Volunteer at an Orphanage, School, or Disabled Home in India

  India

Rural Areas

Durations of Program: 2-4 weeks, 5-8 weeks, 9-12 weeks, 3-6 months and 7-12 months
Typical Duration of Program: 9-12 weeks
Dates: Anytime

Description: KIDS Worldwide fields volunteer enquiries for a many childrens homes and school projects in Tanzania, as well as a special project for disabled children. Each paragraph below describes a different project:

DAYA (Destitute Aged & Young Association) Orphanage is a Christian-based social organization established in 2004 with the purpose of "bringing the fatherhood of God to the fatherless." Currently over 22 children live at the orphanage, receiving a Christ-centered education, food, clothing, and love. It is located in Bhubaneswar, the capital town of Orissa state, in Southeast India. Volunteers are needed to teach children English and creative skills like music, dance, crafts, etc; care for children at the orphanage; organize activities and oversee daily routines and housekeeping at the orphanage.

Uma Nivas Project is located in Katanga Village, Purulia District, West Bengal. The primary school has around 60 boys and girls, 20 of whom are residential, while the high school has around 150 children attending. The orphanage is home to 23 girls aged between 10 and 18. The surrounding area is populated by tribal santhals who, for the most part, live well below the poverty line. The high school provides subsidized, and in some cases, free education to the local children. A school hostel accommodates around 50 girls from further a field who cannot come on a daily basis due to lack of easy transportation. We prefer female volunteers or couples; however we will accept male volunteers who wish to help when we run our one week holiday English camps. You must have a good, moral character and respect the local culture. Volunteers are needed to teach English, math, computer studies, science, history, geography or any other academic or non-academic skills you have, as well as help with homework, organize games and activities, and if you are interested there is lots of gardening and physical work to be done as well. Those with teaching education or experience can train teachers to plan and teach creative lessons.

Shillong Primary School is located in the beautiful hilly town of Shillong, North East India, and is run by Didi Ananda Kalyanbrata, a yogic nun. It has an attached orphanage housing 10 children. The school currently has 120 children, some of whom study free as their parents are unable to pay even minimal fees. All of the children learn meditation and yoga. In India rote learning is the norm and hundreds of bored pupils stream out of our schools every day burdened with books and with hours of homework ahead of them (an effort to compensate for the teaching defects in class time). We would like a volunteer who can help train the teachers how to make lessons more interesting using creative games and activities. If you are a kindergarten or lower primary teacher with a creative mind and the capacity to work wonders on a shoestring budget, we will welcome you with open arms. We would like a second person to teach English to the children and teachers to improve the standard. In India the children only learn to read and write English but never learn to talk it! We want to remedy this.

Mother Theresa Society for the Handicapped is a small voluntary organization providing care and rehabilitation for rural poor children who are differently abled since 1998. It is located in Udumalpet, a rural part of Tamil Nadu state in India. There are currently 65 children in our care, most between 3 and 18 years old. We aim to enable them to lead a meaningful life through the use of systematic methods provided by our dedicated team of caregivers. 22 of the children live with us in full-time residential care. These children come from remote villages that often have little access to regular transportation but also often are embarrassed about these children due to social stigma. The project's director is Rexraj Lucas, who is a qualified special educator in Mental Retardation who is following his father's footsteps in his choice of work. At admission, each child is assessed for functional ability and given a personal training program. The training areas include motor development, daily activities, communication, social interaction, functional academics, and pre-vocational skills. In the last few years, the number of children benefiting has increased, and so has the number of children integrated into 'regular' schools. We are looking for volunteers with experience and education in developmental and other disabilities, as well as occupational therapists, neuro developmental therapists, and physiotherapists. Volunteers will help to train the staff, assess children, find funding agencies, and write proposals for funding.

Aradhana Boys Home is located in a very remote village called Tumkur. There are around 70 children in our care. Aradhana means worshiping the Lord through our actions. Our focus is to offer spiritual life, education and health to our beneficiaries.   Our future plans include building a school, a laboratory and a Balwadi (a school for children of migrant laborers and HIV infected parents). The children's home that we have is only for boys and there are 17 girls waiting to be taken into another home. We need talented volunteers or couples / family who would like to come spend time with marginalized women and children. The volunteer should have a love for children and good character through which to act as a role example. Volunteer activities include: teaching academic and life skills to the children; conducting medical and immunization clinics, awareness programs, screening programs, and vocational training classes; and fundraising.

Qualifications: We are looking for moral, kindhearted, and caring people with experience working with and/or caring for children.

Cost in US$: Please inquire. Many projects: 1st month $300 US, and subsequent months $175

Experience Required: no

Typical Volunteer: KIDS Volunteers are caring people who love working with children. They are self-motivated people willing to give their time and hearts to others in order to contribute to creating positive change in their lives.

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants. This Program is also open to Couples and Individuals

Participants Travel to India Independently or in Groups

Typically Participants Work Independently or in Groups

Application Process Involves:

• Written Application

Post-Program Services Include:

• Alumni Network

KIDS Worldwide's Mission Statement: Kids Worldwide seeks to improve the quality of life for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. We provide nurturing care and educational programmes based upon the universal concepts of Neo-Humanism, which are tailored to the needs of the children in our projects. We run orphanages as well as provide services to already established orphanages and childrens' projects (such as struggling primary schools and kindergartens) through our volunteer outreach programs. Our volunteer programs are notable in that we only request a small donation for food and accommodation that is paid directly to the project itself when the volunteer arrives.

Year Founded: 2003