"PATIENCE A VIRTUE" - LEARNED AT CARAVAN

Working with children, one very important aspect is patience. It is a virtue that is a must. Learning to be patient with them and teach them whatever needs to be taught at their own pace is something very essential. It's so amazing to see the enthusiasm of the children. They're so carefree and they enjoy every second of the time they get, even in the rain, and it's really wonderful to see. They thoroughly enjoy themselves without thinking too much and that's what is really needed after a long day of monotonous lectures. The kids could learn to mingle better, especially not with girls. Whenever they're taken into any room, the boys and girls stand or sit separately and it's our job to make them interact with each other apart from among themselves. But it's good to see that the children have fun among themselves, regardless of their ages. The seniors help the juniors and the juniors feel free to go up to the seniors to interact and have fun. The instructors are also very helpful and they take care of the children very well.

Another thing I thought would be a barrier was language. All of them know Kannada and since I only know bits and pieces of it, it was a little difficult in the beginning. But later we got to communicate in English by using common words which the kids would understand. It really helped and slowly we got closer to the kids and learnt from them too.

Overall, it has been an amazing experience. I've never been around so many children as a tutor before and it has been so enriching. I am looking forward to many more interactions with them and will continue to keep an open mind to learn new things.

- Akshath

CARAVAN - A TWO WAY LEARNING

After a lot of searching, we finally found Headstreams. More specifically, Headstreams found us. We were in desperate need of an NGO and luckily for us, Headstreams turned out to be a perfect place. Even though I've attended only 4 sessions, it's been a major learning experience.

After the routine 9-4 schedule every day, the kind of break we get at Headstreams is very relieveing. We get to play around with children and involve ourselves in refreshing activities which acts as a destressor and a welcome breake from my mundane routine. As I said, it's a constant learning experience from both us and the children. We primarily facilitate the children and in turn also enjoy the fact that the children like the things that's being done for them. At the same time we also learn a lot as the children we interact with are very talented in various fields and as a result, it's a bidirectional learning experience. Also the way everything is conducted is efficient and everyone at Headstreams deserves to be appreciated for that. The instructors are crystal clear in what they want to communicate to us and it's majorly because of them that we do a lot, even though it's only a few hours that we get to spend with the children. The activities are also very enjoyable and fun and it's a very innovative way to teach children different things as they enjoy what they do and aren't really bored at the end of the day.

-Akshath