Arriving to chaotic and charming Ahmedabad was softened with the warm welcome of Manav Sadhna. I have come to India to work for The Anganwadi Project (TAP) to design and build an ‘anganwadi’ (preschool) in the slum areas of Ahmedabad in close collaboration with Manav Sadhna. This will be TAP’s fifteenth preschool: Bholu 15.

Navigating week one is saying yes to every opportunity: learning the hula in a women’s community centre, taking a rickshaw to a girls class in a leprosy colony, flying kites on a rooftop, shopping for kurtis, learning to wear dupatas (scarves) and dancing with 200 children on a community centre rooftop to the latest Bollywood hits.