Estimated read time: 6-7 minutes
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JIBHI, India — About the time Shanae Curtis starts to pass out pipe cleaners, her class erupts into chaos.
"Didi, didi!"
The 30 Indian children shout the Hindi word for sister — a sign of respect — as they grab onto her arms in an attempt to get a pipe cleaner in their favorite color. The idea of an art project is too exciting to sit in one's seat. Curtis is shouting over the din, encouraging the kids to sit back down, but they're mostly ignoring her. While her voice is raised, she has a smile on her face, and the kids know she's bluffing.
"I love it here," she said. "I've never been this happy."
Happiness at any level is something Curtis has not felt in some time, although she says she's perfected the art of faking it. Two years ago her brother, Brandon Curtis, was killed when the open-top Jeep he was riding in flipped in the parking lot of their high school. In an instant she lost the big brother she'd looked up to her entire life.
"When he died I saw the love everyone had for him and how much he inspired everyone else and I knew that's what I wanted to do," she explains. "It definitely pushed me even more to go on this trip and make the biggest difference I could and make him proud."
It's one thing to look at a picture and say 'Oh, this is what poverty is like,'As soon as you go and experience it, it's a whole different thing.
–- K.C. Miller
She believes she has done just that during her trip to India. She is one of 18 high school students from Utah County who spent their spring break teaching elementary school children in three schools in the remote village of Jibhi, India.
The trip was organized by Youth Making a Difference which has been taking students to India for seven years and extended the program to the Philippines last year. The students they work with can generally write and read English, but often they've never spoken the words out loud. YMAD volunteers practice conversation skills with them, work on pronunciation, and provide context for the words.
YMAD volunteers are improving the lives of their students during the trip, but their impact is much farther reaching. The ability to speak English is a requirement for many institutions of higher education and well-paying jobs.
The last day for the group at the school dawns bright and sunny. There's relief that it's not raining, since the narrow paths YMAD volunteers hike to the schools turn to mud when moisture hits the surface. The conditions in the area are less than ideal for both the Utah and Indian students; The schools have no electricity and the power at the YMAD's campsite has flickered on and off throughout the trip. Buckets of hot water have taken the place of showers. And to experience this, each Utah teen raised $3500.
Timpview High School senior K.C. Miller was the first to raise his money even though he was the last to sign up for the trip. For ten months he painted houses, scraped decks, weeded gardens, and worked during other types of manual labor.
"After the 11-hour-straight days I was kind of like ‘You know what? I don't care anymore,'" Miller said. "But it's been totally worth it."
For his final lesson he takes the class outside to play a version of musical chairs. If the music stops and a student is standing on a card inscribed with an animal name, they must read it then pretend to be that animal. At first there's some confusion but as soon as Miller gets into the act so do the kids.
I said a prayer that he would be able to watch over these kids since I'm not going to be here. I think he will. I think he'd enjoy that task.
–- Shanae Curtis
"A pig," he said. "What does a pig say?"
Oinks rise from the group and a laughing Miller starts the music again. He clearly has a soft spot for all the students but one in particular stands out. Danhi, 12, is a bright and funny student as well as one of the oldest in the school. According to Miller, Danhi's father is an absent alcoholic, his mother is dead, and his stepmother doesn't care much for children.
"He deserves better," Miller said.
For at least one week, Danhi had it better in the form of a surrogate big brother. Miller singles him out to play volleyball and cricket. Miller's bright blue baseball cap finds a new home atop Danhi's head. In turn, Danhi listens when Miller speaks. He pushes himself in class to answer questions.
Every member of the Utah group seems to have an extra special bond with one or two students. Back at the camp they brag about "their" kids. They share photos of them. They discuss the more difficult cases and brainstorm ways to better reach them.
At the Front and center of the discussions are the conditions in which the Indian students live. Most go to school in the same clothes day after day. Some don't wear shoes. School supplies are stacked into a small pile in the corner of one of the classrooms. Never before have these Utah teenagers experienced such a visual display of the advantages they have back in the United States.
"It's one thing to look at a picture and say ‘Oh, this is what poverty is like,'" Miller said. "As soon as you go and experience it, it's a whole different thing."
The YMAD volunteers vote how to best spend a portion of their fundraising on the students. This trip they opted to buy them new school sweaters, scarves, hats, gloves, blankets and hygiene kits. The Indian students sit quietly as the items are handed out, and with some encouragement, try on their new things.
One could argue YMAD benefits the teenage volunteers as much as the Indian students, albeit in a different way. YMAD teaches valuable lessons in money management, organization, responsibility, self-reliance, and gratitude. It teaches them that when it comes to differing cultures, there is no right or wrong way. The most difficult lesson, perhaps, was saying goodbye. The time comes mid-afternoon and the tears begin immediately.
K.C. Miller and Danhi play cricket until the last possible second. Before he leaves, Danhi attempts to return Miller's hat. Miller shakes his head no and gives him a hug.
"I want to get the knowledge he moved out of here (in the future) and is successful or I want to see him as a teacher here," Miller said.
Shanae Curtis kneels in the corner, her arms wrapped around a little girl to whom she's grown close.
"I love you," she says to the girl.
"I love you,"the child whispers back, wiping tears off Shanae's face.
The students head off to their homes clutching their bags of new clothing and school supplies. They also have photos the YMAD volunteers printed for them showing smiling faces pressed together. Shanae Curtis leaves something less tangible but more meaningful, a request to her late brother Brandon on behalf of the kids she wishes he'd had the chance to meet.
"I said a prayer that he would be able to watch over these kids since I'm not going to be here," she said. "I think he will. I think he'd enjoy that task."
