The Joy of Small Things
Every summer, I go back to India-the place where I grew up for the first nine years of my life-to visit my grandparents. During the summer of 2007, I was lazing away my vacation In one such meeting, I happened to meet a senior leader in the Byrraju Foundation. He encouraged me to join him as a volunteer in the education department. The Byrraju Foundation is a non-profit organization focused on rural transformation. I signed up as a Virtual Leader, taking on the responsibility of developing a mathematics program using Visual Basic during the course of that year. This program is currently being used in 180 villages by 2250 students.
In the summer of 2008, I was back in India to spend time with my grandparents. This time, the education department gave me the opportunity to be part of a small team on a mission to Bhimavaram, a small village in coastal India. My job was to teach fundamental mathematics to children between the ages of eight and twelve. Bhimavaram is located on the east coast of India, making the land fertile for cultivating rice. For generations, the families have been surviving on agriculture as their primary source of income. In most cases, the parents are illiterate, failing to understand the value of education. They force their children to drop out of school and start helping them on the field at a very young age, creating a vicious cycle of low levels of education. The main purpose of our trip to this part of India was to break this cycle by promoting the importance of education in a child's life.
I didn't know what to expect from this trip. I had no previous experience with teaching, let alone teaching rural children who lacked much of formal education. I arrived in Bhimavaram to the welcome of lush green paddy fields, coconut groves and mango trees. We were received by the school principal, who took us to the school where we were greeted by enthusiastic kids delighted to see new faces.
As we began our program, the rest of the team focused on educating the parents and the teachers, and I started working with the kids. I spent the next five days teaching the students all I knew about the fundamentals of mathematics. To make the subject interesting for these kids, I added stories, and anecdotes to the lessons. With their eyes filled with innocent admiration, they were using this opportunity to absorb everything that their 10-year-old minds could handle.
As the week progressed, the children and I became closer together. Every morning the children would pile into the classroom with bright smiles and abundant enthusiasm, eager to spend time with me. They started sharing their personal stories, experiences and the life dreams. Their dreams varied from a train driver to doctor. One boy even asked me how he could become a Hollywood actor.
I don't know how much the students learned from me, but the five days I spent with them added a whole new perspective to my thinking. Here I was, a 16-year-old boy studying in America, interacting with children who had never seen the world beyond their towns. I was teaching brilliant, talented kids who never received the opportunity to realize their potential. But one thing that the children of Bhimavaram have is what the French call "joie de vivre," the cheerful enjoyment of everything they do in life. Too often, people look to material objects for validation and fulfillment in life. Despite being afforded by the barest minimum of luxuries, these children are utterly satisfied with what they are given. My trip to Bhimavaram has taught me the valuable lesson of not depending on material comforts for contentment in life. I am learning to find happiness in the small things that are presented to me in everyday life, allowing me to attempt everything with a positive attitude.
Every summer, I go back to India-the place where I grew up for the first nine years of my life-to visit my grandparents. During the summer of 2007, I was lazing away my vacation In one such meeting, I happened to meet a senior leader in the Byrraju Foundation. He encouraged me to join him as a volunteer in the education department. The Byrraju Foundation is a non-profit organization focused on rural transformation. I signed up as a Virtual Leader, taking on the responsibility of developing a mathematics program using Visual Basic during the course of that year. This program is currently being used in 180 villages by 2250 students.
In the summer of 2008, I was back in India to spend time with my grandparents. This time, the education department gave me the opportunity to be part of a small team on a mission to Bhimavaram, a small village in coastal India. My job was to teach fundamental mathematics to children between the ages of eight and twelve. Bhimavaram is located on the east coast of India, making the land fertile for cultivating rice. For generations, the families have been surviving on agriculture as their primary source of income. In most cases, the parents are illiterate, failing to understand the value of education. They force their children to drop out of school and start helping them on the field at a very young age, creating a vicious cycle of low levels of education. The main purpose of our trip to this part of India was to break this cycle by promoting the importance of education in a child's life.
I didn't know what to expect from this trip. I had no previous experience with teaching, let alone teaching rural children who lacked much of formal education. I arrived in Bhimavaram to the welcome of lush green paddy fields, coconut groves and mango trees. We were received by the school principal, who took us to the school where we were greeted by enthusiastic kids delighted to see new faces.
As we began our program, the rest of the team focused on educating the parents and the teachers, and I started working with the kids. I spent the next five days teaching the students all I knew about the fundamentals of mathematics. To make the subject interesting for these kids, I added stories, and anecdotes to the lessons. With their eyes filled with innocent admiration, they were using this opportunity to absorb everything that their 10-year-old minds could handle.
As the week progressed, the children and I became closer together. Every morning the children would pile into the classroom with bright smiles and abundant enthusiasm, eager to spend time with me. They started sharing their personal stories, experiences and the life dreams. Their dreams varied from a train driver to doctor. One boy even asked me how he could become a Hollywood actor.
I don't know how much the students learned from me, but the five days I spent with them added a whole new perspective to my thinking. Here I was, a 16-year-old boy studying in America, interacting with children who had never seen the world beyond their towns. I was teaching brilliant, talented kids who never received the opportunity to realize their potential. But one thing that the children of Bhimavaram have is what the French call "joie de vivre," the cheerful enjoyment of everything they do in life. Too often, people look to material objects for validation and fulfillment in life. Despite being afforded by the barest minimum of luxuries, these children are utterly satisfied with what they are given. My trip to Bhimavaram has taught me the valuable lesson of not depending on material comforts for contentment in life. I am learning to find happiness in the small things that are presented to me in everyday life, allowing me to attempt everything with a positive attitude.