Not Your Average Spoken English Class

On July 2, 2007, Indicorps Intern Veronica Huang started a unique four month long spoken English class. Indicorps has partnered with Adarsh Ahmedabad for to provide a service while inspiring others to serve. The English class combines personal growth and spoken English skills with a focus on civic engagement, allowing us to spread the message of selfless action to an unusual audience. The draw of a free English class was tremendous. Over an intense two-week period, Veronica interviewed over 100 applicants and selected 30 students. The class is an interesting blend of students from different age group and coming from different professional backgrounds, and all showed openness to exploring participation in creating a new type of culture.

Using a variety of speaking activities such as ice-breakers, tongue-twisters, role-playing, and short speeches, students have gradually gained familiarity with their fellow students and comfort in speaking English in front of the class and now will continue to explore topics dealing with service and the self. Last week, for example, the readings used dealt with different approaches to self-perception, namely, Walter Anderson’s “Three Ways We Know Ourselves” and Dr Howard Gardner’s “Multiple Intelligences”.

Indicorps and Adarsh Ahmedabad hope that engaging students into a rediscovery process of the abilities, goals, and potential they possess will provide a solid base for the next steps, understanding the society and being aware of social responsibilities.

Throughout the week of June 11, the Volunteer Ahmedabad/ Indicorps office was bursting with people! All the Service and Leadership Course (SLC) participants were fervently decorating the VA office, coloring the walls, placing maps, flag, posters, flowers and art work, and most importantly displaying the work they have done during the course. All of this was in preparation for the June 15 celebration for the twelve dedicated VA members who spent 15-20 hours a week on various projects. A graduation event was held, giving the participants an opportunity to reflect and inspire others with the successes and learnings from the six week service experience. The graduating class did short demonstrations of their street play and expressed what they have learned in the course to the audience. Parents, Indicorps staff, volunteers, interns, NGO partners and friends of VA members were present for the ceremony.

Parents of the participants were amazed at the diversity of things done in the course and how it has helped their children build confidence. One student, Avani’s father said, “I thought she was just working on HIV/AIDS. Today I know she was doing a lot more with a holistic approach.� The parents were supportive of their children’s desire to do something for the betterment of Ahmedabad, and have expressed that the skills and values that the children learned by volunteering are just not taught at their colleges. In a climate where volunteering is not often rewarded, this marks a huge achievement in the Volunteer Ahmedabad’s history.

As chief guest of the ceremony, Bharatbhai Shah, founder of Adarsh Amdavaad (a local partner working to create “ideal� citizenry in the city) inspired everyone to start thinking about what kind of Ahmedabad they would like to live into and how can they create it. The climax of the festivity was when the twelve course graduates shared what they are planning to do now that the course has finished. All of them are going to give at least two hours a week for Ahmedabad, by teaching at Aasma, Indicorps non-formal school and action items. Two youth groups are emerging from the course; one will promote vermi-composting and the other will spread awareness about addictions amongst youth of Ahmedabad. Some will continue on to be interns with Volunteer Ahmedabad, assisting in creating opportunities for young people such as themselves. The celebration ended with a screening of the moving short film “Power of One.� (www.karmatube.org)

Volunteer Ahmedabad (VA), driven by 2005-2007 Indicorps fellow Juie Mahajan (who has been tirelessly working on efforts to inspire a service culture domestically) and new staff member Drashti Patel, has been engaging young and old volunteers across Ahmedabad in service of their city. Their efforts include an intense, 20hr/week “Service and Leadership” course, weekly “Action Items”, and numerous innovations in involving communities. The program seems timely, catching a growing wave of people across Ahmedabad and India who are looking to do more in the world around them.