India: Training and Launch! (Plus Germany Layover)

Training was, as always, a total whirlwind. We do a 2.5 week residential training, and due to some delays and an inability to push back my flight home, I had to leave a couple of days before it was over. Thankfully Charles was able to sub in for me...but I get ahead of myself! Please enjoy this picture-heavy entry about training and launch.

After a few hiccups with transportation logistics, our first group of staff arrived in Mangalagiri, where we were hosting training. For the first time ever at training, every single teacher was female and every single Manager was male. (This ended up not being the case by the time schools launched, but it was true for training.)

Welcoming the first crew.

Waiting for things to get started

Our Expansion Director welcoming the staff. 

Getting the crowd excited.

As always, sometimes training comes with unexpected stumbles along the way....including (but not limited to) blackouts. 
But that certainly didn't stop Tristan from working!

Training kicks off with a discussion about core values.

And a get-up-and-move activity showing who you were most aligned to.

My teensy class of Academy Managers!

The training site was beautiful...and thank god it was air conditioned. Most days were over 100*F, and up 
to 114*F before I left! Blech.

Overall the food at training was amazing, but there were a few times that we headed back into Vijayawada for a little variety, including these BONKERS Indian sweets that were absolutely delicious.

Hands down, best training food of any country. Those spicy little crunchy guys on the bottom left? Yes please.

Several times a day we also had the tiniest, most twee little cups of chai that you've ever seen. What a dream.

Something super decadent about eating things with gold or silver leaf on them!

Don't worry, we also brought back goodies to motivate the other staff!

One weekend we also splashed out and spent the night at the luxurious Gateway Hotel in Vijayawada - which happens to be the most expensive spot in town. Comfortable beds, ice cold air conditioning, a rooftop pool, and drinks and the bar made for a rejuvenated crew.

Poooooool.

Refreshing and lovely in +100*F temperatures and one billion percent humidity!

There's something magical about a rooftop pool and getting to see the entire city laid out below you. Please also enjoy the crappy tattoo I got a week after my 18th birthday in good old Scranton, PA.

Bye sun!

Jawahar, our training manager and all around incredible bad ass, used to work for Teach for India, which happens to invest a lot of time and energy into creating a strong culture among their staff. We were so lucky to have him, and three interns from TFI, leading up this training. Their effort to create a warm, supportive atmosphere was palpable and brought the trainees (not to mention me!) a lot of joy.

For a solid few months I cried every time I read this because it so lovely, haha.

Two teachers writing shout-outs on the Shout Out Wall.

Every teacher - and staff member - got to take home their paper full 
of sweet notes at the end of training.

Our training sessions come in a lot of shapes and sizes. They range from whole group lessons to discussions, small group break outs, video reviews, etc. They practice through role plays, present sample lessons, and have both written and practical exams to test their learning. Sometimes the Academy Managers and teachers train together on shared content, and sometimes the two groups break out to delve deeper into role-specific duties. It's all an intricate ballet.

Manager-led small group discussions.

Each of them led their own teacher team in some brainstorming for a session 

Presenting their answers to the class.

Role playing conversations with parents.

Learning about the joys and challenges of staying within budget!

Jawahar presenting to the class.

Love this man.

Sandeep (one of our TFI interns) ready to jump in and help Jawahar with an activity.

Pallavi (another TFI intern) overseeing a small group.

Break out discussions.

Academy Manager Alwin working with his teachers.

Discussions about the struggles faced by other schools in their neighbourhoods.

A couple of the challenges just one group came up with.

In addition to getting to know our content, they also work to get to know each other.

Each staff member created a life map, showing the path and events that led them to believe education is important.

Then they shared them with their teammates. 

It was very interesting to listen to so many paths that converged at this one training.

And it really helped the teams bond and get to know each other.

Jawahar back at it, leading a room of 70+ people like it was nothing.

One of our co-founders, Shannon, also came for a visit and got to address 
the whole group of trainees.

Role playing community engagement (and getting/giving feedback!).

Me and my guys!

 Eventually it was almost time for training to wrap up (and time for me to head back to the States) so we snapped some group pictures before saying goodbye. What a great group of people!

Staff (including Kevin, a visitor from our tech team in Kenya) all together inside!

Teachers, Academy Managers, and training staff. 

Staff from our academy in Giddalur.

Staff from our academy in Bhimadole.

Staff for our academy in Telaprolu.

Staff from our academy in Yellamanchili.

Most of our Academy Manager class.

All of the Academy Manager class.

Asra, Charles, Jawahar, me, and Pallavi (just missing Sandeep to round out the training team!)

There was also a herd of really cute kids that we brought out to do a little uniform fashion show (and test out some different coloured socks, as you do) that were just too cute not to photograph.

Charles hanging out with his new friends.

Cheeeeese!
(We went with white socks, for those dying to know.)

Von Trapp family singers style.

I have no earthly idea how they were standing or sitting on this million degree marble.

Those smiles on the right! Too cute.

This little girl was so pretty, and had the most lovely pigtailed hair.

After training I headed back to America...and just a couple of weeks later I was back on a plane to India to get some stuff sorted for launch. When I returned, our apartment had become not only corporate housing, but also our temporary warehouse. It was super convenient to be able to grab materials (marketing, academic, uniforms, etc) but also required lots of leaping over piles and boxes to, you know, get to the kitchen.

Well hello, uniforms.

Outreach materials in Telegu.

And English!

Coming back also meant jumping into a whirlwind of academy site visits to see how building/renovation was going, talk to parents, and pump up academy staff. It was busy.

Ravi talking to some prospective parents.

One day these will be real walls.

Ranjit, our head of customer insight, walking Deryn and I through one of the construction sites.

Janardhana, our head of customer experience, talking with parents at another academy.

Construction in Yellamanchili.

Working fast to get new classrooms up on that roof.

Flash forward, this is what Yellamanchili looks like today!

A little temple (with a LOT of monkeys) next to the academy.

While visiting our northernmost academy, Deryn and I also 
spent a night up in Visakhapatnam (also called Vizag),w
hich had a lovely view of the ocean from the rooftop!

Out and about in busy towns.

And deaaaad countryside.

Almost to our southernmost academy...I spent about 11 hours in the car this day. Too much!

The struggles of having a child take the photo. Check out dem bunny ears tho.

While in Giddalur we met with a mom's group, and the kids were super 
pumped to take a bunch of photos.

I won't include the photo where a half-naked baby was thrust into my arms, looked at me, and 
IMMEDIATELY burst into tears.

Luckily the child (pictured at right) recovered.

Checking out another academy.

Lots of work left to do!

And this is that room today!

And we spotted least one worker snoozing on the job. Sigh. 

Ah the joys of rainy season. Fun fact, I stepped on that red 
thing thinking it was a brick...turned out to be a sponge. 
Learned that lesson the hard way - mud in my shoe.

The picture on the left is what that same stretchy of muddy ground looks like now (from the opposite angle)!

When not running around to academies, I got to spend some time with the lovely people who work for us in Vijayawada, and some global staff who were in town for the launch.

Killer moon rise over Vijayawada.

Night scenes out our window.

Sun rising on another day.

The elusive non-rainy day was always appreciated!

Auto-ing around town.

Local markets.

I loved this openness campaign from Airtel.

Nom nom nom, all the Dominoes.

During this time, Deryn and I got our saris made, too! In most countries our staff have a polo shirt, button down shirt, and/or t-shirt as their official Bridge uniform. In India, however, our teachers are given material to make a sari. And they look AMAZING.

Seriously, how gorgeous does this all-female staff look?

Deryn and I headed to a little tailor up the street from our office in Vijayawada and - though they spoke no English - we worked it out. They present you with a couple of posters with about 100 different sari blouse styles. I had no idea there were so many choices! You have to pick the neckline, back, sleeve type, etc. After mulling it over a bit and picking our choices, we left our sari material in the hands of the tailor and headed out. A couple of days later we got to pick up our final products!

Chalk decorations outside the tailor's shop.

Amazingly detailed sari blouse (not mine!).

And the seamstress working on hand embroidering/adding the tiny mirrors.

Finishing my sari blouse since i needed to go.

Finishing touches.

Though there will never be a world in which I can fold it 
as beautifully as our teachers, I love my sari!

Pretty soon it was time to say goodbye to India again. Getting updates with pictures of bright green classrooms full of kids learning always makes my heart soar. This was by far the hardest launch I have been a part of, and it left me properly exhausted. On the way home I popped into Munich on a 6 hour layover, and after grabbing breakfast at a cafe I spent a while on an double decker bus exploring the city. I'm the only one in my family who hasn't been to Germany before (my parents were stationed there when my dad was active duty army, and my brother was born there - and returned as an exchange student in high school) and while this trip wasn't long enough to make my "places visited" list it did whet my appetite for more!

They were having a deal so I bumped the first leg of my flight up to "executive class"
for a little added pampering.

Sunset from the sky.

Heading out with my trusty city map and rail ticket.

Beautiful day to do some sightseeing.

The streets of Munich.

Seeya, Germany!

I landed back in the US totally spent, but luckily just a few weeks later I headed out to the west coast for a week of rest, relaxation, and exploration with Jess and Ben. But more on that later.