| Clive volunteers at SISP | 19th February, 2009 |
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Hello! I'm Clive and I'm a volunteer teacher at SISP. I've been here since October 2008 and plan to stay until the end of March 2010. I'm an electronics design engineer by profession but quit my job of 21 years at an international research organisation in Oxford in the UK to come here. What's life if you're not prepared to take a few risks to do the things that really matter to you?! People often ask if I've done anything like this before. The short answer is "No"! But I have worked with children, as a helper at a Special Needs school in the UK. That was part-time voluntary work, only one afternoon a week, but very, very rewarding. A web search led me to SISP. I was intending visiting Kerala in 2007 and decided to check out charities with the idea that I might possibly volunteer long-term. After finding their website and reading how Paul and Werner founded it and had left their homes and lives in Belgium to finance and run SISP, that was it - I was hooked! At my workplace I organised a collection to raise a donation. It was a simple plan - five or six buckets were dotted around the site and people were invited to donate copper coins over the period of a week. It was amazingly successful with little hoards of coins appearing from dusty corners everywhere - people were glad to get rid of them for such a good cause. So, one day in September 2007, with a bundle of rupees in my hand, I met up with Paul. He showed me around, introduced me to the children and staff, and answered all my questions. We fixed a date and I came back for a day to help with English, Maths and Art lessons, and a couple of hours of Maths tuition in the evening. For me it was really a fact-finding exercise. I knew that my presence for that one day would be disruptive to the children's daily routine but I needed to be as certain as I could be that it might work longer term - that I could usefully contribute to their education. And I guess I felt the the answer was "yes" because here I am! Between then and now I decided I could help with SISP's website. I tidied up the English part and, I hope, improved the language. I have been able to support the Belgian webmaster (another modest Paul) and the collaboration between us has been very successful. I now regularly maintain this English section of the website. I hope you find it readable, informative and navigable but please do tell me if you don't! At SISP my working day typically starts just before nine and ends at six. I take one weekday afternoon off (from 2pm) to try to catch up with maintaining the website, regular chores, or preparing lessons. At the school I give staff computer training for the first hour of the morning. During the day I run the computer classes for the children and I also help out with some English, Art and Maths lessons, and then give tuition from 4:30 til 6pm. The children are great! They are basically regular cheeky, bright-eyed, enthusiastic when the mood takes them, full of energy, talkative kids, the kind you find the world over given the right environment. They all come from financially impoverished backgrounds but some also have very difficult home lives - sadly, those children are not always so bright-eyed. Additionally, we have a small number of children who are slightly backward and need special attention. We give all of them love and care, and an education tailored to their needs. I receive no financial remuneration from SISP. I organised and paid for my flights and accommodation myself. The only tangible benefits I receive are a school lunch and cups of tea. Thank goodness I get lunch as I'm a hopeless cook, and those cuppas are a godsend! I have tried to be as small a burden on SISP as I can reasonably be. Work is by no means a bowl of cherries - the days can be very tiring and frustrating but on average they're good, and sometimes very good. The best days are when the children suddenly see the light and are able to achieve a previously difficult task - they are pleased with themselves and their pleasure rewards me. I believe that education, training and a nurturing environment are vital if these children are to break free from poverty. SISP offers them these things and by helping at SISP I am helping the children towards that goal.
Clive clivington@gmail.com |
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