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Arts & Entertainment

From Smyrna to India and Back: A Learning Experience for All

Smyrna novelist Patricia Sprinkle spent a month last fall in India teaching creative writing to junior high school students.

Patricia Sprinkle, a novelist and long-time resident of Smyrna, took a small crowd of listeners on a journey to India Wednesday night at the .

Sprinkle shared the story of the month she spent in India last fall teaching creative writing to junior high school students.

“My goal for them was that at the end of the class they’d all be better writers,” Sprinkle said. “But my hope was that two or three of them would chose to become writers.''

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Sprinkle taught creative writing to sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth grade students at the School for Dalit Children in southern India, and the students’ stories where compiled in a book entitled, “Sparks.” Almost 30 percent of the 25,000 children in India receiving an English-based education at Dalit Education Centers have parents who are bonded laborers. Learn more about these schools here.

But Sprinkle’s journey wasn’t all work and no play. She crisscrossed the country making stops in Mumbai, Jaipur, New Dehli and Kathmandu. Some of the highlights included a visit to the Taj Mahal, seeing the peaks of the Himalayas and dipping her toes in the Indian Ocean.

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Sprinkle has been fascinated by India since she was a child, and her trip was the fulfillment of her life-long dream to visit the country.

“All my life I had wanted to go to India,” she said. “I don’t know why. Ever since I was a little girl I have wanted to see India, and that really intensified when I met a group of people called Sisters in Service, a group who ministers to women and children.”

Smyrna resident Tiffanie Roberts attended Sprinkle’s lecture. Like Sprinkle, she possesses a love of India and its culture.

“I have a heart for India,” Roberts said. “I’d love to visit, especially the children that are in bondage over there. I’d love to help.”

Sprinkle called her journey to India a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and encouraged everyone to visit.

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