Day 10: TeamUP in Punjab Summer 2017

Day 10 was workshop day. As per students demands, we held a “Female Empowerment “workshop and for the boys we held an “Art of Being a Gentleman" workshop. Both workshops greatly exceeded our expectations. In the beginning, both the girls and boys were reluctant to opening up. As the workshop went on, we told the students a bit more about ourselves letting them know that at their age we weren't much different than them. The understanding allowed us to empathize, and many of students began to open up and take part in workshop discussion and activities. By the end of the workshops, both the girls and boys were excited to tell their fellow classmates what they had learn as well as put their new found skills to the test. We noticed that the awkwardness between the boys and girls had reduced, and the students were happier and more eager to share their opinions. One reason of this result was that we did not discourage any “wrong answers” something that was new to them.

Moreover, we held a workshop on “World Problems.” In our individual meetings with the students, we found that the students were not very aware of the current affairs and contemporary problems in the world. This workshop was interesting because it showed us that many students believed that the problem plaguing Punjab (drugs, poverty, corruption, etc) are not only limited to Punjab, but they are also larger world problems.

Towards the end of our conversation, we asked students to come up with solutions for a world problem that they believed is the most critical. Answers the student gave were well thought out and creative. We realized that these students are able to think at the same level as us university level students; however, they are not generally given the opportunity to think freely and express freely. It seems like the students have been conditioned to follow the orders from the teachers, and the teachers have been conditioned to follow the textbook. The learning and teaching might have gotten out of focus. Therefore, we believe that these rural students should be engaged in more serious conversations, and their opinions must be heard.

After a full day of workshops, we went home for lunch and worked into the evening preparing for the next day’s workshops.