Service Learning

I took a group of students to the shelter/school on Sunday.  I had missed the first trip of the year last month when I was so sick.  It would have taken a hospital stay to make me miss this one.  My students really prepared for this visit, determined to make it even more special for the students at the shelter.  I was so surprised on the way there to see a rickshaw with Spiderman.  He was my favorite cartoon hero as a child, and I had my mother send me the strips from the paper when I was living in France.

I had donated some money to the shelter so that they could rent a large tent for the roof of the building.  It is still pretty hot here, and being up there really killed everyone last time.  The roof itself was covered with mats, and there were over a hundred excited kids waiting when we arrived.  They were all dressed in their best clothes, and so happy to see us.  We started with “meditation” – it involved jumping jacks, stretching and then finally sitting on the mats and relaxing.  The shelter kids loved showing us how to do it.  Next we split up into the classrooms to play games and teach the kids some English.  The students literally dragged us down to their rooms and didn’t want us to leave.  This lasted for several fun-filled hours.  Then it was back to the roof for lunch.  We brought pizza for everyone.  It was the first time most of them had tried it – many liked it, but many others didn’t (which was great for their friends who did).  We followed this with cookie decorating.  We had made sugar cookies for all of them, and let them decorate the cookies with icing, sprinkles and other treats.  They loved this, and everyone and everything was soon covered in colored icing.   After this they treated us to entertainment – four different groups of students had prepared dance numbers that were really impressive.  The final group was a couple of the oldest students, who did a fairly provocative (for Bangladesh) duet.  It was pretty sensual, and the shelter kids ate it up, clapping, pointing and laughing.  The two kids who danced must be dating – there’s no way they could have made up the chemistry you could feel between them.  And then it was time for the school day to end and us to go.  Everyone was really disappointed.  Most of the shelter kids came out to say goodbye.  I could see that a number of them who live in the nearby slums had not eaten their pizza and were taking it home – I suspect because it would be the only meal they (or their family) would get  that day.  It really depresses me when I see the real poverty in this country.  I can ignore the beggars in the rich areas, because I know they are scammers.  But it kills me to see young kids living in slums with nothing.  At least these ones are lucky enough to be going to school at the shelter and learning English, French and a trade.  They have a real chance at a better life than their parents had, unlike so many others in Dhaka.