Judy, Angel and I -decided that we wanted to go see India. Guess what (or who) do we meet at the hotel's door, chilling and waiting to be fed: a sacred cow. Here, they are treated with respect, first because they represent the humanity and the animals and the goodness inside each of us. The cow gives milk and does not ask for too much. The cow is basically a mom. Also, cows carry and represent some important Gods. So be aware, be gentle and nice with the cows. The cows are literally the boss and they act like that. They are not scared of human beings and they cross the street whenever they feel like it. Everybody stops. It's funny to see how culture can change even animal's attitudes and behaviors. Why can't we get to the park...We need a super hero.After walking and walking on the streets with no sidewalks and seeing a lot of "black holes" where people throw their trashes, dogs, cows and poverty, we decided to walk the other direction. Then we got to a park. We wanted to go inside the park with a lake, but there was a problem: we could not cross the street. Cars, motorcycles, people were all coming from all directions, honking their horns in a crazy rush. We tried on 3 different times. No success. We were about to give up, when .... who comes to save us? A tuk-tuk(Rickshaw) driver. He pretends he is a guard and stops the traffic so we can cross the street. We all go to the park and take pictures. On July 13th we got to our hotel around 5:00 in the morning after I traveled from Tampa to Washington - 3 hours on the plane + 4 hours at the airport, then Washington to Frankfurt - 8 hours on the plane + 5 hours at the airport, then Frankfurt to Bangalore - 8 hours on the plane and about 2 or more hours at the airport. Bryan's luggage did not arrive and we had to wait for a long process while eating Indian Pringles. (That is a good math problem, also add the time difference.) We all got in a bus and exhausted, but at the same super excited we went to our hotel, Lemon Tree. My trip is getting closer. On July 11th I depart to Washington, and then we will depart to Bangalore. Then Debbie and I will go to Canacona to visit a school there and get to know more about the culture of this town with our host Francis M.A. Finally, we will spend a week in New Delhi and after that is back-to-reality time.
The hotel we are staying in Canacona, Goa seems a place where many stories had happened. I am so curious to see different stories flying thorough my hotel window, being created on the streets and schools, being sew right there under my eyes. What kind of stories will I see: sad, happy, mysterious, funny? I want to understand better the history, the culture and the stories of India, a country with so many cultures and languages, religions and casts, and however, a country where the motto is "Unity in Diversity." How can we achieve unity in diversity? Do people respect different religions, different cultures? Do people learn that respect at home, at school, at their temples? How do they deal with that diversity? How does this diversity reflect in schools? Are the schools diverse or is there segregation? There are so many questions in my head, but I know that when I get there I will be "speechless" and then back home.... OH, back home, how many stories I will have to tell my family, friends, and students... See below pictures of my hotel in Canacona, the school I am visiting and the teacher who will be our host. More pictures and more stories will be coming soon. |
AutorAna Siqueira Archivos
Julio 2016
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