Morning Song

The PDO would not be the PDO without Morning Song. Every morning at 8:45 we have a song in English to start our day off in the right mood. As tradition would have it, "Oh What A Beautiful Morning" is the very first morning song and the students really love it. Here you can see us singing to our hearts delight and getting ready for another day of exciting learning. As you can see in the video, we had a review of it today, on Crazy Hat Day. That's why we are all wearing silly hats--more reason to put us in a good mood. You can sing along if you want. Try it, you'll feel much better!


Other Morning Songs include the following traditional and classic American tunes:
"This Land Is Your Land"
"Oh Susanna"
"Obladi Oblada"
"Row Row Row Your Boat" (round singing)
"My Bonnie"
"Shoo Fly"
"Take Me Out To The Ballgame"
"Home On The Range"
and many many more. If you have a suggestion, let us know. We never have enough Morning Songs!

Camp Impressions from our counseling staff

Part of the staff here at the PDO are 3 YES alumni, Zia, Jeena and Nick from Afghanistan, and one FLEX alumni, Batma from Kyrgyzstan. They took time out of their busy schedules to give us some of their impressions form the first week here.


Woodlanders are very hospitable and kind. They have been very friendly to the YES students and I. On Indian-Afghan Culture Night the Woodlanders really did a great job performing their Punjabi dances and songs for us.
I love the food here, especially kheer (a rice pudding), gulab jaman (an Indian sweet dish), and the kidney beans and rice dish.
The students are hard working, doing all their work, respect their teachers and counselors and are punctual. Most of them have trouble writing essays but they are trying hard and improving everyday. In the computer lab they do research for their class projects and write their essays. They appreciate all the things they have to use here at Woodlands. The students are participating well in clubs and other activities we have arranged for them here. JEENA

Hi, I am Nick. I am almost through with the fist week of PDO, as a councilor, here in Punjab, India. It was one exciting week. I enjoy working with the kids so far and it seems like everything will stay as interesting. It is a big pleasant to get up each morning, say “hi” to the Woodland students who eagerly run to say “hi” to you, and then sing the morning song with the YES students. I especially love to say “good morning” to the ladies who work at Woodlands and have a short chat in Hindi with them. I am very keen to affect PDO positively and see what more it has to excite me in return, in the coming weeks.

I really like Woodlands because it is very green. I enjoy getting up early in the morning and doing exercises with the students on the big field, looking at all the trees while we run around the field, and sitting among all the flowers planted here.
I enjoy being the students’ sports counselor. The students enjoy playing cricket and we are getting ready for a big match with the Woodlanders. We get up at 5:45 every morning and practice until 7. By 7, it starts to get hot and humid so we stop. Plus students need time to shower and get ready for breakfast at 8.
Working with these students is very enjoyable for me. They are respectful and hard working. I’m looking forward to working with the girls playing volleyball this week. They have been busy with Batma learning to swim this past week and now we will switch to volleyball. Plus we will have 4 more girls and will have enough to have two teams. ZIA

This is my second time coming to the PDO in India and I’m loving it so far. It was a great start with a visit to the Taj Mahal and a train ride up to the Punjab. I like the friendly staff here, especially the cook. I look forward to coming to the PDO every year. I like the atmosphere of the school where we run the PDO, it is very well managed and everyone is so welcoming. When I left last year, I couldn’t wait to come back this year. The weekend trips are great. It’s fun to see other places outside of the school, but it’s always a joy to return back to our home here in Punjab. BATMA

YES IDOL Round One--The Movie

Last Friday night we had the first round of YES IDOL a new innovation devised by our counselor Nick. All together 9 singers performed in a variety of languages (Dari, Hindi, Punjabi and Pashto) and 4 contestants were selected to go on to the next round which will be this coming Friday night. Stay tuned for the next round of singing!

The Kids Arrive!

Saturday, July 17^th—our first group of students arrive! After much anticipation and planning, we finally have our students here and can begin working. Unfortunately, 15 of the 34 students didn’t have their US visas before the 16^th so have to wait it out back in Afghanistan. Meanwhile the YES PDO teaching team: Tim, Jane, Martin and Chynara, and the counseling staff: Batma, Nick, Jeena and Zia got down to work with the 19 students who arrived on the early morning of the 17^th. A two-hour flight from Kabul to Delhi, followed by an 11 hr bus

ride up the Grand Trunk Road to their home for a month before heading off to the U.S. We welcomed our 19 students and Martin, who came up with them, in the traditional Indian way with marigold garlands, bindi and sweets.

What will they do? The PDO camp is run like an American high school, beginning and ending the day with home room, with subject classes, reading groups, lunch and recess in between. Our goal is to make sure they are better prepared academically and psychologically for their year in the U.S. Reading and writing is a big part of the camp since students will have to a lot of that for the next year. Our subject classes this year are: Academic Writing, Public Speaking, U.S.History, U.S. Literature, Civil Rights, and U.S. Government. Students also are placed in reading groups to focus on being better readers and learn strategies to help with comprehension.

When they aren’t studying, they have different club activities like sports (cricket is big this year), learning to swim, art, and singing.

Most evenings they are doing their homework and spending time in the computer lab, balancing time researching projects, typing papers and responding to personal emails. On weekends we go out and see different areas of India.

A lot goes on in a month, so keep in touch with us to find out the latest!

WELCOME TO THE YES PDO!

After a week's worth of traveling and preparing, Tom Toomey and his team are all ready to greet this year's YES Afghanistan students in India. Starting July 17th, when 19 of the 34 students arrived at the YES PDO site up north in Punjab, our staff has been working hard with these students so they'll be better prepared for their year in the U.S.

Everyday they have a variety of classes with four professional teachers, 3 from the U.S. and one from Kyrgyzstan. Day by day, our YES students improve their English skills, learn how to write essays, find out more about the YES program and have fun inside and outside of class. We run the camp like an American high school so our students will be better prepared when they arrive in the U.S. in August.

For one month we will be here and we would like our dear readers to check in with us daily to find out what we are doing here. Hope you enjoy our blog!