International exchange programs are an important dimension of the school ethos at SAI International School. Students of SAI engage in the exchange programs four times in a year, which aim to bring a prolific change in them. The last week of October brought an opportunity to SAINOEERS to host the international guests from Winterbourne International Academy (WIA), Bristol, UK for a weeklong sojourn.

Apart from learning about each other’s cultural and value systems, the students of SAI and WIA joined hands to launch “Joyful Spaces” – a project to positively impact the lives of the underprivileged children of a deaf school. The original plan was to design a playroom for the deaf students in the age group of 5-7 but after seeing the deplorable conditions of the classrooms, the compassionate students decided to also add an outdoor area including a badminton and volleyball court. For four days they sanded the walls of the main classrooms, cleaned out the dust and debris around the school, painted over 3000 square feet of wall, added curtains, put in an outdoor courtyard and a play area with a basketball hoop. The overall effect was indeed wonderful and the students gave the walls a fresh coat of paint as the finishing stroke.

The school also required some basic provisions such as new sleeping mats, bed sheets, pillows and mosquito nets, which were purchased and donated along with 4 storage units, sports equipment (footballs, badminton sets, basketballs, cricket bats and balls and jump ropes), classroom resources (notebooks, pencils, pens, crayons, sketch pens, chart papers) and playroom items (education board, games, maps, activity books, soft toys, reading books).

Watching the deaf school transform right before their eyes was transcendent for all the students. After completion of the renovation, Winterbourne International School gave a presentation to the SAI and deaf students about UK, their school and culture, Although communication was a major barrier, it was astonishing to see the deaf children overcoming this impediment with great flair and case. It was brilliant to watch the group communicate and collaborate using chalk boards, paper and their hands asking each other questions and getting to know one another.

Kieran Mogford, WIA teacher said, “Our biggest challenge was time; it was hard to purchase all the resources in the small amount of time that was available. It was brilliant watching the students team up and get the project done. The deaf students are remarkable, they helped us plaster the walls and they were experts. ”