On the morning of January 9, 2010 a group of us arrived in the small town of Kaimkamba (near Mangalore, Karnataka). We had traveled to Mangalore to be a part of the first North American Konkani Youth Association (NAKYA) community service trip. We were going to be working with the children at Snehasadan, a care and support center for people infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS.

Prior to arriving at the center, the staff at Snehasadan had instructed us to create two days worth of activities for the kids that emphasized the benefits of a positive attitude and the importance of teamwork. We knew that there were around 40 orphans living at the center and that their ages ranged from 5-15 years old.

We had no idea what the experience would be like but we were quite confident that we were about to walk into an unfamiliar situation. None of us had ever worked with kids before. None of us had ever worked in the HIV/AIDS space before. Few of us had ever taught before. We prepared a few initial lessons and activities but basically, we had no idea what to expect when we walked into the center. Being sticklers for logistics, we planned out exactly what we wanted to say to the kids. We were going to open the session with a fun activity and use that energy to power through the rest of the weekend. We were ready to blow the kids’ minds.

That morning at breakfast we prepared exactly what we wanted to say to the kids. We arrived at the center and a few of the children ran over to say hello. They were full of energy and we immediately started trying to chat with them. I wish someone had a camera because I think simultaneously our jaws dropped. None of the kids understood or spoke English.

We were fortunate that one of our volunteers, Arjun Bhat, knew Kannada but we were worried that our message would not resonate with the kids.

As we began introducing ourselves to the kids, they quickly opened up to us and just through their body language and facial expressions, we began to feel a connection with the children. Much of the first day incorporated simple activities to help us gauge the attention-level as well as the comprehension-level of the kids towards us and our messages. The second day introduced more complicated topics such as being a leader, self-confidence, and self-empowerment.

Looking back on the trip, we were able to provide numerous life lessons to the children but in the end, the children really just needed people to show them love and spend time with them. Their circumstance is so unfortunate and yet they are still able to find a way to be positive and be happy. Spending time with the kids definitely made each of us realize how blessed we are in our own lives. We felt fortunate to be in relatively good health and we felt fortunate to have a Konkani community that has looked after many of us and offered us support over the years.

Within just two days, we built a strong connection with the kids and it was tough to leave them. I don’t think any of us expected to feel the way we did when we drove away from the center. We were sad to leave. Before we left though, in true Indian fashion, we played some cricket and games outside the complex.

That night we sat around a round table and shared stories about the weekend as we enjoyed a delicious South Canara seafood feast.

The Volunteers:

Arjun Bhat (Bangalore, Karnataka)
“It would have been fun to have seen these guys try the weekend without me. Kannada gothu.”

Gautam Pai (Cleveland, OH)
“I love kids, and we all definitely connected with their enthusiasm to learn and participate in the activities. With English (and Konkani) off the list, it was great to see us all come up with other ways to communicate with each other. I think they realized early on we didn’t know what we were doing either, so thankfully they gave us some slack. Truly memorable. ”

Satyan Pai (San Francisco, CA)
“I think more than anything, they were extremely happy to see new faces as well as receive the attention and affection that they are lacking in their everyday lives.”

Suncheth Bhat (San Francisco, CA)
“I remember how hot it was on the way to the center and how quickly I forgot about that the second we saw all the kids smile and laugh.”

Vaman Kamath (Bangalore, Karnataka)
“Only one of us spoke Kannada, so it was fascinating to interpret the kids’ reactions based on their body language and expressions. Arjun would explain the next activity or present something that one of the kids created and seeing the smiles and excitement on the kids’ faces was very memorable.”

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
For more information on future NAKYA community service trips, visit: www.nakya.org
For more information on Snehasadan and how you can help, visit:
http://www.snehacare.org/snehasadan_center.html