First published in March 2019. Programs, prices and details may have changed since then. See our current programs.
From chairs and notebooks to pencils and toothbrushes, this mother-and-daughter pair came, volunteered and won just about everyone’s heart. Here’s a look back at Melanie and Daphne’s time in India in 2019.
They chose our street children program in Delhi and were excited about the arrangements even before they arrived. They spent their days with the children, playing riddles, teaching as much as they could in their short stay and finishing with a dance. They couldn’t have asked for more.
They added a weekend trip to Agra for a break from the honking of Delhi’s traffic and a first look at the Taj Mahal. Over two weeks they worked with about 100 children, bringing music into class, playing word games and organizing countless other activities that were both fun and educational.
What Melanie said
“What a trip. What a country. People said in advance that I had to prepare myself. But how? I let everything get over me and get surprised every day! We’ve been allowed to visit beautiful places, but besides these beautiful places, we have the place where we work. Where thousands of people have lived for years. No matter how many times I walk through the slum, it keeps shock me. I’m enjoying the time with the kids!”
Melanie and Daphne used donations they had collected to buy things the children needed, and seeing them put to good use made all their hard work in Delhi worthwhile. With help from Shankar, the program coordinator, they shopped in local markets for stationery and fun extras themselves. They also tried a local cooking class and made butter chicken, a North Indian classic.
Daphne’s take on the program
“Namaste! It’s on. We have been allowed to work for 2 weeks with a huge group of children (and teachers) in the slum of Delhi. And today it was emotional goodbye with Dances, invitees from the volunteer organization and other schools. We’re going to love these babies and teachers.
“It is huge chaos by the number of children (this morning I counted 64) and yet we have been able to do activities with the little ones. In the afternoon group, there were almost 20-25 children. With these kids we have really been able to do a lot of educational games and the teachers can show that learning through active work is working very well. Many of our materials (Clock, board games, etc) have been taken over by them and are going to be used for them in the sequel.
“I think we can say that we have been able to invest well and have been able to help a total of 5 classes divided into 2 schools. We bought chairs for both schools, notebooks for all kids (320 pieces) and extra for future pupils, pencils, erasers and for everyone a toothbrush and toothpaste. This purchase turned out to be a great one, there’s been a lot of dancing all week.
“Unfortunately, the roof did not succeed due to time restrictions, but the director promised to make it a certainty with the donations accumulated. Today at the farewell, we still invested for about 30 euros in the party. Patties, a banana and a pack of drinks for all 100 kids from our school.
“It was two exciting weeks. … The house we stayed in, the help of Shankar who was always waiting for us and the other volunteers. We have made memories for life and can also give something beautiful to the babies here.”
The smiles and memories they collected were the best reward of all. Would you like to follow in their footsteps? See our programs.