My name is Emily Wood and I had the privilege of working with GNCEM over the last year, both in the United States and India.
As an intern, I was able to teach English at the Daspara school for grades 1-8 and the Logos Seminary. My goal was to provide a space for conversation English practice that was encouraging and focused on student involvement.
The students I had the privilege of teaching were energetic and responsive. Whenever I would see them around town, at the market, or at church, they would show off the English they had been practicing and were never afraid to initiate conversations with visitors.
In addition to teaching, I was able to live with 19 middle and highschool girls, boarding in a GNCEM center close to the Daspara School. They were the best and most challenging part of my time in Kolkata.
Each of the girls I lived with carry so much potential. One of Eunok Roy's main purposes for offering them room and board during their schooling is to provide a healthy environment for their mental and emotional development. Several of the girls want to be doctors, one, a dancer, and two want to be teachers.
I learned to expect anything when one of the girls would come to my room.
Rima asked for a few bandages for her skinned knees, arm and hand. I asked her how this happened and she smiled confidently and told me she’d been racing the boys after school. She won. I’ve never been more proud.
Nisha plopped herself on my bed and asked to hear stories. The punch lines very rarely translate to Bengali but we tried anyway.
Tonushree asked to hear my favorite poem and for a while we talked about Walt Whitman and the power of words.
Monisha threw her English textbook on my table and moaned, “past continuous tense.” So we battled grammar until she completed her assignments.
Sakilah asked to use my phone to take selfies and left over 100 when I wasn’t looking.
It was a great joy to be welcomed into the Daspara School and into the lives of so many students.
