The NGO

Slum Children, Informal Education, and Me.

           

Over a month ago a handful of students were given the opportunity to begin volunteer work at an NGO involving an informal education for children living in construction slums. With College awaiting me hungrily around the corner I leapt at the chance, admittedly more for the credits than for the humanitarian aspect.

The head of the NGO, Mr. Mitra arrived slightly late (as is customary around here) for his meeting with us. As we all awaited his arrival impatiently around the wide conference room table, I started thinking about the true gravity of the opportunity I have been presented: The chance to change something.

The youth of India is proliferating into a river, a current with the power to carve away and mold the earth. We, as a small group of students, have been given the opportunity to direct this river, to remove the barricades and let it spill forth. Behind this Dam of social and economic misfortune a tidal wave lays dormant, a great untapped pool of energy and mana.

When Mr. Mitra finally graced us with his presence, the first thing I noticed about him beyond the curly hair and frames, was the analytical look in his eye. It quickly became clear that he wasn’t welcoming us with open arms and begging us to help these underprivileged children, that we had to prove ourselves worthy and wholeheartedly willing to participate in this program. After asking our names, a little about each of us, and cracking a few jokes, his face suddenly glazed over with stern concentration. Boldly and clearly he asked each of us,

“Why do you want to do this?”

That question was echoed by another, in my mind.

Why do I want to do this?

Every student before me said without exception that they wanted to do this because they had all of these resources and all of this knowledge to help these kids out. Then it dawned on me how arrogant and naïve it was to say that. To say something like that is to imply that these children themselves have nothing to offer, that it would be a one way transference of knowledge.

“So William, why do you want to do this?”

I thought for a few moments, trying to foresee what would face me in the slums and I realized that these kids, they can teach me.

“Because it would be a mutual learning experience. I’m not going to say that I’m going to teach them because that’s not what should happen, nor what I want to happen. I would like to volunteer, Sir, because I would like to interact with these kids. These kids know things and have experienced much more than I have, and are likely much more mature than I am in many ways. I have something to offer, and so do they.”

            Mr. Mitra nodded his head and said that’s exactly what he had in mind, and that he has high hopes for us.