31 Oct Disappearing Indian Village Life
Grade 9 students experienced what life is like for an agricultural society during activity week. To understand the challenges and benefits of village life they went with the villagers to the fields, worked with school children and completed an energy audit. To do this they compared the use of energy and water between the four villages the students visited.
Students saw with their own eyes how much these people put into farming and feeding the community. To help the students reflect on their experiences in the villages, teachers created journal prompts that brought together the daily activities with the trips essential themes: identity, culture and empathy.
Sarab Talla Village, Uttarakhand, Grade 9
Rishi, Grade 9: “All of us in Grade 9 went to stay in local villages in the Garhwal, where we took part in a wide range of activities. On the first day we set up camp and relaxed a bit. The next day we had a tour of the village and helped the local people pick chillies and also beat lentils to make dahl. On a couple of days we taught the children lessons – English, drama and art. We had drawn up our lesson plans before we went to the village, and taught the classes in a mixture of English and Hindi. On another day we went on a hike to another village.
“We also helped the villagers working in the fields. They were very hospitable and invited us into their homes for chai. Their homes were quite basic and in some instances about 12 members of one family were living in just two or three rooms. The whole week was a great experience and made me realise how priviliged we are.”
No Comments