Written by Flavia
Tucked away in a corner of the large village of Aldona, lies the ward or ‘vaddo’ of Carona which is home to a small school known as Auxilium, Carona. If you’re from or in Aldona, you only have to say ‘Auxilium’ and everyone will know what you are talking about.
Auxilium is a co-ed primary and pre-primary school – there are classes from lower K.G. through Std. 4. When Dr. Mrs. Maria Aurora Couto contacted Bookworm to jointly launch the Alban Couto Library Project, this was the school which was first roped in. We were welcomed with open arms and hearts by all the students.
Over the past few months, the LiS team has had many great moments and some not-so-great moments here. This was the only school to give us a ‘library room’ as well as a cupboard to store our stuff. We were able to put up collaborative art created by the kids. Last year the library room did not have desks or benches, as per our request, so that the kids could move around freely while playing games or singing songs. This year however, sadly, there were desks and benches in the ‘library room’.
For me, the sessions that I led or assisted with in this school were very interesting – the responses from the kids were very different from an all-boys or an all-girls class. Quite a few stories left me pleasantly surprised at the responses of the class – The Watermelon Route, Big Red Lollipop, The Sweetest Mango spring immediately to mind.
One of the only things that upset all of us at Bookworm was the presence of sticks in the classroom. The kids and the teachers all know that the sticks are on the table. I move them out of my sight as soon I enter the classroom.
I have spent a pleasant 20 months or so with the kids in this school and I am sure the kids have had fun too.
