India Study Abroad

Grassroots Community Development

Introduction

Work with local NGO’s in rural areas outside the city of Mumbai. The visiting students work with social workers in the area of health, women’s empowerment, micro-credit, community development, child sponsorship, HIV/AIDS intervention and awareness programs, health education and teaching programs.

Sample organizations include: Children's Future India (CFI) in Pen and Pune, Sandhna Village, Samparc, and Balgram Malvali. These organizations are community based institutions working on the grassroots level for provision of health, education and village development services. Students are given a general orientation to all aspects of organizational work and are placed with a department of their choice.

SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE FOR July, August and September 2010!

See scholarship details. Click here to download application form.

Program Overview

Application Fee	$45.
On Acceptance	$900 for 2 weeks and $200 for each additional week. (for year 2010 only)
How long can I come for?	Minimum 2 weeks, maximum 8 weeks.
Items included?	Pre-departure orientation and support, airport pickup, transport to placement, work support and monitoring, 24 hour emergency support, personal cellular phone.
Items not included?	Daily local transportation. Proper guidance will be provided to participants on how to use local transport systems. Air ticket to Mumbai, India, visa fees and any travel insurance will be the responsibility of the student. Airport drop at the end of the program.
Accommodation	All included. On sharing basis in volunteer guest house
Meals	All meals included. (Vegetarian Indian cuisine)
Donations	The areas are poorly equipped and any donations are welcome. The donations can be of office supplies, medical equipment/medicines/vitamins or teaching/school supplies for children.
Activities	Visit villages and learn about grassroots development, work on data analysis, program evaluation, documentation of field realities and work with local social workers in various departments.
Eligibility	Students interested in International Development. Those studying international development, women’s studies, public health, education, anthropology and other majors are a good fit for this program. Social work students, all students interested in learning about challenges and realities of grassroots development. Must be at least 18 years old.

Program Details

A variety of internship projects are available depending on your interests and the local organizations’ needs. Areas of work include:

Women’s Empowerment
Micro-Credit and Self Help Groups
Income generation projects for rural women
Community and Village Development initiatives
Child Sponsorship
HIV/AIDS intervention and awareness programs
Health Education and teaching programs

Program Development and Evaluation: For those interested in getting work experience on the management side, can work with the staff on grant proposals, monitoring, evaluation and strategic planning and program development.

What do I do on the program?

Students visit the nearby villages with the social workers in their area of interest. They gain valuable field experience working with the staff and then help with program management, strategy, program evaluation and monitoring. The social workers are very skilled at field work but lack good English skills to help them articulate their work and prepare good analysis and reporting documentation.

Students help the social workers with the documentation, office administration and analysis aspect of the work when they are not visiting the field. This way the students get to see ground realities and learn about development programs and give back back to the community and organization.

Even if you are young there are many ways to give back to the community. Past students have helped with data collection and analysis, report writing for foreign donors and project evaluation in addition to working in the field.

Where is the program located?

Locations include Pen, Lonavala, Kamshet, Malvali and Karla. All these are located between Mumbai and Pune which are two major metropolitan areas. The settings are idyllic with hills, valleys, historic sites, Buddhist caves, lakes, dams and popular trekking routes. Most of these areas are conveniently located and well connected with Mumbai, Pune and Goa.

Where in India do I arrive?

*Please book your flight to arrive into Mumbai international airport.

Who can participate?

This program is ideal for students wanting to gain experience in the area of international development.

The placement involves lots of field trips to villages and an opportunity to get involved with and observe a variety of development issues (women’s empowerment to micro credit etc). No prior experience or other training required. Participants must be over 18 years of age easygoing and flexible. They must be committed to working with underserved communities and be able to live in rural areas. Individual or groups of students can apply to the program.

Volunteers must be open minded, willing to take initiative to contribute and learn from their environment and be respectful to their surroundings. The students should be able to adjust to inconveniences caused due to disturbances in power supply and water supply in the remote areas. Students need to respect the local traditions and norms of the community they stay with and be careful not to disturb others in any manner.