MUKTANGAN 2015-16

One word that describes our experience at Muktangan would be learning. In the sessions we had an extremely interesting orientation where we learnt about teaching methods to utilise in our future sessions to ensure that all the lessons we had with the kids would be extremely productive. Our first experience at the NGO was quite eye-opening for me. From the moment we entered the school all we could hear was the happiness and excitement of the children to see new people. Their welcoming for us made me feel very happy and fulfilled. It seemed quite challenging at first when we were overwhelmed by the number of small kids who were to be our responsibility for the next hour or so. But we realised that all the loving kids needed was for us to say hi and after that they completely opened up to us. It was quite an amazing experience as we helped the children draw and teach them English by just communicating with them. Seeing a completely different sort of community helped me gather awareness and I'm sure will help me develop as a person. I can't wait for the next Friday.

Aryan Biyani

Today I had to relate to a large group of students much younger than I was and communicate with them in English even though they were comfortable with Hindi and Marathi. Cultural differences such as sport preferences (they absolutely love kabaddi!) came to light but we had similar song interests and Bollywood favourites.

A simple 'Hi Everyone!' from my end drew a chorus of hellos, and it was a very heartening moment. Having been allotted an hour, we dove into the task at hand: namely, instructing students about road safety. On first meeting the students, I felt a surge of happiness to see their enthusiastic smiles and warm greetings.

Ananya Vora

Working with Muktangan has made me aware of how easily I take things for granted. It has taught me patience and commitment.

Aryan Easwaran

The aim is to teach the students conversational English. Most of the students know basic English, and all were able to understand it, if not use it. However, they are significantly below the level of most children of their age, which is understandable, given their background. We will be teaching them through games and activities, and enabling them use what vocabulary they already have better, rather than explicitly teaching them new words. Hopefully, my experience teaching English as a volunteer at the SSRVM school in Dharavi will better equip me to teach these children.

Shrishti chakraborty