What an amazing place - Koseli School!! by Isabella Joubert

Isabella with Santosh and Anita

What an amazing place -  Koseli School!!

During my time as a volunteer at Koseli, I realized that everything in life is a gift and this wonderful school, safe haven, is a gift to all these children whose needs are most basic in life. These kids do not ask for much. It is amazing how easy is it to please them – only a smile and some attention, that’s all they ask for!

Incredible! this experience was definitely an eye opener for me. I assisted three kids with their skills on one - to - one tuition bases and also taught English to Class 3 students. I was amazed at how well some of the kids could read, write and spell words in English and how eager they were all to learn. 

One of the kids Santosh Pariyar, I supported is an incredibly enthusiastic student. Santosh is 12 years old and finds the English language quite challenging. I supported him with his reading and writing of English. On the first day I could see he struggled with reading, he had to spell the words out to pronounce them and even then he pronounced them wrongly. I helped him with his pronunciation of words and also with the spellings. It was awesome to see how positive and willing he was to learn.

with Class III students

In between the lessons if he was asked if he wanted a few minutes break, he always replied “No Thank you”. What a satisfying feeling it was to see his face lighten up every time he pronounced words correctly. 

Santosh was a rag picker till he joined Koseli. After his father’s death he took to picking rags from piles and piles of filth and sell them to scrap buyers in the valley to buy some food. Soon this became a habit and even now so many times he leaves home to go to school but gets lost some where mid way and then he can be spotted with other street kids picking rags. The school makes sure that he reaches school every day for once he reaches school he is like any other happy kid with dreams of a better tomorrow in his eyes.

It was awesome to experience the improvement in Santosh’s English reading and writing skills. I wish him all the best for his future.