May 28th 2016
Brother Xavier's is one of the many destinations that we as a group have visited since landing in Kolkata. Brother Xavier's is a vocational school that takes in children from the streets of Kolkata and educated them in subjects such as math, biology, chemistry, and the culinary arts such as baking. When we first arrived, children swarmed all around us; very shy at first but once we began dancing, singing, and reading with them, they were dragging us all around showing us their beds, books, and insisting we play games with them, which we obviously did. While playing a game of chess with a young girl who didn't really know how to play the game correctly but understood that once you passed a piece, you could take it, Tyler and Mo were singing and dancing to a group of girls who had smiles from ear to ear listening to the beautiful voices of the two young men in front of them. Meanwhile Richard and CeCe were surrounded by children amused by funny faces, city's and states in a book about The United States, and when each other's birthdays were.
We also got to interact with the children when they were outside on the courtyard playing soccer, basketball, riding bikes, and playing catch. One girl in particular, Pinky, was very interested in soccer or Fútbol here in India. We began just passing it back in forth and then juggling back and forth to each other. Pinky would begin juggling and then throw it in the air and watch Uncle Messi juggle. She watched in amazement, following the ball where ever it went and when I gave it back to her, the biggest smile went across her face. After a while of juggling the young girls who surrounded Nick, Pinky and me began chanting "Uncle Messi!!". Surprised... Yes, but fitting. We juggled for the whole time, even though Pinky couldn't keep the ball up, she kept trying and by the end of the day, she was able to juggle 3 times in a row. It was beautiful watching the joy juggling a soccer ball brought to a young girl. Excited to go back tomorrow afternoon and pick up where we all left off.
~Liam
Brother Xavier's is one of the many destinations that we as a group have visited since landing in Kolkata. Brother Xavier's is a vocational school that takes in children from the streets of Kolkata and educated them in subjects such as math, biology, chemistry, and the culinary arts such as baking. When we first arrived, children swarmed all around us; very shy at first but once we began dancing, singing, and reading with them, they were dragging us all around showing us their beds, books, and insisting we play games with them, which we obviously did. While playing a game of chess with a young girl who didn't really know how to play the game correctly but understood that once you passed a piece, you could take it, Tyler and Mo were singing and dancing to a group of girls who had smiles from ear to ear listening to the beautiful voices of the two young men in front of them. Meanwhile Richard and CeCe were surrounded by children amused by funny faces, city's and states in a book about The United States, and when each other's birthdays were.
We also got to interact with the children when they were outside on the courtyard playing soccer, basketball, riding bikes, and playing catch. One girl in particular, Pinky, was very interested in soccer or Fútbol here in India. We began just passing it back in forth and then juggling back and forth to each other. Pinky would begin juggling and then throw it in the air and watch Uncle Messi juggle. She watched in amazement, following the ball where ever it went and when I gave it back to her, the biggest smile went across her face. After a while of juggling the young girls who surrounded Nick, Pinky and me began chanting "Uncle Messi!!". Surprised... Yes, but fitting. We juggled for the whole time, even though Pinky couldn't keep the ball up, she kept trying and by the end of the day, she was able to juggle 3 times in a row. It was beautiful watching the joy juggling a soccer ball brought to a young girl. Excited to go back tomorrow afternoon and pick up where we all left off.
~Liam
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