Written by Interns from Parvatibai Chowgule College
When I think of the opportunity given to me by the Internship Training Program (ITP) started by my college, Parvatibai Chowgule College, to be an intern at Bookworm, I think of my experience as an odyssey. It was termed for only a month, but it seemed longer, probably because it helped me to learn a lot, as well as each day contributed to my growth as a person. When I read about BW, I loved the idea of bringing the library to the kids who don’t have the luxury or the access to a library. I was concerned about the potential language barriers with the children, as I can only speak English fluently, but on my first day at a session, that obstacle was crossed! The children understood me somehow, and I was deeply relieved!
We are so absorbed by our busy schedules and are trying to keep up with a fast moving lifestyle, that when I look at the children we associated with, I saw that they appreciate the little things in life. We take a lot of things for granted, whereas these children were ecstatic just to hold a book, flip through the pages, find an enthusiastic adult and listen to a story, and in that they found happiness. Most of the children struggled with reading in English at first, but didn’t give up. All they needed was encouragement.
This opportunity given to me has really been a blessing . The BW team is absolutely fabulous, and such a delight to work with!
– Stacy Ann Coutinho
WHY BW? As a Science student, I was supposed to join a pharmaceutical company, since I was selected. But it didn’t appeal to me, having to spend my vacation locked up in a room writing reports and pretending to be someone’s shadow while in the company.
I thought of joining the Summer Internship Program at Bookworm because of my love of reading and because I believed I could manage kids.
EXPERIENCE
Working at Bookworm has evoked a lot of my dormant skills. Although not fluently, I’ve learned to communicate with kids in Hindi and Konkani. I managed to battle the summer heat and provide the kids with quality Bookworm service.
– Kimberley Barretto
I first heard about Bookworm from Stacy. She had applied for the internship and told me about it. It sounded interesting. The first meeting, wherein I saw the premises and met Sujata spoke volumes about how the program and internship was going to be. The team looked happy and satisfied. Sujata was so enthusiastic about the work she was doing. It already set a happy tone for the one month internship.
Working at the Margao MOP with Asawari, Prajna , Kimberly, Stacy, Hyma Malcolm, Niju, Sheena, Sujata, the various other visiting guests has been a satisfying experience for me. Everyone worked well as a team. We did a good job.
I had my own apprehensions about working with kids mainly because of previous experiences in schools but this worked beautifully. The children were eager to learn new things and never really gave us any sort of problems. However, even from the first session one could see that we were welcomed very warmly into the communities.
The kids taught me so many things: to have patience, to find happiness in the little things in life. The way their faces would light up looking at us cone to teach them. So satisfying! A little attention and they were so happy. Each of them affected us in little ways. The children taught me to stop complaining about silly things as I realized they make the best of what ever they have and are also happy. These 4 weeks will be treasured very much and these memories held very close to our hearts.
– Sayi Panandikar
It was only after I had attended and participated in the MOP sessions and volunteered for the activities held there, that I understood the essence of the MOP sessions. I had first-hand experience to talk to many children at a time, and learnt to organize myself and the tasks assigned to me. Gathering the requirements used in MOP sessions and working in a team and leading the session was such a good experience. We had 8 sessions in Gaulli Wado and 6 sessions in Pajifond. Talking to little stars and knowing what they feel about us, made me really emotional. I’m going to miss them. But the children in Pajifond were truly very happy when they learnt that we will continue having sessions there at least once a week.
– Hyma Mandapaka