So, what are you going to be doing in India? Hands down, this is the single most frequently asked question. Makes sense, but imagine it being asked with hint of wild perplexion as the questioner scans me over. I live in a smaller sized city of 20,000 people in the regional district on the Sunshine Coast of BC. Most people who know me here know me in relation to my children, my husband or my volunteer initiatives within the community. Sure, I’ve been a member of our local Bollywood dance group for the past six years, but beyond that, the connection to India is tentative at best. 15 years ago this September marks the date I stepped upon UVic’s campus for my first semester of university classes. In some sweet serendipitous alignment of scheduling, I enrolled in my first History class: Intro to India. It brings a smile to me now, reflecting on how long this spark of interest has been gradually building inside of me. So, I shouldn’t have been shocked when I was reading just another weekly Graduate student email last fall that my body responded with skipped heart beats and excitement to the request: looking for interns in India. I quickly researched the hosting organization, Development Alternatives (DA), and realized this would be an amazing fit, not only for me professionally but for where education in our district is headed and where my city hopes to grow economically. Social enterprises are DA’s expertise, but they do so critically and with a mind for impact and environmental sustainability. One arm they operate has to do with women’s literacy. When you apply to be a QE Scholar, the host organization decides where best they can accommodate the particular skill set and interests you bring with you. It took 4 months from acceptance to placement to find out that I will be working in their rural literacy outreach, working specifically with women in their 6-week intensive classroom environment. DA has a lot of success using a method of repetitive visual and aural cues to associate an already known sound with the appropriate letter. For instance, it would be like us teaching a student, “B is for Ball” whilst showing a picture of the letter B with a ball placed within the letter itself. After a year of specializing in second language acquisition, I am keen to see how well this program works and what impact in has on the local women. So there it is: my assignment for the next three months. I get to create a home away from home and live in service of some pretty amazing souls. The countdown is on!
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AuthorAshley J.E. Hull Archives
November 2017
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