You are Invited!

We hope you can join us for this event at Shikshamitra.

A few of the children have really taken up art in an organic way and made it part of their lives, we'd love to have you come and encourage them to move forward with their talents. We've invited individuals from other organizations too so that everyone can learn from one another's work. Please stop in any time during the two days of our open house and exhibition! If you know of anyone interested in creativity and alternative education, please pass this message on to them.

All of us at Shikshamitra, and the various other NGOs taking part, look forward to seeing you there!

Please Come!

Children at Shikshamitra are currently rehearsing for a drama called Badhanhara which they will perform at Gyan Manch on 22 Aug in Kolkata. We invite everyone to come join in the fun.

The drama is the story of a young boy, who even when pushed and taunted by his mother to do better in his studies, decides to look outward at nature and the wilderness, and take these elements on as his true teachers.

Two of the children took charge of making these posters to advertise the show in front of the Gyan Manch auditorium.

TIFFIN TIME

After noticing that many of our children were not having adequate food – some were bringing a tiffin (snack) to school each day while others weren't – we decided to start up a programme to provide a substantial tiffin to all the children so that everyone has a proper snack during the school day. The programme started up in July 2010 with an initial donation from friends of Shikshamitra. Since nutrition is very important for growing children, we hope to be able to continue this programme permanently.

The tiffin we provide is not a full meal, as school finishes by 2:00 pm and children go home for lunch. This is for the snack time at approximately 11:30 every day. So far, introduction of a tiffin by the school has been a real success, everyone sits together and it is a very sociable time to relax and enjoy each other. The children share and talk about what foods they like and dislike. The older children are helping the younger children – plenty to learn by all sharing a bite to eat together!

Some of the items served on our menu:
Bun & banana
Egg & Bread
Moori & Vegetables
Samosa & Sweet

Financing the Tiffin Programme:

Thanks to kind donations from Clare Iberson-John, Neil Haran and Susie McNaughton, Nicole Harding Ozturan, Jacinta Byrne and Kiely, we were able to get the tiffin programme underway and running up to October 2010.

BUDGET:

Rs. 6-7 per student per day
Current student enrollment 25 students
Budget per day = Approx Rs. 150
Budget for one month of Tiffin Programme = Rs. 3000

Resource making

A COMPASSIONATE EXCHANGE
by Bhavaniprasad Majumdar

One day a beggar said, "Give me a bit of bread or give me a bit of money."

The Babu replied, "I have nothing in my home – it's completely empty."

Upon hearing this, the beggar offered, "Why then do you sit idly? Come with me and let's go!

What's wrong with the two of us begging together?"

In our Bengali class, children were given this poem in Bengali.

SAMOBAETHI

by Bhabaniprasad Majumdar

Bhikhari bolle, din duti ruti

Nay din duto taka;

Babu bollen, nei kichhu ghare

Ghar bilkul phanka!

Bhikari bolle, bose keno tabe?

Cholun, berie pori,

Doshta ki tate, jodi eksathe

Dujone vikhkhe kori.

The students were asked to read the piece, discuss the concepts, and then to make flashcards using their own words and illustrations for the story. Children came up with very original drawings to match the story. The students have actually designed a nice resource material to be used in future Bengali classes and the illustrations, rather than being drawn by a professional hand, are ones that the children themselves can relate to.

-Sipra

Twelve in One Million Giraffes

One of the nicest rules in the One Million Giraffes online project to collect one million hand-made giraffes before the year's end is that you need to share the link with others so they can join in the fun! So, here's the link to our inspiration for making giraffes and sending them across the world:

http://www.onemilliongiraffes.com

In art class last Thursday, the students were introduced to this guy Jorgen's project, a bet he made with a friend to try and collect one million giraffes from all over the world. It is certainly not a simple task but he is an optimistic person and, after Shikshamitra took up the challenge, he is now twelve artistic giraffes stronger. We started the class talking about the number, one million, and the unique characteristics of the giraffe: it's long neck, beautiful eyelashes, patches, paintbrushly tail, etc. We looked at some photos and a small model of a giraffe and then...the giraffe magic began. All kinds of materials were placed in the center of the room and the kids worked alone or in groups to create their own giraffeworks to add to Jorgen's beautiful collection. We had a zoo of stitched giraffes, paper giraffes, a tall wooden giraffe, painted giraffes and recycled giraffes by the time our class was finished.

Something I really like about this project is that when you look at all the creations that have come in on the website, it is very clear that everyone has their own perception of what a giraffe is and looks like -- but all of these are giraffes just the same! Who knew there were so many kinds of giraffes out there? We had so much fun doing this so our only question now is -- Why not try your hand at creating a giraffe of some sort and send it in too?














Our giraffe gallery can be viewed at:

http://www.onemilliongiraffes.com/search?name=Student%20Of%20Shikshamitra%20Open%20Learning%20Centre

Communicating through Craft

This week we had two new friends come visit the school from Japan: Sakie-san and Hine-san, two artists from the city of Osaka. They brought all the supplies needed for three days of craft workshops that started on Tuesday and ended on Thursday. On the first day, we made pens from paper mache. Sakie and Hine brought a special material called "kaminendo," which we formed around the core of a pen. We also tried making our own pulp and molding this too. On the second day, we took special plastic sheets and drew designs on them with oil-based markers. These were put in the oven and the children yelled out, "magic" as they watched the sheets melt down to form hard, glass-like lockets that they promptly put strings on to wear around their necks. On the last day, which felt quite magical in its own way now that we had all become such good friends, we made small wind chimes out of recycled bottles. The children were asked to bring in their own bottles and almost everyone remembered to bring one in as they were eager to find out what Sakie and Hine were going to demonstrate next.

I put on some music and at one point, when I looked up from helping a student, I suddenly felt a deep sense of happiness – watching each and every person in the room helping each other or concentrating on their work, trying to speak a bit of Japanese, or smiling and laughing along with a friend. It sure is fun to have friends from other parts of the world!

I would like to extend a big thanks to Sakie and Hine for so carefully organizing these three days of craft and creativity! ARIGATOU GOZAIMASHITA!

Enjoy a Year with Shikshamitra: We have just produced our 2010 Calendar

This year, for the first time, Shikshamitra has produced its own calendar featuring original artwork by our students. We hope you will enjoy the beautiful drawings and paintings by four different children. The artwork was generated in a class where students practiced drawing with their eyes closed after hearing a specific theme. The calendar also includes thoughtful quotations by the children, which came out of various class interactions.

The 2010 calendar is now available from Shikshamitra and other locations around Kolkata. We ask for your help in both buying and selling the calendar! Please contact the school (033-2479-9271 or by email at: shikshamitra.kolkata@gmail.com) if you would like a copy or have ideas about where we can sell it.

Price per calendar is Rs. 80
Wholesale (bulk purchase of 10 or more calendars) price is Rs. 65

WHAT HAVE YOU GAINED?

The responses below are from an exercise done with the children on 13th Jan, 2010 for the five-year review of our school progress. Sudeshna has translated their Bengali into English here.

"I have learned some good craft work. I can operate a computer. I have reduced using abusive language, it was almost like a necessary tool in my previous school."
- Dinesh

"I have learned Bengali and English (I did not learn anything in my previous school). Previously, I could hardly talk to people but now I am comfortable. I would avoid going to school on exam days, my mother used to beat me when I failed but I have no fear of exams now."
- Hasna

"My use of foul language has decreased. My English has improved a lot. I do not misbehave and create trouble like before. I have stopped putting others down and being so competitive. I kept quiet in my previous school, always scared of punishment but here I can shout as much as I want."
- Pradip

"I have found my life’s purpose in this school."
- Shajahan



"I have learned a lot of English and Bengali. I do not use foul language any more. I have learned a lot of crafts."
- Babai

"I have learned division well. I have gained a lot of courage. I have learned computer, Bengali and English."
- Ajijul

"School has helped me to know myself. I did not know that I had so many hidden talents."
- Rohit

"The school has helped me to discover my talents. I am confident about talking with English-speaking people. I have learned to peep into people’s hearts."
- Noor

"I have learned English language well. I am not scared to talk with people any more."
- Chaitali

"I have learned to work with friends and also to help them. I can speak with people much more confidently now. I can comprehend after reading something."
- Priyanka

"I would never have known what friendship is if I hadn’t come to this school. I have learned to talk well."
- Kakoli



"I now have confidence in myself and can solve my own problems. I can speak freely with outsiders. I have learned many skills – especially drawing, and the proper way to talk. School has taught me how to get along with various people."
-Santanu

"My wish to learn to read and write Bengali has been fulfilled. I have learned to talk decently with my friends."
- Ador

"I have learned to trust people, whereas before I mistrusted everyone, including my parents. My courage has increased enormously. I used to detest Muslims and avoided any contact. I don’t do that any more. I have stopped misbehaving with people."
- Anita

"I can argue with people. I have learned computers and English."
- Neha

"No comments now."
-Rajesh

"No Comments now."
-Bijoy



The students also made a list of the things they feel they have gained/learned at Shikshamitra. The list includes crafts, computers, reduction of abusive language, Bengali, English, speaking ability, an end to exam-phobia, a feeling of freedom in school, courage, confidence, self-knowledge, discovery of their own talents, reading comprehension, trusting others, tolerance, better behaviour ...

Visitors Make a Difference!

During the early summer, we had a visit from two friends of Shikshamitra who took out some time from their travels to volunteer doing dance workshops at school. The culmination of this ended in a beautiful performance! Here is the blog entry they wrote about their time spent at the school:

Dear Shikshamitra Readers:

Our names are Kajori and Meghna Purkayastha. We had the most remarkable experience in Kolkata this year. Out of the many places we visited in India, Kolkata was definitely the most memorable. We were born and raised in Orange County, California, and despite the assimilation to American culture, our parents have kept us in touch with our Indian heritage and culture. As 14 year olds, we have a lifelong desire to pursue community service, especially through our involvement in Swanirvar. Our time spent at Shikshamitra was a continuation of this goal.

We spoke to Sujit and Sudeshna about what we could do while at Shikshamitra, and proposed that we expose the children to movement and dance. We have both been learning the Indian classical dance known as Kathak for eight years, with our teacher Ms. Punam Kumar. Sudeshna asked us to write a brief narrative on the history of Kathak and also asked us to choreograph a short dance piece. We picked the song “Jhini” by the group Indian Ocean.

We choreographed Kathak footwork and added some Bollywood steps to make the dancing more free and flowing. In our dance group, we had much help from other Shikshamitra staff members, Mausami Auntie and Biswajit Uncle. They helped us teach the Shikhamitra students: Kiran, Rajesh, Indu, Priyanka, Anita, Bikey, Prodeep, Neha, Kakoli, and Chaitali. The ages of the students ranged from 7-15 years. After the school session was over each day, the kids assembled in the classroom. We taught from 1:30 PM to about 3:00 PM. We had a lot of fun teaching and getting to know the kids! They were polite and friendly, and very curious to know where we came from and what we liked to do. When they got more comfortable around us, they were not shy to fight with each other and ask for help. Kids will be kids!

In the beginning, we were apprehensive of our language skills. We worried about how we would communicate with the children, as our Bangla was not perfect. However, as time went on, we learned quite a bit of Bangla from them, and they learned English from us – it was quite amusing hearing them imitate our American English phrases like “Good job!” and “Fantastic!” We looked forward to spending every afternoon with them. The rigorous dance practices in the sweat and heat paid off- the kids gave a wonderful performance for the entire school. The dancers were beautifully dressed and looked so sweet for the final day.

We had the most memorable time at Shikshamitra- it was an experience we will keep in our hearts. For this we thank our relatives, Sujit Uncle and Sudeshna Maasi. We made many friends and hope to stay in touch with them. The parting was very emotional, but it will not be our last. We plan to visit our friends at Shikhamitra in the future!

Lastly, our visit has changed the way we do certain things. We found upon our return, that we have become much more gracious and alert about the struggles of life. We work to shed our attachment to material things and focus on working hard to overcome the obstacles we encounter-not complaining or doubting ourselves. Indeed, we felt that we had learned more from the students at Shikshamitra than they did from us.

"Whistle while you work..."

Isn't this what work should be all about, afterall?

Recognizing what we are made up of

For weeks before the Puja holiday break, it was clear that something was UP at Shikshamitra. Kids were huddling in groups, walls were being taken down, decorations were being hung up, there were rehearsals and practice sessions, things were getting cleaned up and there was an overall feeling of determination in the air. Sometimes instructors at schools might feel that having a big event takes away important classroom time but from what we could see, the kids were doing some of their most important learning in the weeks leading up to the Annual Function, held on 14 September, 2009, just before school was to let out for a long holiday.

The children themselves put together their skits and worked with the dance teacher to choreograph new pieces. They made invitations and invited their families and friends from the neighborhood. And while the kids were busy making their own preparations to wow the audience, teachers were also working on their own presentation: the Awards Ceremony that would be held in between the acts created and performed by the children.

At every school, children are awarded for good performance in certain subjects but at Shikshamitra we like to think that academics alone do not make up the student and we try to look at the growth and personal performance of each individual as well. This year, the awards that were presented to our students were based on total performance of the child throughout their stay at Shikshamitra. For some this meant four years, for others it meant six months.

Sudeshna and Kasturi called Samrat's grandmother out of the audience and up to the stage to help award the following unique honours to our students:

For SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY: Biki, Mohan, Sajahan, Hasna, Ador, Boloram, Chaitali

For EAGERNESS TO HELP / COOPERATION: Boloram, Ador, Babai, Samrat, Chaitali, Hasna, Rajesh

For CONTRIBUTION IN DISCUSSIONS: Shantanu, Sajahan, Biki, Indu, Hasna, Rohit, Samrat

For EAGERNESS TO KNOW AND LEARN: Shantanu, Rohit, Neha, Sajahan, Hasna

For BRINGING A SEA OF CHANGE IN ONESELF: Priyanka and Samrat

For ART: Noor, Sajahan, Rohit, Babai, Mohan, Biki, Ador , Bijoy

For CRAFT: Babai, Rajesh, Boloram, Ador,

For DANCE: Chaitali, Rohit, Anita, Priyanka, Indu, Rahul

For ACTING: Rohit, Shantanu, Babai, Ador, Mohan, Biki,

For WRITING: Anita, Indu,. Pradip, Kakoli, Biki, Sajahan,

For HELPING YOURSELF TO GROW: Hasna and Sajahan

For OUTSTANDING PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT: Biki

For PARTICIPATION AND EFFORT BY NEWCOMERS: Sahidur and Dinesh

Besides the beautiful dance performances that showed what the children have been learning in the dance class over the past few months, there were other acts that were noteworthy. Bikey and Mohan wrote and performed a small skit about two guys sitting at their local tea shop, talking about Rabindranath Tagore – his works and ideas – on his birthday. One of the two guys was preparing for his Class X exam through the open school system named after Rabindranath (Rabindra Mukta Vidyalaya), so the other was curious to know if the board was named after the poet and educationist known for his alternative and open school experiment at Santiniketan. Another performance, which almost everyone took part in was called "Noise in the Kitchen," and was created by the students based on a story a previous teacher had told to them. All the performances were full of fun and we witnessed some fine hidden talent too!

It was an evening of magic, everyone was smiling and feeling a sense of having really accomplished something. Let's hope everyone comes back after the Puja break ready to unleash this determination once again for the new session!

Changing Roles from Student to Teacher

The photo above is from two years ago, taken after an art class at our school.

Boloram is an older student who has been with Shikshamitra for several years now. He works hard at his studies and is serious about moving ahead. He is part of the afterschool bookbinding course and is quite an enthusiastic art student! Recently Boloram was asked to be in charge of the art classes for the younger students who now attend in the morning. He took his job seriously and came up with his own plan based on an art lesson he had participated in at our school and at a different school we were helping develop more creative classes at.

On the day of his class, he had small paper cutouts prepared – dove-shapes and wing-shapes – for each of the students. He asked his students to design and decorate their doves and wings using the various materials ( paint, crayons, etc.) he provided them with. He finished off the session by putting the pieces together, stapling on the wings and attaching a hanging loop.

Then, Boloram made a beautiful tree on the back of the door, also out of paper scraps, and he helped the children hang their birds in the tree. And as this photo shows, he fashioned a pretty cool bird's nest out of some string that was stuffed away in a corner as well!

Three cheers for Boloram's innovation and budding leadership skills!

The Math Class that Ended Up in Circles!

It was a Friday Math class. We were discussing exam results – not a very interesting topic. Toward the end of the session, I decided to change the mood a bit, have some "fun" to balance out the "exam" flavor.

A few days back, the children had been asked to cut some circles from paper, so with this preparation already done, I took one of the circles and folded it into one-eighth segments (fractions). I made some cuts along the two radial edges. I then unfolded the circle to reveal a very nice, fully symmetrical pattern. The children and Biswajit started to try the exercise using their own circles and many different patterns came out. Sometimes the students were encouraged to refold the circles back and make a few more cuts to bring out the designs. Gradually, we saw some very intricate designs develop. Soon they all started to use their second circles, as the first ones had no more space to cut out from. Next, out came their third ones, fourth ones, etc... The circles had now become a very prized possession for those who had diligently cut them out beforehand.

The children were obviously pleased with their designs and wanted to display them so they brought down a large sheet of paper that had been sitting around, and pasted their patterned circles all over it. They wanted to hang it right at the front entrance to our school and I let them!

After seeing this poster of patterned circles, the younger children naturally became interested and the activity was repeated in their own class, with some help from Biswajit. Some of them did even smaller sectors to begin with.

The next day, some children from Praajak came to Shikshamitra to watch a movie. As the domino effect took root, it seemed that they also wanted to try their hand at cutting patterns into the circles. With them, we also did some patterns on the long strips of paper that were left over from cutting out the circles. A few of the teachers also joined in and we found that some of the strip designs could be worn as bracelets. At the end of the day, every one of the Praajak children left the school with one of these bracelets around their wrists.

Soooo, how is this related to math? you ask?
Well, it was a good way to introduce and explain fractions to begin with; and the concepts of rotation (circular design) and translation (strip pattern) also came into play.

- Swati

New Movements

Following a very hot summer vacation, Shikshamitra reopened on 12th June to move into its fifth year. Over the past four years, many of the older students have been exposed to various forms of art but unfortunately, there has been very little scope for physical activities. We were excited to be able to plan out a two-day workshop on theater activities with Jahar Das, who performed with a renowned theater group called Naandikar for many years.

During the two days (18-19 June), Jahar led students through various activities; the main emphasis being on reducing the childrens' inhibitions about moving their bodies. The session began with self introductions where each child was asked to mention his or her name, pronouncing it clearly. Rahul had to repeat his name a couple of times till he said it clearly: R-A-H-U-L and not R-A-U-L , as he has a habit of saying. The names with consonant clusters like Shantanu, Priyanka, Pradip were also given special attention.

The children were also exposed to some basic rhythms (Taal) and Sargam from Indian Music. Jahar had the children practice them repeatedly. He also showed them how they can invent their own music by using various daily objects, such as a steel plate and a spoon, a glass tumbler, a plastic bowl – and integrate these with the music of any regular rhythm instruments. On the first day, Jahar asked the children to enact a small skit without words: Bikey posed as a person reading a newspaper and Pradip was washing his clothes under a running tap. When Pradip forgot to indicate that he was turning off the tap, Jahar immediately pointed this out. He explained to the children that paying attention to the details is an important component of drama. On the second day, they did a skit with words. After doing some rhythm and Sargam exercises, the children were taught a modern dance with an English song.

The workshop was really fun and challenging for the children – so much so that they have asked Jahar to come to school regularly to do more drama classes. We are all happy that he has agreed to take a session once every week from July so that we can finally offer Shikshamitra students a chance to see how their bodies and minds can work together!

- Malasree

INFORMATION SHARING

Sharing ideas and talents with like-minded people and organizations is something Shikshamitra considers to be an important goal. In February, Shikshamitra teamed up with the handicraft unit at Calcutta Rescueto share some of our skills and ideas. We organized two workshops between the groups and plan to do more in the future.

On 10 February, 2009 a group of about 6 Shikshamitra students and two teachers visited the Calcutta Rescue handicraft unit near Soba Bazaar metro station. Riding the subway back and forth from Rashbehari was an experience in itself! We warmly greeted by the staff and craftspeople there. Each of the children went through the step-by-step process of making a small doll with wire, recycled cloth and thread. We were surprised to see how much work goes into one small doll, that fits neatly into your pocket in the end!



Then, on 19 February we hosted a workshop at Shikshamitra to share our knowledge of bookbinding with about four Calcutta Rescue craftspeople and four of the administrators. The workshop was led by Bali and two student assistants, Bikey and Boloram. Bali teaches the afterschool bookbinding course twice a week and it is heartwarming to see how students have gained a natural sense of pride and confidence from learning this new, useful skill. They call themselves, "Chetla Bookbinders!" Bali had prepared a slab of paper to be bound and then torn into smaller pads, so that each person could take home their own hand-bound diary with a cloth cover that same day. He gave basic instructions on how to make the various types of glue that are needed and worked with craftspeople from Calcutta Rescue to put a gauze binding on, get the cardboard covers cut to the right size and then neatly covered in cloth. He gave a demonstration on stitching the binding as well. We all shared a nice lunch together before saying goodbye. Everyone seemed very satisfied with the interactions that took place from these two sessions and reports from Calcutta Rescue say the organization has already started producing diaries as part of their popular handicraft range!

Here is Charlotte, an administrator for Calcutta Rescue, proudly showing off her diary!