This week we would like to introduce you to our current volunteers Matt and Joe who joined our team in January for five months to work on some activities for our communities. But we thought they can explain what they do and how they enjoy working for Reality Gives much better:

We’re Joe Callanan and Matt Aldridge, we’ve just recently moved to Mumbai and joined the Reality Gives team as volunteers. We’re mainly focussed on teaching English and Drama but since arriving we’ve enjoyed getting involved with other projects such as girls’ and boys’ football and chess. We’re both ‘gap year’ students from Newcastle, UK.

Joe

Being my first visit, India was an initial shock, but I was soon overcome by the community spirit of India and its people. Being involved with the local Bombay Gymkhana football team really helps you to feel local; after teaching a small drama workshop at school in Newcastle I really look forward to trying to inspire the next Bollywood actor and hope they have some fun along the way! After my ‘gap year’ I am going to study a Business degree at York st John University and I hope to return to India soon afterwards.

Matt

I’m very much enjoying living in Mumbai and sampling all of the local food, my favourite of which is ‘pani puri’. In my spare time I play rugby for Bombay Gymkhana and research the other places I’m traveling to before starting a Biochem degree at University College London. I’ve always loved acting and, although I’d taught some short English projects in Dharavi whilst at school, I’m really looking forward to working with our drama students over a longer period.

We’ve both found the Reality Gives team a very friendly and positive environment and are really enjoying working here. We are both passionate about the potential for acting and theatre to be a really positive impact on people’s lives, and an important educational tool. The students we’ve been teaching so far are really keen to learn and full of energy and the next four months is sure to be a fantastic experience.