Program Location: Rajasthan - a museum of Indian culture.

For over centuries, Rajasthan has remained untouched by influence of time as 80 percent of this destination is apt for tourists. Medieval charms of forests and gentle winds from distant sand dunes whisper tales from times immemorial. Rajasthan is magical in true sense as it offers something for everyone - climatic conditions, wildlife, temples, trekking routes, camel rides, dancing peacocks and of course the simple yet happy people accompanied with their rich culture.

With such a diversified hue of this tourism paradise, a sense of anxiousness is bound to creep in. Merely visiting tourist spots cannot cater to the appetite of a true traveller. As a volunteer, Volunteering India offers you an opportunity to experience and explore this vast and vivid culture.

About The Program:

This program is customized to make you experience those exciting and beautiful things you will never encounter in life. Volunteers from across the globe will join in offering you with a broad spectrum of friendly relations to build on.

The itinerary starts from New Delhi where you will get time to relax overnight after our representative picks you up.

Next morning we will start for Jaipur, the capital city of Rajasthan, known for its extraordinary architecture. It is also called the ‘Pink City’ which is associated with hospitality in Rajasthani culture. Here, you will stay with local families who naturally give you a warm welcome creating a sense of instantaneous intimacy.

You will need to participate in a four day orientation session, organized by a local NGO which will help you understand the much neglected rural lifestyle and the various social issues. Besides this, you will get time to visit the regular tourist spots as well.

At the end of the four days, you will move to the rural areas in Jaipur and Alwar districts to work as a volunteer, which mainly involves teaching English or Mathematics. The goal of your work is to make learning a joyful experience for the children, so you may need to ignite their imagination and creativity by participating in fun activities. You will also need to propagate the importance of education to the children’s families by means of interaction. The moments you spend and the service you provide will surely bring in a great deal of inner satisfaction.

You will also work on Community Development activities like tree plantation in schools and villages, conducting health check-up camps, etc depending upon the needs of local NGO partners. Spending time away from your daily chores will leave you with a lifetime memory of perfect tranquillity and splendour.

Volunteer Opportunities:

The volunteer opportunities are currently available in the following areas:

· Teaching English In India;
· Caring for Orphans;
· Environmental Awareness;
· First Aid & Health Education;
· Community Development;
· Home Stay / Cultural Exchange;
· Women Empowerment;
· Street Children Project;
· Mentally Challenged Children.

Teaching English In India:

PROJECT SUMMARY

Imparting Education for noble cause

As many of our associated schools are constantly understaffed and require personnel, we place volunteers in schools – Community, Public or Slum, wherein they can work by themselves or alongside existing teachers/volunteers. Typical subjects taught include- English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Art and Physical Education.

Indian schools are generally open all year round so volunteering opportunities are readily available. However, the schools are closed during the month of May-June on account of summer vacations and also during October for 15 days on account of major festivals. During these periods, our efficient program staffs arrange initiatives for teaching street/orphan/slum/poor children or even tutorials at local schools.

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Caring for Orphans:

The NGOs or state run orphanages in India are full to the brim with children. They are dogged with problems like limited staff, resources and facilities; they are struggling to provide care, love and support to orphaned children. As they are immensely understaffed, they understandably can barely manage the day to day issues. This has lead to very few learning through enrichment or extra-curricular activities.

Volunteering India has been trying to bridge the gaps in the development of these children. We have not done this all on our own but with the tremendous help of our domestic and international volunteers. The help has been in form of improving the existing facilities in the infrastructure, assisting the staff, teaching the children, helping with the general running and administration of the orphanage. Volunteers have also helped in the areas of refurbishing existing buildings, improving facilities, teaching Basic English, drawing, drama, conducting games etc.

At these orphanages the children adore you and greet you with the broadest of smiles. They love to touch you as they think 'Are you for real?' The children are here due to their circumstances. The reasons could be abject poverty, disability or homelessness.

Through Volunteering India Caring for orphans program you can make a lasting difference in these young lives. You can care for children in many ways. Often no special skills are required, as volunteers are needed to spend time playing, reading, exercising and share time with the children. Your 'time' is what the children want. Like all the children they want attention. They want role models for them to look up to and aspire to be. Many of our host organizations are short-staffed and the volunteers' attention gives the children the extra love they need.

The need is expansive and long-term, so your opportunity to make a significant difference through service is likewise immeasurable. You can help expand, maintain residential training and daycare facilities and help host staff conduct recreational activities, teach classes and also serve meals.

If you have first-hand experience working with children with disabilities, professionally or personally your expertise can be useful in this effort of Volunteering India. You can also provide direct services to deaf or mentally challenged children.

No matter what your age (above 18), background, gender or ability, you can be a valuable resource to demonstrate the universal language of love, compassion and make a difference to the childrens' lives!

Come join us for Caring of orphans programme! Together we can and together we will!

Environmental Awareness:

This is the best choice for those who is enthusiastic and have a passion to change things for better. This program offers a good opportunity to put to use various skills of volunteers for the common good of the rural people. At the same time you would expose to and have a chance to learn several interesting new things. A basic understanding of recycling, environmental issues, health care and first aid would help you to contribute well. Volunteers stay and work in a rural village. They generally join an existing project. Interested may possibly conduct a survey into health and environmental scenario of the village and create a project to suit the needs of the area. Recently completed projects include planting and sampling, bee-keeping, organic farming, compost bins, communal toilet, health seminars and distribution of jute shopping bags to cut down plastic waste. Future projects include energy efficiency, waste management, nutrition and agricultural improvements. Volunteers, when required, would have access to Indian interpreters and assist them. The main aims of the program are to encourage the rural population to pursue an eco-friendly life style and to make them learn good things from western civilization. You will need to be able to work in a team. The program is currently in operation in a few villages of Jaipur, Dause and Alwar districts of Rajasthan and we are actively recruiting volunteers to expand this program.

First Aid & Health Care:

India is a large, densely populated country with a majority of citizens living below the poverty level and without access to the basic necessities of life. Primary health care is one area sorely lacking among impoverished Indians.

High-quality health care is not the basic right of every citizen in India. The large gap between the rich and the poor makes it difficult for the under-privileged people to get the quality health care they deserve and need.

India has excellent private health care facilities. Unfortunately, they provide stellar health services only to rich Indians and medical tourists. Poor Indians, who are often the sickest, receive very low-quality public-funded health care or no care at all.

If you are a nurse/ student nurse, doctor/student doctor, or social worker/ student social worker, you can help improve someone’s life. Volunteering India is always seeking skilled and dedicated health workers who are interested in working with underprivileged people in India, especially individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Volunteer health care workers do not provide direct patient care. They assist local health workers by educating underprivileged communities about sanitation, hygiene and nutrition. Health volunteers can work in hospitals, small clinics, old age homes, orphanages, and shelters. By working with us you can make a difference and you'll see what difference it has made in the life of others. Come join us! We need you!

Community Development:

The point of volunteering without borders is foremost to serve, and thereby, to learn, experience and cherish first-hand about the host community and its culture. One might see it as an alternative to regular vacation but it comes along with an opportunity to apply skills and interests in a setting that is unconventional which eventually will benefit the community that you have chosen to put your efforts into.

Volunteering India has been actively involved in various community development programs mainly in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and expanding to other parts of India. These programs aim at meaningful volunteering projects for the general public, university and college groups, medical schools and businesses in association with local grass roots organizations, Children's home, schools, and local communities.

In each effort that you make, the benefits are flowing down to the under privileged, poor and to communities almost immediately. These efforts help makes a big difference where it matters most at the level of the people.

The utmost concern for you and the host organizations is that of cultural sensitivity. Some volunteers find it the most difficult aspect of their volunteering experience. There will be aspects of the local culture that amaze and puzzle your sense of logic or test or sometime even challenge your sense of justice. However, remember you are the visitor and here for a short time. No lone volunteer can change age old and heartfelt traditional practices or culture. You must ponder again and determine if you are flexible enough to respect the local culture.

Volunteering in the community demands requires a unique combination of flexibility and patience, those who are self-starters, and people who genuinely respect the host community and their culture. A volunteer is a humble learner and proficient enough to share the good values of his side of the world. You are not here to save the people. The basic premise of the being a volunteer is to come and share your energy and time with the people, contribute positively, to experience the host's culture first hand and to grow themselves.

Home Stay / Cultural Exchange:

This program provides a wonderful opportunity for volunteers to learn several interesting things about Indian culture, lifestyle and language and also forms a good interaction with the people here. Home Stay/Cultural Exchange programs are arranged in most parts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, and Himachal Pradesh. The duration of Home stay / cultural exchange would be for two weeks or one month. During this period the volunteers stay with a rural Indian family participate in their festivals and cultural activities.

In a typical placement volunteers stay in a family where they get Indian/local cuisine twice a day (around 9 O' clock in the morning and 7 O' clock in the evening). Tea is served in the morning and in the afternoon. Volunteers will have the opportunity to get together with other volunteers and share their experience. You will be able to travel to nearby towns for shopping and could travel to other areas on longer vacation. Besides your project work, volunteers can utilize their spare time in organizing the youth and women's groups of the community to do some worthwhile activities like building a smokeless stove, building a toilet by using local materials, making a soak pit, kitchen gardening, making a solar dryer, garbage management or paper recycling.

This program offers an excellent choice to lead life according to local traditions and culture in every possible way. This is a suitable pick for those who got bored with monotonous lifestyle. Each day you would wake up with no idea of what would be going to happen next. This is also a suitable option for those who want to form friends from different cultures.

Women Empowerment Project

Volunteering India has joined forces with local partners that work for the marginalized and women in very vulnerable situations. Now we offer placements to volunteers. The women in India are behind the men in social, economic and cultural milieu. The rural women are deprived of their basic human rights and are considered as lowly person. They come last in the structure of the family.

Violence on women is considered the one thing as she is a women and as to be kept under control of men.Their education, development and empowerment is not a concern for the society as women’s real place is under the men.

Your inputs as a Volunteer:

Once you volunteer, you will be a part of the team that is working for the empowerment of these women. The project will enable you a load of opportunities to improve their skills, empower their knowledge and let them know their rights as a human.

You can diversify your work like education, health, training, drug addiction, and abolition of women exploitation, women development, women clubs and so on.

You would share your knowledge, experience, support and inspiration, they will enhance new vision, optimism and enthusiasm in life thereby making their future more capable, successful and prosperous.

As a volunteer you could contribute to women rights organization to arrange and deliver women support training, social evaluation of the women’s situation, recommend necessary provisions for the establishment of equality between sexes or to empower the women in general.

Project Skills Required:

As a volunteer in this very soft field you need to be very motivated, compassionate and wiling. If you have functional knowledge about human
rights, women empowerment, gender issues it will be great advantage to the organization and the women that you are going to be involved with.

Street Children Education Project

To walk through Indian cities it is not uncommon to view communities living in makeshift tents, building their lives with only the very basic amenities. Due to lacking of education, families of this type are illiterate and have no knowledge on matters that are simply common facts in many other areas of the world; such as birth control. The average family in this condition would house between 4-6 children. These children have come to be known as ‘Street Children’.

School is an unaffordable luxury for ‘Street Children’ whom instead work from dawn to dusk, collecting garbage, iron pieces and making small toys from general waste in order to fund their families income, although it is rarely enough to subsidize the basic needs of a family and consequently they live well below the poverty line. Many further issues are spawned due to lack of education such as the basic understanding of nutrition, health and cleanliness leading to families living in very dirty, unhygienic conditions.


The aim of our Street Children Project is to generally improve standards of their living. In doing so, we provide support to uplift morale as well as teachings in nutrition, health and hygiene. The scheme also acts as a motive to admit these children to Government School which ultimately leads to a basic education and then with guidance, to further education. The schemes teachings are always conducted in an assuring, friendly environment aimed to build self esteem and gear children towards the knowing of a more positive lifestyle.

The parents of children in this program are also given guidance and help, so that they are always motivated to get their children into schooling and ensure there is a full system of support.

International volunteers are a primary key of success throughout the full cycle of this project; attracting ‘Street Children’ into the scheme right through to overseeing admittance to further education.

Program Location:

The locations of the program vary depending on a number of issues. Placements are determined upon arrival with considerations of availability and safety of volunteers. Most of the placements are located in rural as well as urban areas of Rajasthan.

Eligibility to participate in programs:

To participate in volunteer programs conducted by volunteering India one should -

· Be 18 years or above;
· Have no major health problems.

Training:

Training takes place during the first 10 days of the volunteers' arrival in India. It will be divided into two phases, four days for the first phase and six days for the second phase. For very short-term volunteers, training will take place over a few days.

Phase One - The first four days will be spent with other volunteers in a hostel/home stay in Jaipur. During this week volunteers will be provided with six hours of training per day. The training will include:

· Basic Hindi language classes - 2 hrs, morning.
· Rajasthani cultural orientation / general cultural exchange - 1 hr, afternoon.
· Language and Skills Activities - 1hr, afternoon.
· Sightseeing - 1 1/2 hrs, afternoon.

Phase Two - The second week is an orientation into Indian village life to prepare volunteers for the period of their village placement. The volunteer group will move to a local village where they will be divided into pairs. While continuing their Hindi language classes, volunteers will live with a local family, eating traditional Indian / local cuisine, observing the village culture and getting a closer perspective of the rural lifestyle. During this time volunteers will practice teaching in the school and prepare for their community placement.

Volunteers can opt for a break upon completion of this training. During this break volunteers are encouraged to enjoy Jaipur's natural beauty by visiting forts, palaces, lakes, parks etc. There are no strict rules in volunteer program as far as the breaks are concerned. All volunteers have freedom to take time away from their placement at any stage and necessary arrangements will be made in this regard.

When volunteers return from their break they will be sent in pairs to their placement.

Program Schedule:

The volunteer program starts on the 1st of every month. You can choose to be a volunteer in any area with varied durations ranging from 2 weeks to 6 months. The English teaching program is limited during the months of May and June as local schools would have summer vacation during that period.

Major Indian festivals take place during the period from September to November. The exact dates of festivals are decided by lunar calendar. To see calendar of events click here. This would interrupt your program. We wouldn't recommend to initialize your placement during this time of the year if you opt to volunteer for a month or less. On the other hand, this period provides a once-a-lifetime opportunity to closely interact with the local culture for those who choose to volunteer for longer period of time.

Program Charges:

To see the charges in your currency, we recommend you to click here.

The costs of the Program are as follows:

Volunteering India - Application Fee: US $150.00. The application fee covers administration, marketing, program information, communication and direct support to our partners in India. Click here to apply for the program.

Program Fee: (All costs are in US Dollars)
 

The program fee includes :

> Administrative charges;
> Training fees;
> Charges for accommodation;
> Meals during Training and Placement;
> Transportation of volunteers and
> Expenditure for supervision.

The other expenditure you would be required to meet are:

> Your flight charges,

> Visa (a 65 day tourist visa is US $ 30 only. The extensions are charged at US $ 30 per 30 days. The maximum number of renewals is three).
 
> For still/video photography at museums, travel insurance, police check and corresponding airport departure taxes.

> You may need a weekly budget of up to US $ 20 to support your general expenditure like bottled water, personal items, beverages and entertainment.

Village life in India is relatively inexpensive in comparison to cost of living in western countries and you can hardly spend US $ 10 per week during your placement.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Here are given answers for several questions that volunteers generally have. Click here to get answers for a list of Frequently Asked Questions.

Application procedure:

The application and the further procedure would go through the following stages.

1. Application: Fill up the Application Form below. Upon receipt of the form we will assess your suitability for the program.

2. Acceptance: Applicants whose applications are accepted would receive a letter of acceptance via e-mail.

3. Decision: Once you receive the letter of acceptance, this is the time to apply along with your Biodata/CV and application fee to secure your place in the program. Before you pay the fee, you can put forward any questions, doubts or clarifications that you may have. We would give proper explanation for all your queries. It should be noted that your application fee will be refunded after deducting administrator charges, if you decide not to attend the program.

4. Confirmation: Once the application fee is paid, we will contact you to ensure everything is organized. We will also send you the URL of our program guide which covers topics such as: country information, travel links, visa application process, fund raising ideas and much more!

5. Communication & Support: Throughout the application process, we are committed to clarify any of your qualms. We will be in continuous contact with you via e-mail even during your placement/program in India. We will take every possible care to see everything going on smoothly and properly.

Click here to apply for this program.

For more details Contact:

VINOD MEENA

Project Coordinator,
Volunteering India,
A-26 (C-1), Bhartiya Path,
Kanti Chandra Road,
Bani Park, Jaipur-302001
I N D I A

Tel: +91 1412355187
Mobile: +91 9829013534
E-mail: info@volunteeringinindia.org
URL : www.volunteeringinindia.org
 

Australia Office:

Mr. Tom Hambour
5/29 Edmund Street,
Norwood,
Adelaide-5067,
South Australia,
Australia

Mobile: 0423-256-455
E-mail: tomhambour@hotmail.com

Singapore Office:

Ms. Priyanka Sharma
10 West Coast Crescent,
Tower 3B Unit 06-08,
West Cove Condo, S128041
Singapore

Phone No: 0065 6400 3916
Mobile: 0065 9389 1393
E-mail: priyankamarnath@gmail.com, priyankamarnath@yahoo.com.sg