My wonderful experience at the children's home in Jaipur.
I'd been in India for one week prior to going to a volunteer placement in Jaipur. From the moment I arrived I was taken good care of, given a private room and also my own toilet. Being provided with breakfast upon arrival was really lovely as I had just come from a long train journey. The children were at school when I arrived but when they returned they all came to welcome me and were all very friendly and happy to see new friendly faces coming to visit. I spent one week working with Didi and the children helping to improve their English, which for many of them was already at a very high standard. The children were always so cheerful and enthusiastic to learn.
Everyone helped everyone out and made it a really comfortable environment to be in. The elder girls were fantastic, they really were, they cooked and cleaned and made sure the children were always ready for school. They said if I had any special dietary needs, then that could be arranged and were always checking to see that I was ok and things were good, which of course they always were.
I had a day where I went out into Jaipur City and visited the sights. Didi arranged a taxi for me. I did however develop an upset tummy at one point from food I ate outside of the orphanage in the city, however, Didi arranged for me to see a good doctor and I was back to new in no time. I loved helping teach the children English, they loved to learn and were all so good at it that sometimes they even caught me out! While I was there I visited their school and also a friend's house for her daughter's birthday party. That was great fun and really interesting to see how an Indian birthday is celebrated.
Again I was made to feel very welcome and ended up being dressed in a saree, it was a lot of fun. I learnt a lot while at the orphanage and feel that had I stayed longer I would have learnt even more.
The children helped me also to learn some Hindi which was really nice. We took lots of pictures of us all together and I am keeping in contact with Didi and the children either via email or by writing letters, which I hope again will help them with their English. It was such an amazing experience and I enjoyed it all and will definitely return in the future when I have more academic experience and be able to benefit the children's education further. It is very worthwhile and I feel if you have the opportunity to take part in volunteer work you should. You'll learn a lot and giving your time is such a lovely gift. When it was time for me to me leave, I didn't want to go, I miss them all very much and look forward to returning one day in the future. When I return to England, I will try to fundraise for the Jaipur Children's home, because a little goes a long way in India, so I will do what I can to help from home. Thank you to Didi and the children for making my stay so enjoyable and making me feel so very welcome.
Eve Carson March 2010
