Corporate Social Responsibility - 2

Corporate Social Responsibility - 2

by Lionel Chin, Oliver Cunneen, Hayden Green, Priyankaben Topiwala, Clinton McKee

A land with incredible smiles, kindness and a culture bursting with diversity.

The MBA contingent arrived in the bustling small town of Thodupuzha, near Kochi, and St Sebastians’s primary school welcomed us with a marching band.

It was overwhelming and unexpected, taking the MBA students by surprise. Another surprise was our multi-talented MBA director, Arun Elias who did a beautiful rendition of Te Aroha.

The intense heat did not discourage the MBA students from the massive task of tiling one of St Sebastians’s school rooms, which was completed before lunch with the help of the local tilers. We hope the students and teachers will remember us fondly when using this classroom.

The school students aged from 5-12 showed their dedication by attending school during their summer holiday. They were eager to learn and quickly embraced our presence at the school with questions and conversation.

We were welcomed into one the classrooms utilised by the students – there were stark contrasts to the classrooms we see in New Zealand. This had, by no means, impacted on the local students’ learning as the school is renowned for its prizes in art and culture.

To round up our first half of the day, we had the privilege of watching a traditional Kerala dance performed by one of the former students of the school.

The graceful dance represented one of the epic ancient sagas of the Mahabharat.

After another fantastic lunch, it was time for our teaching and learning session with the children.

We had split in five groups and each was given the challenge of teaching/entertaining a group of children for two hours based around aspects of New Zealand life, culture, and geography.

So what do they know about our country? Well, cricket is the answer – they all knew 'McCullum' and wished that we had beaten Australia in the final – so, it was off to a good start .

Our group decided the best way to introduce them to 'a little bit of kiwi' was to teach the haka. The group of children initially had no idea about how to take four males and one female jumping around, flagging their arms in the air and yelling out in a native language and poking tongues out.

The children were soon all joining in and ready to strike a challenge. This was followed by a brief coverage of general knowledge of New Zealand.

We then played a game of kiwi tag, which after some assistance from the local teachers to help explain the rules, was soon underway.

Throughout the time with us, the children were a pleasure to deal with, showing enthusiasm and energy to learn and ready to interact with us.

When it was time to leave, the teachers spoke to us about how much the school and the children had got out of the day.

I think, in reality, it was us that gained the most. It is not often our simple presence and time is so warmly and genuinely appreciated, but today it was.