The Metamorphosis: from a trip to a community programme
Indo - Spanish Exchange Visit to India
27th November – 4th November 2012
Since 2010, the DAIS students have been visiting SEK Ciudalcampo School, Madrid and their Spanish friends, in turn, were warmly welcomed in Mumbai. However, these visits had Educational and Cultural aims, namely, the IB philosophy of international mindedness and intercultural understanding. This year saw a welcome metamorphosis when the two schools decided to extend their understanding of the way the underprivileged live in these countries. For the first time this year, a delegation of 16 students and 2 teachers from SEK Ciudalcampo School, Madrid came to DAIS as a part of the first Indo - Spanish Exchange Programme in which the Spanish students, hosted by Indian families, were given an opportunity to participate in a range of CAS activities.
16 Spanish students, 7 Indian students, 2 Spanish School Teachers and 2 DAIS teachers (Nitika Gupta + Yassir Choonawala) went to Matheran (27th Nov – 29th Nov 2012) and worked on the Hassachipatti Village Development project.
They were involved in building the village path, repairing the rain water harvesting pit and making the Computer lab operational. After their day-long tiring work, the students were treated with a Indian Magic show.
Apart from working on these infrastructure facilities at Hassachipatti, the Spanish delegates and some Indian students interacted with the Akanksha students who study at DAIS. Akanksha is a NGO which works with the children from low-income communities.
It provides an after-school support to such children through its centers. It has its own curriculum that focuses on three main areas: math, values, and language (English). In their interaction with these children, the Spanish students taught some basis sentences in Spanish to them and the Akanksha Students, in turn, taught them a few Hindi phrases.
Various cultural activities were also planned to ensure that the Spanish delegates became acquainted with some aspects of the rich Indian culture. Mr. Sreeraman and Ms. Nandini conducted Kathakali and Bharatnatyam Classical Dance sessions for the Spanish guests. They also had the opportunity to sample a typical Rajasthani Thali Restaurant where all the dishes included the authentic taste of Indian food. For an authentic Mumbai feel, The Spanish students were taken on a Mumbai Tour where they visited various places of interest.
The Community Programme ended fittingly with the decision of sending 18 DAIS students and 2 teachers to SEK Ciudalcampo School Madrid, in March (13th to 21st March 2013) for engaging in similar community programmes there.
Blog:
Ms. Nitika Gupta and 2 Spanish teachers have created a blog casexchange.blogspot.com.es. This will help students interchange ideas and information about various aspects of the culture of both countries.
Nitika Gupta