First Impression, January 2009
Ms. Elisa Fiedler


I arrived in Delhi on the 5th of November and took the bus from Delhi to Jodhpur. This was the most horrible bus trip I ever had. The bus was broken down in the middle of nowhere, it was night and I had to change the bus twice. Finally, on the 6th of November I arrived in Jodhpur and after this exhausting bus trip I felt safe for the first time in India.

After a really nice welcoming by Govind and the other volunteers I spoke with Govind about my role as a volunteer and ask all my questions. Talking from face to face was really good and helpful even if knew the most things from the email conversation. The rest of the day was relaxed and I just enjoyed the calmness of the guesthouse.

A few days later I took the bus to Setrawa, a little village in the desert 110 km west of Jodhpur. When I get out of the car I was surrounded by the girls of the school who just finished their lesson and welcomed me now. All the girls were asking questions and wanted to know everything about me. Was so nice to see that they are really interested in me and the English of some girls was even quite good. After a little bit small talk with the girls, Helen and Griselda, the two other volunteers, showed me the classrooms, living room and all the other stuff.

The following two weeks I helped Helen and Griselda with the English classes and time went by so fast. These two weeks were really great and a completely new experience for me but after these two weeks I decided to go back to Jodhpur. The main reason for it was, that the two volunteers form the Jodhpur Project left earlier, so I grab my stuff and went back.

Now I’m in Jodhpur since 4 weeks and for me it’s the best thing which could happen to me. The girls are so cute and lovely. They really want to learn English.

But to be honest, the first lessons were a little bit difficult because it took a while till I was really into this teaching thing especially alone with 18 girls aged between 13 and 21 who really like to chat but Tamanna, the sewing-class teacher, was a great help and translated everything in Hindi.

After two weeks alone in the Project a new guest arrived at the guesthouse. Her Name is Carolina and she is from Argentina. Govind spoke with her about the Project and she decided to stay longer and work as volunteer too. This was perfect because from now on we could share the work and the lessons. We decided to divide the class into two groups, advanced and less advanced, because the level of the girls is so different and now we can focus on the strengths and weaknesses of every girl. With the less advanced we started very basic, e.g. the ABC, numbers and animals whereas the advanced learn the whole english grammar.

As is said, this Project is the best thing which could happen to me. I like to work with the girls, I love the guesthouse and Govind and his whole family is a great host whose help me in any way. I enjoy this time so much and look forward for the next weeks.