ASEEMA

Aseema is a non-governmental organization that aims at educating underprivileged children. Our time at Aseema has been extremely beneficial, not only for the students we helped but also for us, as IB students and lifelong learners. Although we were excited, we were initially apprehensive about how we would deal with 6-9 years old children and we weren't sure about whether we would be able to connect with them. But the teachers and students were open and welcoming, and accepted us from the very first day. Our work was to help the teachers with the tasks they planned for each week. Our jobs ranged from teaching Math, English and Hindi to making informative charts on science, good manners, and cleanliness.

Moreover, Aseema was a learning experience for us as well. For example, we were forced to revise our Hindi grammar before we helped the children. Sometimes, much to our embarrassment, the children would correct us as well! Every time we bid goodbye to the students, they would wave to us cheerfully and their joie de vivre just made us feel inexplicable happiness. Our hearts would melt every time they would ask, innocently, "When will you come back to teach us?" The teachers at Aseema were wonderful too. They would patiently explain our tasks to us and allow us to teach the children using our own fun (and perhaps unusual) methods.

   

The little children's cheerful demeanour and unrelenting enthusiasm for education has made us feel really hopeful and inspired. We really hope that the time we spend at Aseema has had a positive impact on the lives of the little students: it has definitely had a positive impact on us.