I had the opportunity to teach at a slum school in Jaipur, India. It was an amazing experience. I stayed with a host family and ate vegetarian food. We walked to the school every morning, and taught until about 1:00 p.m. We were able to travel to nearby sites during holidays and weekends.
The school experience was very enlightening, and although we would have appreciated some more information about what learning materials to bring with us, we really enjoyed it. The volunteer experience will only improve as the school program and curriculum better develops. For most of the children, we were involved in the only ‘formal’ education they would receive in their life, and that was quite confronting at times.
If nothing else, my time in India reminded me of the important things in life. As actions speak louder than words, the best review I can give VWI would be to say that we enjoyed our time in India so much that we are looking at going back to India and helping the school further!

I would recommend anyone who is looking for a pleasing, satisfying as well as a real experience of volunteering abroad to go with VWI. The staffs are very warm, friendly and funny and they make feel at home. The project itself was very safe and organized. One is given the opportunity to form strong relationship whilst teaching with the community children and school kids who were all very friendly and eager to learn. The feeling I got when the kids smiled and when they progressed in their learning is an extremely overwhelming and rewarding feeling which is very difficult to describe in words. The time spent with the children will definitely stay in my memories forever. The program also includes sightseeing tour of Pinkcity, Jaipur which include you to visit famous places like Amber Palace, Monkey Palace, Hawa Mahal, City Palace and many more. These trips were enjoyed so much. The Six weeks that I spent in Jaipur with VWI was fun and I did not want to go back home as the time spent so fast. Overall it was a wonderful experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

I had a wonderful time in India doing the teaching Project in Jaipur with VWI for 6 weeks. I met with many people and made a lot of Indian friends, ate a lot of delicious Indian food, and traveled to a lot of beautiful historical places.
I really enjoyed the time I spent at the school center, the time I worked with kids made me understand the meaning of life. I spent about 6 weeks with kids in August- September. The climate is good here in Jaipur as the rain stopped passed away during these months and the entire city which is covered by mountain look pretty by the greenery. In School sometimes kids were very naughty, but sometimes they make me in so much love; they gave me their toys; give their notebook to write my name and they get around me most of the time when I in the classroom. I was so happy and excited with kids every day; they made my heart soft and warm. They don’t know what’s good and bad; they are pure and natural. I hope they grow up happily and healthily.
Eu estava a viver numa família de acolhimento indiana. Um zelador limpava o meu quarto todos os dias. A família de acolhimento preparava-me 3 refeições por dia: pequeno-almoço, almoço e jantar. Todas as refeições que me serviram durante a minha colocação eram deliciosas. Mas, na verdade, não passei muito tempo no apartamento porque passei muito tempo com os meus amigos indianos. Os membros da equipa do VWI convidavam-me para jantar em casa deles. Os seus pais e outros membros da família também foram muito hospitaleiros. Não só provei muitos petiscos locais, como também viajei para muitos sítios bonitos, porque eles me recomendaram muitos sítios bonitos.
Há centenas de deuses na Índia, e os meus amigos contaram-me algumas das suas lendas, como o Deus cobra ou o Deus com cara de elefante. As histórias são tão misteriosas e acho que é muito interessante conhecê-las. Não tive um grande choque cultural na Índia, mas sim alguns hábitos culturais interessantes. Os meus amigos indianos ensinaram-me a usar a mão para jantar; vi vacas a andar livremente na rua e nem mesmo o trânsito intenso as consegue perturbar. Todas as famílias têm as suas próprias crenças e acreditam firmemente nos seus deuses. Tudo está bem na Índia, exceto o trânsito, e eu tinha medo de atravessar a estrada, porque todos os carros, automóveis e motociclos são muito rápidos. Aprendi uma habilidade na Índia: regatear com os condutores de automóveis. Não só tinha de dizer ao homem do automóvel que andasse a metro, como também lhe dizia para ir depressa ou ele escolheria uma distância maior para cobrar mais dinheiro.
De qualquer forma, foi uma experiência inesquecível para mim. Gosto do povo indiano, da cultura indiana e da comida indiana. Recomendo-o sem dúvida aos meus amigos, porque vai proporcionar-lhes uma recordação bonita e inesquecível.