first day at my placement!

WELL.

I didn't sleep well last night because I'm still jet lagged, I thought I would be used to the time change by now but I woke up every three hours last night. I hope I get used to it soon!

Anyway, I woke up today and went to my placement for the first time, I'm working at a daycare with young children. When I walked in, I was surprised by the lack of resources and materials the school had. Right next door, there was a huge open "field" (there was no grass, just dirt.. dust really) with children just hanging out in it. There were also a bunch of stray dogs but I mean that's irrelevant. I'm just saying that would never happen in the US. So then we went up to meet the kids and they were the cutest kids ever. Some of them were all cut up and dirty because their parents arenpoor. The older kids knew a lot of English and were trying to show off their wealth of knowledge. They thought the girl that I work with was a celebrity because she has blue eyes haha.

The younger children were very trusting and and welcoming. They were hugging me within the first three minutes of being there. They kept referring to me as didi which means sister in Hindi :). That's how they call attention to someone who is older than them but isn't an adult.

So within the next two weeks, I'm going to be working there and planning activities, I'm very excited.

What I like most about the program is that it's a daycare for mothers who work. They set up right outside of (for example) a construction site and the mothers drop their children off before they work and pick them up before they go home. So the parents can make a living for themselves and the children are not out on the streets until their parents come home. The kids also learn a little in the daycares.

Now taking that into consideration, these are basically temporary shacks on the side of the road. They are building a more permanent facility where children can be dropped of at and that's where I'm working now (it's in the midconstruction). Below is a picture of possible mothers:

Then when we came back we had a professor from the university here come and talk to us about Indian history/culture and American differences. Very interesting conversation. I learned a lot of the things he taught us in a class I took two years ago so it refreshed my memory.

We also talked about where India is going and what he thinks needs to happen in the future. He made the point that unfortunately, the government is getting more and more corrupt which is creating the violence we all see in the media. The people are frustrated with the government and then they take it out on each other.

This is one of the most important things about Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). They create services for people who are in or near poverty and the government is sadly not providing these services.

After that we had dinner and we're currently making plans to see the Taj and what we'll be doing the next few days.

I'm leaving you with a picture I thought you would find interesting, unfortunately it's blurry because I was in the car.