I and my daughter spent 3 weeks volunteering for The Working with Children Project, set up through the Volunteering with India (VWI) Organization. Overall the experience was amazing and worthwhile, highly recommended for those interested in travel, the culture of India and making a difference.
When volunteering for The Working with Children Project, the volunteer’s main objectives are teaching English and Mathematics, although the work day also includes a dance time prior to lunch and arts and crafts/ life skills project in the afternoon. We were lucky to be with the two of us and found it useful to divide the boys and sometimes some girls into different groups in which we were able to adjust our teaching to better suit their needs.

We started our days with English, everyday repeating days of the week, We worked with basic attributes as the alphabet, marks, colors, months, seasons, fruit, vegetables, parts of the body, the parts of the house etc. We connected these topics with the other subjects, which included drawing and coloring fruit and vegetables, the parts of the body and house with the different types of rooms. I brought along with me balloons and we played a game with one balloon. I brought also some skipping-ropes with me, it was nice to see how they made their best efforts to jump. We all really enjoyed this and we had fun together!
Teaching can be cumbersome due to the wide variety of students, i.e. given their age and the various degrees of education. One suggestion, when possible, is to place the children into different groups depending on education level and creating lessons for each level. Another suggestion might be to bring materials from home if available or wanted, for example glue sticks, scissors, pencils, since classroom materials are limited. The children had only a pencil and a notebook. For the teacher there was a blackboard.
Most of all we tried to be there for the children- tried to make them smile and laugh – praising their work and effort, trying to help and encourage them to take a step “small” forward. We really enjoyed it and had fun together and we could share love.
The VWI organization was fabulous. They helped us to do volunteer works as easy as possible by arranging the transport to the school and back to the family of the guesthouse. The trips in the weekend were also organized perfectly by Sukret arrange. Totram was a fantastic driver in the busy traffic of Jaipur. After a couple of days I travelled relaxed in the tuc-tuc. He also knew the best place to drink Chai after the work in the school. Govind was very kind and helped me very good to translate my English in Hindi. They all were personable and friendly. It felt like a big family, especially when my daughter was ill and must go to the hospital. They helped me as much as possible. After a laborious start with the family later we have a good contact. So we could share life’s and we had real personal contact and the contact with the local people were really appreciated, Thank you Sukret, Govind, Totram, the family and last but not least the children of the school, Thank you very much for this great lovely experiences in your colorful exciting country. I take all of you with me in my heart. Now I walk in the garden of the good memories.

Faço voluntariado como professora numa casa de abrigo local que é um orfanato temporário para rapazes indianos que vêm diretamente da rua, do trabalho infantil, etc. Foi fantástico ter tido a oportunidade de ajudar aqueles rapazes. Todas as aulas de inglês e matemática são muito básicas, mas tenho a certeza de que os rapazes aprenderam muito com elas. O foco estava no trabalho escolar, mas havia muito tempo para se divertirem com jogos, danças e desportos no jardim. No geral, foi uma experiência fantástica. O serviço de recolha foi muito bom. O meu alojamento era muito bom. O quarto era grande e limpo. As refeições eram sempre deliciosas. Todos os membros da família de acolhimento eram pessoas muito simpáticas. O serviço de transporte de e para o projeto era satisfatório todos os dias. Os funcionários do projeto da VWI são muito bons. Decidi fazer voluntariado na VWI porque fiz alguma pesquisa na Internet. A VWI tem bons comentários no sítio goverseas.com e, além disso, o preço é razoável. Gostaria de dar 10 em 9 à VWI pela minha experiência geral e satisfação. Diverti-me muito em Jaipur. Claro que o trabalho é exigente, mas valeu totalmente a pena. Espero voltar no futuro.

O serviço de recolha à chegada correu muito bem. O alojamento era bom, quarto simples mas agradável. A comida era muito boa, gostei muito dos chapattis. O serviço de transporte foi muito bom. É sem dúvida uma experiência andar de tuk-tuk pelas ruas de Jaipur, mas dá para ver muita coisa. O motorista era muito simpático e, na maior parte das vezes, pontual. Os funcionários do projeto foram muito simpáticos e prestáveis. Decidi fazer voluntariado com a VWI porque li sobre o programa e queria fazer voluntariado. Vi a oportunidade de o fazer, por isso decidi fazê-lo. Também gostei do facto de termos ficado em casa de uma família indiana, o que me ajudou a conhecer ainda melhor a cultura, pois também sou professora e adoro trabalhar com crianças. Gostaria de dar 10 em 9 à VWI pela minha experiência e satisfação geral. As crianças tornam o programa divertido. Gostei do tempo que passei com elas.

I heard about VWI & their projects from an old school friend and I always wanted to visit India and learn more from their culture. I volunteered before with kids and I wanted to give more of my time to children in need. Especially to these kids in orphanage that have been through a lot of hard things. The project staff members, accommodation, food & family was very nice and helpful all the time. If you are looking forward to spend your time getting to know new culture and helping to give children an education this program is the best decision. I spend unforgettable time here and I am sad to leave all the kids here. I hope I will be able to come back Soon!