Is international volunteering right for you? This document will give you a brief outline about volunteering in India next summer. Please read this information carefully and also read the FAQ’s on the website. If you have any other questions please email . If you decide to apply please download the application form on our website leedsbeckett.ac.uk/volunteering or apply on My Hub.
IndiaAhmednagar project information
Join a really exciting volunteer opportunity that Leeds Beckett has been running for a number of years.12 Volunteers are needed to support social work charity, ‘Snehalaya’, meaning ‘home of love’ who deliver programmes to support children and their families into a better future. Living on campus where a cluster of core projects are located, volunteers will be at the forefront, working with the children from the primary school (mix of private, Snehalaya resident and slum based children), the long term care children (there are 300 of them!) and staff at the organisations’ Head Office. Mingling with the management team and working alongside national Indian volunteers you will really experience the busy hub of our well-respectedcharity partner.
After project work, volunteers have an opportunity to take a Golden Triangle tour of Agra, Jaipur and Delhi; visiting the world famous Taj Mahal and other places of interest. Three weeks project work and one week free time.Project dates: 30 July - 29 August 2016
About the organisations and the volunteer work
Snehalaya is a non-government organisation established in the 1980’s and with a UK office since 2014. Addressing fundamental humanitarian issues and serving up to 15,000 beneficiaries a year, Snehalaya seeks to provide positive and supportive care for India’s hidden population working with sex workers, their children and the many abandoned infants in the area whilst tackling the root causes through outreach programs and campaigning.
Snehalaya recruit volunteersfrom all backgrounds with a variety of transferable skills and tailor each year’s program to suit the individual and combined skills of the group of volunteers in line with the tasks the charity defines as most needed at the time of the trip.
Snehalaya further info website/fb/twitter/video/donate
Areas of Volunteering
1) Supporting Projects in The Field on a needs basis to support Snehalaya’s many staff members and full time volunteers. This can be in the educational programmes at the on-site English school and at the day-care and after-school centres operating in 6 of our districts biggest slums - including implementing the new Toybank initiative being funded by Leeds Beckett India Volunteers. The farm project is also a great way to lend a hand and be super helpful. Sunhats advised!
2) In Depth Small Group & Individual Study based on your areas of interest and skills we set charity defined tasks to support the organisational performance. The personal and group study subjects are real needed tasks where your analytical and academic training will come in handy. These will culminate in a report (and possibly a presentation) and willserve to strengthen future volunteering programmes while also improving the feedback loop for the organisations performance, and help with measuring their impact.
3) Supporting the Staff and VolunteersThe level of staff training and computer literacy varies at Snehalaya and support in English conversational practise for staff is always valuable and a great way to get to know the people who make up the organisation. Often finding Snehalaya as a beneficiary first, many of our staff know first hand the challenges their clients face. Giving Snehalaya’s members exposure to basic social media training and methodology behind what makes a good story or how to take photographs that will get attention on social media can seem obvious to us tech spolit types but are really useful skills for the fundraising department. Some help in editing the newsletter and the monthly project reports are always useful too and a great insight into all the service on offer.
Volunteers may be working on any or all of the project mentioned with overall co-ordination being directed from your team leader and staff at Snehalaya.
We are looking for applications from students in all subjects. Volunteers with a personal interest or experience in the following areas would be beneficial:
- International Development
- Business Studies & Organisational Development
- Economics & Social enterprise
- Computing Studies
- Marketing, PR, Journalism
- Social Media, Content Marketing, Blogging, Online Marketing
- Film Making
- Project Management
- Human Geography
- Politics & Social Sciences
- Youth Work & Community Development
- Early Years Education
- Sports and Organised Games
- Psychology
- Counselling & Therapeutic Studies
- Play Work
Pre-departure activities and commitments
There’s quite a lot for volunteers to do before departure. If you are interested in applying you must make sure that you will have enough time to prepare for the project in between your studies and your work. After the team has been recruited, there will be a compulsory team briefing and you will need to do fundraising some of which will be as a group and some you will probably do on your own. There will be other compulsory meetings to help you get prepared for the experience and talks about essential health information and environmental issues. Although it’s not spread evenly, we’d recommend allowing an average of 2 hours a month from when you find out you get a place to departure.
Don’t forget that the preparation for the trip will add to your personal development!
Below is a list of key dates. Dates for the sessions that are not listed below will be sent out to the team or agreed in the first team meeting:
12 October 2015 / Application forms available from website9 November 2015 / Application deadline
18 November 2015 / Volunteer selection event
17:00-19:30 City Campus
20 November 2015 / Find out if you have got a place
4 December 2015 / All paper work to be completed and returned
Deposit due
11th December 2015 / Team briefing
17:00-19:30 City Campus
February 2016 / Second payment due
Feb – April 2016 / Team meetings (1-2 hours)
social
Fundraising
Visa session
May 2016 / Third and final payment due
June 2016 / Donations and fundraising money to be paid in
July 2016 (approx) / Group departs
August 2016 (approx) / Group returns
Autumn 2016 / Team debrief and reunion
About the trip
Project Dates: 30 July – 29 August 2016 (approx.)
Travel - the team will meet up at the University and travel together by minibus to the airport. The flights haven’t yet been finalised but volunteers will travel together and be collected by the in-country coordinator and taken to meet their hosts and community members.
Support for volunteers – You will be supported by Team Leader, a member of Leeds Beckett staff who will be facilitating the project work and looking after the volunteer group.
Accommodation –is basic but clean, you will be sharing a room with other volunteers. The rooms are en-suite with a shower and western-style toilets. Although there is access to running water (although this will often be cold) at most times during the day, the area does suffer from water and electricity shortages and there will frequently be power cuts and periods with no running water.
Food – most of meals will be taken on site and prepared in by a dedicated cook in a separate kitchen for the volunteers. Past volunteers have had mixed responses to the food – some loved it where as others found it quite spicy, you will need to have a certain amount of tolerance for spice as there are few alternatives available. Either way, it will be freshly prepared, plentiful, and vegetarian and you can expect to have curry for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Halal diets can be catered for.
Average volunteering day – daily tasks and working hours will vary depending on the needs of the charity at the time. We will tailor the skills of applicants to the tasks needed. The role description is a rough guide and we welcome volunteers who will be comfortable with change and adapting work to what is required by thehost charity.
Health: stomach upsets will be common partially due to the rich food, heat and also perhaps because of the water. Even though bottled water will be provided, is likely that everyone will have an upset stomach to varying degree at some point during the trip so it might be wise to take Imodium or something similar. Other precautions, especially if you are prone to stomach upsets are to avoid ice in drinks and to be extra hygienic (e.g. washing your hands often, not sharing water bottles, brushing teeth with bottled water). Another important health consideration is the weather which is expected to be warm over Christmas: 25-30ºC. There is no air conditioning whilst at Sneyhalaya so keeping cool and hydrated is crucial. Full advice will be given nearer the time.
Dress and other cultural sensitivities: it is important to be culturally aware during your time in India and especially when working with any of the projects as they are working hard to raise the children with certain attitudes and values. Dressing appropriately is a very large part of this. Opinions on appropriate clothes are very different in different countries and it is extremely important to respect the wishes of the host organisation which can be difficult when the weather is warm. To give you an example, for women, hemlines must be below the knee and tops must be loose and cover the shoulders and if possible the elbows too. Men should aim for the ‘smart/casual’ look with long shorts or preferably trousers and smart t-shirts or short sleeved shirts. Prospective volunteers must not underestimate the importance of this. If you are in any doubt that you cannot comply with the dress code then please do not apply. Full guidelines will be given near the time and it may actually be easier to purchase some outfits when you arrive.
There are also cultural sensitivities surrounding alcohol, there will be no access to alcohol whilst you are at Snehalaya and smoking is frowned upon so smokers must be discreet.
It is very important to Snehalaya and Sanjay Nagar that volunteers make a good impression on the families and especially the children they work with and there may be other cultural issues that volunteers will find surprising but don’t worry, this will all be covered in the pre-departure programme.
Cultural activities and free time: four weeks in India will give you a fantastic introduction to Indian culture and community volunteering; you’ll be able to spend time with local community groups and will gain practical (and fun!) experience. We’re sure that you’d like to explore a bit, so some free time has been worked into the programme to do sightseeing to local attractions and further afield. Various cultural activities will be worked into the itinerary like early morning yoga and talks on various subjects.
The costs
The overall cost for each volunteer is about £1200. For first time international volunteer participants Leeds Beckett pay £200 of your costs and the overall fee is reduced to £1000.
What’s included:
- Minibus transport to UK airport
- Return flights to India
- Visas
- Local transport in India for project work
- Meals during project work
- Travel insurance if you are eligible (see section below)
- 24 hour support from Leeds Beckett volunteering office
- Volunteer handbook
- Branded Hoodie & t-shirts
What isn’t included:
- Personal spending money
- Free week travel time
- Vaccinations – see NHS advice for travel to India
The costs and payment deadlines are as follows:
Fees Payment deadlines
Category / Total Cost (£)First time international volunteer cost / 1000
Returning volunteers / 1200
4 December 2015 / Deposit due £150
February 2016 / Second payment
May 2016 / Third payment
Where your money goes: the largest percentage of your costs is for the long haul flights, accommodation and in-country transport, due to rising fuel and taxes. Money is transferred directly to the charitable organisations that you will be working with, and they do not make any profit from the monies that they receive. You do not pay any Leeds Beckett staff costs as part of your fee. The Team Leader gives their time for free, taking annual leave, and in return get their travel expenses paid by the University.
Fundraising
Fundraising for the organisations that you will be working with is a requirement to being accepted on the trip. As well as providing much needed funds forthe organisations we think it’ll be a great way for you to get to know your team. Lots of our previous volunteers have had great success fundraising and some have continued raising money after they got back (after being so inspired by the work of the organisation). We’ll help you with your fundraising and encourage you to work as a group. Previous examples include cake sales, sponsored walks and even approaching companies for donations. Don’t forget, volunteering and fundraising look wonderful on your CV!
Minimum fundraising target: £150
How to apply
You can download an application form from our website or if you have trouble downloading the documents you can request them from Susan Robinson. Read the FAQs on our website and return completed forms to .
Contact
For more information about this opportunity please contact Susan Robinson in the Volunteering team. Email:
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