“Sister, may I please have some m-i-l-k?” The eight-year old boy looked at his caregiver, big brown eyes proud of his spelling accomplishment.
Zahir* recently joined Back2Back’s programming in India and when he arrived, he knew no English, not even the alphabet. “We immediately started working with him,” shared Reshma Enagandhula, Back2Back staff. “We encouraged the other children to speak English with him, helping him to learn new words and sounds, and with time, he’s shown great improvement.” Zahir has recently started displaying the new things he’s learning by spelling out words when he talks to others, and he is so excited for all he’s retaining and can show others.
Another young man, Rohan*, who lives on the campus is also growing in his skills and is thrilled to show his growth in musical performance. “Rohan has long expressed his desire to learn a musical instrument,” explained Reshma. “We have a guitar, drums, and keyboard on campus, and Rohan took the initiative to teach himself how to play guitar by watching YouTube videos.”
At a recent service on campus, Rohan performed a song and played the guitar in front of everyone. It was a moving presentation and other’s excitement over it spurred him to keep practicing. He is now taking time to improve his guitar skills and is teaching himself how to play the drums.
This is the power of children being encouraged to pursue their passions and take steps to reach their goals – young men and women around the world are discovering new talents within themselves and showcasing their hard work one letter and musical note at a time.