Happiness

Just moments before the afternoon bell sounds, teeming chatter raids the halls as one by one our twelve girls spill through the door. “May I come in sir? May I come in mam?” they chirp, raising their hands in salutation, their knee socks already half way inside the room. Regardless of how high I manage [...]

The International Language of Google and the Modern Day “Stay in Touch

At the end of yesterday’s class, we took some time to explain this weblog to the boys. A key concept of this project has always been to implement twenty-first century (Web 2.0 user based) technology in order to communicate these students’ stories to the wider world. However, due to an absence of Internet at the [...]

Our Boys

Our Boys
By Wednesday of each week, as we wind up with the girls’ school, reviewing lessons and assigning homework, my mind drifts readily towards the etched in faces of Our Boys.
Despite the nine AM to eleven PM days, the grueling two and a half hour bus ride, withstanding minutes on end of incessant honking likened [...]

Getting onto the Computers!

After a week of becoming familiar with the video camera, the girls at C.Ramchand School moved into the realm of the computer this past week.  Starting with the basics, we devoted one class to introducing the students to the iMac system, pointing out where the applications are located, how to create new folders, etc.  We [...]

Slow Internet… stay tuned

Hey Everyone, wanted to let you know that the internet in the greater Hyderabad area is beyond “wicked slow” right now… it’s down right not working 9.9 out of 10 times. We have lots of content – photo stories, voiceovers, and scavenger hunt booty – to upload, but we can’t seem to find a [...]

The Power to Change

This week the boys wrote to the prompts:
“If I had the power to change one thing, I would change…”
and
“Some problems in Nalgonda are…”
Below are a few of their answers:
There is one town which I live. My father and I have property and I study in city. When I complete my study in the city I [...]

Scavenger Hunt Week!

“Scavenger Hunt” week!  Kind of like Animal Planet’s “Shark Week”… but this time it’s C.Ramchand girls strapped with cameras, not sharks with cameras strapped to them.  This past Monday and Tuesday we had the girls practice their photo and video skills in a couple scavenger hunt activities.
Monday’s hunt focused on basic photography skills – zoom, [...]

Teachers or Friends? The Art of In-Between

Over the past month of negotiating an entirely different system of education and way of being, I have found myself examining closely the role of the teacher or educator. The Indian school systems are based on a traditional educational model of power structures and hierarchy, to be quite blunt. Yesterday, at C. Ramchand Girl’s School, [...]

The Voices of C. Ramchand Girls

Some examples of the voiceovers about “home” that the girls recorded this past week. We will post the voiceovers of the remaining students soon.
Be sure to look at Remy’s digital story example on the Media Page

A Different Stroke

Thursday’s throng of sixty plus adolescent boys wildly waving and yelling uninhibitedly had reduced to about half its size two days later, as we approached the Residential Boy’s School Campus. The younger looking ones kept their wide-eyed wonderment silent as the older, more “leader of the pack” types took over with shouts and questions. “Cricket [...]