Hello LitWorld Family,

We are finishing up another wonderful day of training with the Bal Dosts. Today we ran through the activities, logistics and itineray for our LitCamp with the women and practiced the skills we learned yesterday.

It was so rewarding to see the Bal Dosts take ownership of several of the activities themselves, voluntarily starting a round of "Read Along" (which Leah and I both now know in Gujarati) and calling us over to hear their read alouds and using their English to explain the stories to us. Today felt like a true day of community building, with much of the nervousness of first meeting dissipated.

No matter where we are in the world, every training is an exercise in cultural education. What activities work? What activities need to be modified? What makes sense for this community? What doesn't? What local games can we learn and use in LitClubs and LitCamps? It's so rewarding to find that perfect song or activity and watch it find its place with another group of LitClub leaders and children.

There was a moment today when we were cleaning up after an activity and one of the women started singing the Gujarati translation of Tuwe Tuwe, and we all joined in, singing and sorting markers and paper, feeling so harmonious and safe and joyful. I can't wait to bring this same sense of community to the kids over the next three days at LitCamp and watch as it is taken back to the Learning Centers in Bombay Hotel and Piplaj and cultivated for even more children and women here in Ahmedabad.

That's all for now friends, tomorrow is the first day of LitCamp, stay tuned!

With love,

Yaya & Leah