A big thanks to our mom for helping us get in touch with Baala Balaga. 

Thank you to co-founder Dr. Sanjeev Kulkarni for opening up the door, Principal Pratibha Kulkarni, and Dr. Vijaylaxmi for being the facilitators and giving us an opportunity to share our knowledge, altering the school schedule to accommodate our 5-day camp. 

We figured out how to make difficult concepts both easy to understand and interesting. As for material prep, we, Madhushri and Nidhi, collaborated on the slide decks, and used each other’s opinions and ideas to make our delivery better.

Although there were some challenges, like the language barrier: PreK-7th grade students learned in only Kannada, while WE didn’t know how to converse fluently in Kannada, we were able to overcome this by having teachers periodically translate for us, and it worked out extremely well!

A concern at the beginning was keeping all the students engaged throughout the session, since everyone had different levels of understanding. At first we were unsure if the kids would answer our questions or stay quiet, but they turned out to be very expressive, and our conversations flowed naturally. 

Our time together had not only left a mark on us, but also them. Many students told us that they really enjoyed the discussions and activities. They did not simply acquire new information; they became curious, asked better questions, and started making connections between everyday decisions and how they influenced the world. Many left with a sense of responsibility, a willingness to share what they had learned, and the confidence to make small but significant actions towards change. 

We are very grateful to have been able to make an impact on their lives 🙂