Andy Stead :
Unsure, is how I felt before setting off to India, I must admit I’ve travelled the world and been to many places but India was never on my “to visit” list.
I was unsure about our visit, because as people we now sadly live in a society where we are almost constantly open to the threat of internet fraudsters, con artists and scams so I wondered whom this woman was, that my wife, Melissa had stumbled across on an internet forum site.
Manni Kaur Dulai. Who was she? Who and what was hope and compassion? I must admit I took a bit of a back seat with regards to the organising of our trip with my wife in the driving seat. I did do my research though, mainly to reassure myself for what was for me a journey into the unknown (Unlike my wife I’ve never volunteered before) but also to plan for any eventuality that all the promises that were made didn’t materialise. How wrong can someone be!
I’m now sat upstairs drinking a glass of wine, on our computer with my wife down stairs watching television on our flat screen TV we have two cars outside, we have a large mortgage for our 3 bedroom house and we pay vast amounts of money for everyday items because we have been and are subconsciously told that this is the life to lead, and to pay for all these we both go through the same routine of get up in the mornings and go to work come home at night. WHY?
What I’m trying to say is, I’ve spent a week working at the Pingalawara institute, Manawala branch, Amritsar working for Hope and Compassion, and without sounding cheesy, and amongst other things, all we received was love!! And I’ve learnt, that’s all you need in life!
But it was hard work though. After our visit to the golden temple and an introduction by the social worker we were briefed in what we were going to be doing for the forthcoming 8 days.
Having previously worked teaching young offenders/ vulnerable children carpentry I was looking forward to passing on some of my knowledge to the children/ young people of Manawala. We became a team, me and the 6 or 7 or so boys that arrived on the Monday of my stay. I’ve never met a more willing, enthusiastic hardworking and loving bunch of people ever.
So what did we do? Having researched various designs of standing frames, corner seats etc for the special needs children, I set about making these. With the help of my friends Ram, Raj, Raju, Roshin, Deepak, plus others, my trusty friend Nirmal and various hardworking tradesmen we made designs of seats, wedges, standing boxes all painted in multicolour.
Whilst constructing these and showing the young people the basics of carpentry (as well as teaching them how to play a tune from the saw) we also constructed 6 large planters, (which took a lot of organising with a local carpenter. But that’s a different story) also painted multicolour for the two sensory gardens and 3 large sensory boards, also for the gardens.
On one of my quite mornings whilst avoiding the 35 degree heat, I painted a disused swing, in what is now the large sensory garden, so my Wife and fellow volunteer, Anita could hang various sensory items from.
So after 8 hardworking days, we had finished! But our emotions were not. It was sensory garden inauguration time. This was when the emotions were to come flooding out. After much persuasion my friend Ram very proudly for me opened the sensory garden outside the children’s ward, this was a moment I will never forget. This was then followed by an unexpected show and gifts from the children and a blessing from and gifts from BiJi. This again will never be forgotten.
So after 7 hard working days we had a bit of free time, and to the Pakistani border we were to venture, to see one of the sights that I had researched quite pessimistically before going out to manawala. It lived up to the expectation as a spectacle to see if you have the chance.
Since leaving Manawala, Nirmal has started teaching carpentry to the young people using the tools I left behind, which makes me so proud. I am hoping to go back to Pingalawara next year if they will have us, to see how the sensory gardens have been used and to see the workshop that has been opened. I wish that could be tomorrow.
I had an amazing time.
Melissa Stead :
Our time at Pingalawara was a very busy, productive, emotional and wonderful time.
We were able to create 2 sensory gardens, a teacher’s activity pack, buy and make resources, work with the special school pupils and staff, held workshops and work with the children’s ward and a bit more all in just over a week!
Working in the special school was brilliant. Being able to pass on my experience to the teachers and them to see the activities with the children in progress, I think, really made a difference to both the kids and staff. Everyone there was so responsive to the thought of change which was so wonderful to see.
One activity I did with the kids was to make sensory bottles. The children were so focused, enthusiastic and keen to work, it was amazing! They were so pleased with their finished bottles and really got so much out of it.
We changed one of the classrooms to make it more inspiring for the children and before we left the teachers were already trying to make their classrooms a more interesting and exciting place to be, which was fantastic!
In the children’s ward we introduced activities and games using a parachute, we showed them how to interact with the children in a more meaningful way, they joined in with the sensory massage, and they began to use the toys to play with the children.
Making the sensory gardens, whilst doing all the teaching work and sourcing resources from across Amritsar, was tiring, but worth it.
One of the sensory gardens we made was outside the special school. We used herbs and vegetables to stimulate their sense of smell. We had a planter full of pasta, lentils and glitter for them to explore, pour, fill and empty containers. Hanging from the old swing post we hung wind chimes, ribbons, mirrors and beads. We had a planter with big smooth stones, a comfortable mat with a mosquito net where the children could sit in the shade. There were 2 large sensory boards for them to explore the different textures. There were tubs of water for exciting water play.
All of the children both from the special school, the children’s ward, the deaf school and the main stream school were all just so lovely, friendly and loving towards us. We really were lucky to have met them all.
On our last day we had a ceremony to open the 2 sensory gardens. This turned out to be much bigger than we could have ever expected. The opening of the gardens by the kids was so special and moving, but to see the kids in there, accessing all that we had made and enjoying it was something else. Their faces really said it all and made it all completely worth while.
Each of the schools put on a performance to mark the occasion. There was singing and dancing, signing and talking. We were fortunate enough to be honoured by Biji and accepted by everyone and thanked for our work which truly was magnificent.
I will definitely return to Pingalawara to see the kids again, do some more teaching and to see how much of the work we did with the special school has continued, as I believe it will have.
