June 9, 2025

My internship experience with KMWSC

This was an incredibly enlightening experience. It was unlike anything I’ve ever done before. I started my internship on 2nd May, 2025. I did office work in the first half. This proved important for me to be able to understand the kind of work that is done by NGOs and to understand the statistical realities of the fields they work in. I was able to understand a lot about the children in these fields by logging in information about them, which further prepared me to interact with them.

My field work started with the IDENTITY project in Dhapa, Motijheel and Hastings, and the Kolkata Slums Project in New Alipore. I visited these sites and assisted the teachers in teaching the children and interacting with them. Each field was different and explained to me a different aspect of the realities these communities live in. In Dhapa, the teachers explained how these children’s family structures and social conditions affected their ability to continue and keep up with their education and how this project was primarily important in filling the education gap. I noticed that the children in Dhapa were younger than the children in the other areas. In New Alipore, I was able to help with playing educational games and helping teaching them basic educational levels – alphabets, numbers, etc. I visited Hastings, where the children were of more varied age groups. I spoke to the older children as well and learnt about their school lives and their favourite subjects in school. I did my best to assist them with their projects and making the TLMs. I interacted with the younger children by playing games identifying animals, flowers and drawing with them. In the Identity project, I spent most time at Motijheel, where I spent time not only teaching but also conducting surveys with Yasmin Ma’am for the nutrition project. I enjoyed interacting with the children, getting to know them and meeting their families and understanding their lives outside the centre. It humbled me to understand where they came from and what they brought to their education and aspirations. I also went for surveys to BB Bagan, Kapali Bagan and a few other areas, all of which showed different sides of a similar reality to me. Kapali Bagan was especially important in this experience.

I spent the last week of my internship at Sonagachi with the Red Light Area Project. This phase was an extremely different experience from the other areas because I spent a prolonged period of time and got to know and understand the people there. I spent less time out in the field due to the potentially hazardous nature of the area but the little time I spent their showed me a side of the city I had never seen before. The children were sweet, kind and respectful. Above all, they were excited and eager to learn. Much like most kids, they had their moments of mischief and not wanting to study but it rarely showed itself as disrespect and only ever in good humour. It was inspiring to see Hema Ma’am, Shantana Ma’am, Rinku Ma’am, and the other teachers working sincerely and whole heartedly with the children who had grown to love and respect them. It is projects like this that give these deeply deserving children a chance at a life beyond what was promised to them. I’m deeply grateful to all the faculty that have welcomed me and allowed me to be a small part of this larger project that is making all the difference.

Niharika Rajsaha, Christ University Bangalore