first aid workshops.

One of our current interns from Germany, Rike, is a trained First Aid instructor and expressed interest in doing a First Aid workshop with the boys at the Boys' Home. She researched various scenarios and decided to focus her workshop on scratches, cuts, and burns, three things all of the boys have some experience with. We broke the workshop down into 4 days, working with 10-12 boys each day, and taught them the proper ways to react to each scenario, including dispelling numerous stereotypes that they had been taught when they were younger. Through a series of plays (I got to show off my acting chops; watch for me on the award show circuit next year), we showed the boys different ways they can get injured, and Rike showed them how to apply bandages, get people into the recovery position, and call an ambulance to the scene, after which Dorothy, Maruthi, or Prabhu patiently translated the commentary into numerous local languages to ensure comprehension on the part of the boys. Overall the workshops were a great success on a topic we hadn't before broached in the Boys' Home, and Rike is discussing with Prabhu the prospect of including it in the schools program as well. I only wish we had been able to get some pictures, but it's always tough to take them inside the Boys' Home without getting caught by the staff. You'll just have to use your imagination to picture me pretending to burn myself while lighting an imaginary cigarette :)