YFS Projects of 2013

Yuva for Sewa Projects 2013

Health

1. Project Title: Doctors at School -  Engaging Medical Doctors at Local Schools 

  • ​Location: Andra Pradesh
  • Partner NGO: Youth for Seva (www.youthforseva.org)
  • Laguage Requirement: English (basic knowledge of Hindi/Telugu preferred but not mandatory)
  • Background: Youth for Seva (YFS) was established in 2009 and has been involved in connecting youth interested in community service to various grass root NGO’s . The YFS team of volunteers now supports various projects in Hydrebad.  Projects range from areas in education, health, environment and various rural sectors. Doctors for Seva is a new initiative from the YFS team. The attempt is to create a data base of doctors interested in community service, utilize their services at local schools, slums and orphanages to create general awareness of health and hygiene, provide free medical check ups and generate awareness and preventive campaigns for various major illnesses. 
  • Project Description: Volunteers will be involved in working with the local YFS team to conduct the following activties: (1) Creating a data base of doctors interested in volunteering for “Doctors for Seva” – through communication of the YFS objectives (2) Documenting and creating a calendar of activities for effective utilization of doctors registered with YFS at local schools, slums and orphanages. Volunteers require good communication skills to meet the doctors and present ideas. The volunteer must be willing to work in slums and with the schools and orphanages in collection of data and understanding the ground realities concerning health and hygiene in these locations. http://youthforseva.org/news/yfs-hyderabad-health-team-report-november/
  • Living Arrangements: Volunteers will be staying with host family for the first one week and later at a hostel or paying guest accommodation.
  • Please answer the following questions in your application: (1) Have you worked/volunteered in the healthcare sector? Elaborate your previous experience (2) What challenges do you foresee in the above project and how do you plan to deal with them (200 words) 

2. Project Title: Doctors for Seva -  Engaging Medical Doctors for Seva 

  • ​Location: Banglore, Karnataka
  • Partner NGO: Youth for Seva (www.youthforseva.org)
  • Laguage Requirement: English (knowledge of spoken Kannada helpful but not mandatory)
  • Background: Youth for Seva (YFS) was established in 2007 and has been involved in connecting youth interested in community service to various grass root NGO’s . Volunteers registered with YFS have been involved in providing support for children in slums and government schools for spoken English, computer education and coaching in math and science. Volunteers also provide support to hospitals, orphanages and old age homes. The YFS team of volunteers now support close to over ninety projects in and around Bangalore. Doctors for seva is a new initiative from the YFS team. The attempt is to create a database of doctors interested in community service. Utilize their services for creation of general awareness of health and hygiene, free medical check ups, awareness and preventive campaigns for major illnesses such as TB, AIDS etc. . 
  • Project Description: Volunteers will be involved in working with the local YFS team to conduct the following activties: (1) Creating a data base of doctors interested in volunteering for “Doctors for Seva” – through communication of the YFS objectives (2) Documenting and creating a calendar of activities for effective utilization of doctors registered with YFS at local schools, slums and orphanages. Volunteers will be involved in working with the local YFS team in drawing up a communication plan to doctors seeking their support to register for this program. Volunteers will be working with local volunteers and doctors to understand the ground realities regarding general hygiene and health issues. Volunteers will understand and prioritize a list of support needs and activities required and form a core team of doctors to steer this program. Volunteers require good communication skills to meet the doctors and present ideas. The volunteer must be willing to work in slums and with the schools and orphanages in collection of data and understanding the ground realities concerning health and hygiene in these locations.
  • Living Arrangements: Volunteers will be staying with host family for the first one week and later at a hostel or paying guest accommodation.
  • Please answer the following questions in your application: (1) Have you worked/volunteered in the healthcare sector? Elaborate your previous experience (2) What challenges do you foresee in the above project and how do you plan to deal with them (200 words) 

3. Project Title: Doctors at School -  Connecting doctors to government schools 

  • ​Location: Banglore, Karnataka
  • Partner NGO: Youth for Seva (www.youthforseva.org)
  • Laguage Requirement: English (basic knowledge of spoken Kannada helpful)
  • Background: Youth for Seva (YFS) was established in 2009 and has been involved in connecting youth interested in community service to various grass root NGO’s . The YFS team of volunteers now supports various projects.  Projects range from areas in education, health, environment and various rural sectors. Doctors for Seva is a new initiative from the YFS team. The attempt is to create a data base of doctors interested in community service, utilize their services at local schools, slums and orphanages to create general awareness of health and hygiene, provide free medical check ups and generate awareness and preventive campaigns for various major illnesses. 
  • Project Description: Volunteers will be involved in working with the local YFS team to conduct the following activties: (1) Creating a data base of doctors interested in volunteering for “Doctors for Seva” – through communication of the YFS objectives (2) Documenting and creating a calendar of activities for effective utilization of doctors registered with YFS at local schools, slums and orphanages. This program is aimed at connecting at least one doctor (general physician or pediatrician) or hospital to one or more government schools located in an area of their preference. In additional to a medical professional, teams of 3-4 volunteers are also connected to the school to assist the doctor in organizing screening and follow up treatments for children and to deliver health awareness talks to the school. Volunteers require good communication skills to meet the doctors and present ideas. The volunteer must be willing to work in slums and with the schools and orphanages in collection of data and understanding the ground realities concerning health and hygiene in these locations.
  • Living Arrangements: Volunteers will be staying with host family for the first one week and later at a hostel or paying guest accommodation.
  • Please answer the following questions in your application: (1) Have you worked/volunteered in the healthcare sector? Elaborate your previous experience (2) What challenges do you foresee in the above project and how do you plan to deal with them (200 words) 

4. Project Title: Documenting major health problems in children living in slums 

  • ​Location: Pune, Maharashtra
  • Partner NGO: Samuthkarsh, Pune
  • Laguage Requirement: Basic Hindi / Marathi (Assistance in English available)
  • Background: Pune is rapidly expanding city with one of the largest urban agglomerate in the state of Maharashtra. The city has become a major center of industry & is now also emerging as a key location for information technologies. Despite its prosperity, Forty percent of Pune lives in 500 odd slums spread across the city. The people in these slums mostly include migrant from villages, now settled in city. But due to lack of health & education facilities these people face many problems. The problem is acute in case of children who have grown in an unhygienic ambience, suffering from malnutrition and other disease. Except few respectable exceptions, the governmental efforts being miserably short. Samuthkarsh Prakalp is an NGO working in slums on outskirts of Pune city ( Maharashtra ). It runs study-rooms, free tuition classes and micro-credit groups for working women. Educational program Samutkarsh organizes for betterment of slum residents. It is to plan and execute different activities in slum keeping in mind the overall progress of slum population. This project believes that the aspiration of better living can be satisfied by a different approach. It considers following dimensions of reaching the dream of better living. Health and hygiene – rather a ‘state of wellness’ is next important aspect. Preventive healthcare, primary referral, vaccination, and good-affordable-nutrition are the components of securing a state of wellness. 
  • Project Description: Project objectives include : (1) understanding health problems of the children of ages 5-12 (2) studying the nutrition health instruction modules/approaches for parents of these children (3) studying the nutrition intake of slums children. Volunteers must have thorough understanding about the nutrition intake of children, community health issues, and basic medicine. The project involves spending days with children in the slums and spending time with their families. This will involve long walks and majority time spent in slum conditions.  Local volunteers & doctors of slums shall guide and support the volunteer in this activity. Volunteers will assess the needs of health care of the target group & discuss the same with doctors associated with Slums & Samutkarsh. Volunteers will create an instruction guide and module for the target groups. The volunteer with help of the local workers of the organization should be able to evolve healthier life style possible & practical within the given conditions. Volunteers should have an aptitude of playing and interacting with children. Additionally volunteers should be acquanted with basic uses of media (photography, video shooting etc.) * knowlege of Hindi and Marathi will be significantly advantageous*
  • Living Arrangements: Volunteers will be staying at a hostel near Samutkarsh. 
  • Please answer the following questions in your application: (1) Have you worked/volunteered for any health awareness campaign or on communication for social issues? Elaborate your previous experience. (2) Visualize this: You are living in a slum. Your bathroom does not get running water and you often see cockroaches in the toilet. How would you deal with this? (3) Write 10 lines about health awareness problems in India. (200 words) 

5. Project Title: Developing exhibitions and posters on health issues

  • ​Location: Aurangabad, Maharashtra
  • Partner NGO: Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Vaidyakiya Pratishthan (Dr. BAVP)
  • Laguage Requirement: Basic Hindi / Marathi (assistance available)
  • Background: Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Vaidyakiya Pratishthan (Dr. BAVP) is a medical-social trust run by devoted doctors. It runs a hospital in Aurangabad – one of the major cities of Maharashtra state – and runs healthcare centers in slums and villages around this city. Lack of awareness is a major reason for spreading of HIV-AIDS in slums. The organization has therefore taken up awareness campaigns about AIDS. Another problem in slums is that of sanitation and of safe drinking water. The organization is working to motivate slum dwellers follow hygienic practices and create awareness about purification of drinking water.
  • Project Description: Volunteers will be working with local volunteers and doctors to understand the ground realities regarding general hygiene and health issues and regarding AIDS awareness. Volunteers will learn about the misconceptions, notions, and local practices on these issues including (1) Understanding sanitation, hygience and drinking water in slums (2) Understanding conceptions of AIDS prevalent in slum-dwellers. Volunteers will then (1) develop posters and other media tools for awareness campaign (2) perform field-testing of these tools (3) develop an exhibition on one issue. Volunteers must have some backgorund in designing media tools. Volunteers should be prepared for walks through slums and work with local volunteers. 
  • Living Arrangements: Volunteers will be staying at a hostel provided by Dr.BAVP. Food will also be available at the hostel. Local commuting shall be arranged by Dr.BAVP.
  • Please answer the following questions in your application: (1) Have you worked/volunteered for any Health awareness campaign or on communication for social issues? Elaborate your previous experience. (2) Visualize this: You are living in a slum. Your bathroom does not get running water and you often see cockroaches in the toilet. How would you deal with this? (3) Write 10 lines about health awareness problems in India. (200 words) 

 

Education

1. Project Title: Developing interactive CDs for learning in rural schools

  • ​Location: Pune district, Maharashtra
  • Partner NGO: Rashtriya Sarvangin Gram Vikas Sanstha 
  • Laguage Requirement: Basic Hindi / Marathi (Assistance in English shall be provided)
  • Background: Rashtriya Sarvangin Gram Vikas Sanstha was established in 1995 to provide necessary support to the rural counter part of our society with respect to education – health – agriculture – entrepreneurship development so that they can lead a comfortable life. We have concentrated our activities in 30 villages of Mulshi tehsil around the village of Male (approx 50Km west of Pune). We identify the needs of the local villagers by group discussions (Gram Sabha) & short surveys.Needs related to advice & guidance are fulfilled by experts in respective fields. Financial assistance is fulfilled by individual donors, corporate world, government schemes, funding agencies. RSGVS works along with Seva Sahayog and Seva International provide expert help to villagers equipping them to develop methodologies and instruments to handle their day to day issues.
  • Project Description: Project objectives include (1) developing interactive training aids for teaching subjects like Mathematics, Science, Geography and English (2) developing visual presentations based on school syllabus for 5th to 8th Grade in local language (language support to be provided by local volunteers). The volunteers will develop training aids and start introducing those in the study room sessions. The training aids can include charts, puzzles, scientific toys, science experiment kits and similar creative teaching tools. Volunteers will create CDs showing various scientific experiments based on school curriculum. The aids and experiments conducted shall be well documented so as to replicate in other study rooms. All these materials should be translated to local language for easy understanding of students. Volunteers will conduct training sessions in study rooms as well as  train teachers to replicate this curriculum in more classrooms. Interested volunteers should have knowledge of computer-based interactive tools and preferably some experience in teaching.Volunteers should be able to think beyond the study room boundaries and find innovative ways for imparting education within the parameters of locally available resources and restrictions in the stipulated time.
  • Living Arrangements: The volunteers will be staying at a hostel provided by RSGVS. Food will also be available at the hostel. (A nominal rent around $12 a month needs to be paid for this.
  • Please answer the following questions in your application: (1) Have you worked/volunteered with rural children or have you been part of any innovative education project? Elaborate your previous experience. (2) Visualize this: You have many ideas for this project, however upon sharing with local volunteers you realize that due to limted resources your idea may not be feasible. How would you deal with this? (3) Write 10 lines about status of urban poor in India. (200 words) 

 

2. Project Title: Developing a Computer Confidence Curriculum and its Implementation System

  • ​Location: Sumuthkarsha, Pune , Maharashtra
  • Partner NGO: Sumuthkarsha Prakalpa
  • Laguage Requirement: Basic Hindi / Marathi (Assistance in English shall be provided)
  • Background: Almost 30% of the  total population in India lives in urban areas, out of which around 20% live in slums. Urban poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon. The slum dwellers are faced by problems of poor health and education, deprivation of knowledge and communication effectively leading to lack of dignity and selfrespect. Alcoholism, declining cultural / moral values, ill effects of media channels also result in poor socio-cultural environment in the slums. Sumuthkarsha Prakalpa is an NGO working in the slums on outskirts of Pune city (Maharashtra). It runs study-rooms, free tuition classes and micro-credit groups for working women. The micro-credit groups and study centers also act as a platform for other edutainment programs Sumuthkarsha a organizes for betterment of slum residents. Sumuthkarsha has an energetic team of young volunteers and it is led by learned social workers. 
  • Project Description: Volunteers will participate in Surajya activities to understand the lives of the slum children and women of different age groups. They will be invovled in study room teaching and get first hand experiences of how these function. Surajya runs Self-Help Groups of women and they have regular meetings. The volunteer will participate in these meetings and shall also visit the homes of these women to understand their life-style. Volunteers will then develop and test a model of weekly/weekend sessions for learning and practicing basic computer skills. Volunteers need to have knowledge of common computer usage and preferably some experience in teaching the same. Volunteers should enjoy teaching, training and working with children with lots of creativity. The volunteers should be able to think beyond the study room boundaries and find innovative ways for imparting training.
  • Living Arrangements: Volunteers will be staying at a hostel near Sumuthkarsha Prakalpa.
  • Please answer the following questions in your application: (1) Have you tried teaching computer to a child or to a semi-literate grown-up? Elaborate your previous experience. (2) Visualize this: You identify that a young (13-year old) boy in a computer class likes playing games, but does not pay attention to things you teach about MS Excel. How would you deal with this? (3) Write 10 lines about ‘Computers for the masses’. (200 words) 

 

3. Project Title: Strengthening Computer Education in Slum centers

  • ​Location: Aurangabad, Maharashtra
  • Partner NGO: Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Vaidyakiya Pratishthan (Dr. BAVP)
  • Laguage Requirement: Basic Hindi / Marathi (Assistance in English shall be provided)
  • Background: Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Vaidyakiya Pratishthan (Dr. BAVP) is a medical-social trust run by devoted doctors. It runs a hospital in Aurangabad – one of the major cities of Maharashtra state – and runs healthcare centers in slums and villages around this city. Dr. BAVP believes in social change through dedicated service. All doctors in the organisation are also involved in community development work in various spheres. The Centers run by Dr. BAVP in slums are a hub of community activities. The Centers are managed by physicians and volunteers. These centers provide space to a subsidized medical clinic, play-group activities for slum children, meetings of women's groups, vocational guidance and training for slum youth. Some of these centers also provide basic computer education to children and youth.
  • Project Description: Volunteers will (1) Understand the present process and courses (2) Identify new useful courses as per current trends (3) Design courses (4) Impart class room / practical training to future trainers (5) Prepare program and process documentation at various centers. Dr. BAVP Centers work to ensure that the slum children do not lag behind or remain computer-illiterate. Computer education in these centers can be elevated to be more competent and pro-future. Volunteers must build capacities of local trainers in order to enable them to carry on the work. Volunteers must have aptitude/skills to teach and develop courses for computer education.
  • Living Arrangements: Volunteers will be staying at a hostel provided by Dr.BAVP. 
  • Please answer the following questions in your application: (1) Have you tried teaching computer to a child or to a semi-literate grown-up? Elaborate your previous experience. (2) Visualize this: You identify that a young (13-year old) boy in a computer class likes ‘Paint’, but does not remember/ dislikes things you teach about MS Excel. How would you deal with this? (3) Write 10 lines about ‘Computers for the masses’. (200 words) 

4. Project Title: Developing tools and approaches to teach science in rural schools

  • Location: Pune district, Maharashtra
  • Partner NGO: Swaroop Wardhini
  • Laguage Requirement: Marathi / Hindi (Assistance in English will be provided)
  • Background: More than half of Indian population resides in villages. Village schools are often run by one or two teachers with inadequate (or absent) library and laboratory facilities. The education of children in villages lacks the vital exposure to books and to science equipments. This organization Swa-roop Wardhini is well known for its work in slums of Pune city and in villages of Pune district. The activities of this organization are focused at creating an enabling environment for the children from weaker sections of society. The organization runs after-school activities for children, Kishori Vikas activities for adolescent girls, SHGs or micro-credit activities for urban and rural women, and a mobile laboratory for science education for rural children. Many of the current office-bearers as well as volunteers of this organization have grown in the organization. Lab-on-wheels is a jeep (or mini bus) that travels to villages and sets up a one-day laboratory for the school students in those villages. The laboratory is operated by Swa-roop Wardhini volunteers and teachers.
  • Project Description: Volunteers will participate in the activities of lab-on-wheels to understand the science curriculum in schools, the significance of the lab-on-wheels in education of rural children, and to identify the gaps still prevalent in science education. Volunteers will acquaint themselves with government textbooks for 5th to 7th grade to further understand the gaps in curriculum. Volunteers will develop tools or toys for learning to supplement the current curriculum. Volunteers will field tests these tools and in consultation with the teachers from Swa-roop Wardhini continue to modify and adapt them as necessary. Volunteers are expected to have an aptitude of working with children and have previous experience in teaching. 
  • Living Arrangements: Volunteers will be staying at a hostel near Swa-roop Wardhini in Pune.
  • Please answer the following questions in your application: (1) Have you worked/volunteered with rural children or have you been part of any innovative education project? Elaborate your previous experience. (2) Visualize this: You will always be traveling on the jeep i.e. Lab-on-wheels. The food is different everyday and you do not like the taste. How would you deal with this? (3) Write 10 lines about ‘Status of urban poor in Asia (or India)’.

5. Project Title: Frame an English curriculum for rag-pickers children.

  • ​Location: Latur, Maharashtra
  • Partner NGO: Jan Adhar Sevabhawi Sanstha
  • Laguage Requirement: Marathi / Hindi (Assistance in English will be provided)
  • Background: As women and children (5-18) earn their livelihood by rag picking (recycling garbage), their average earnings vary between 15 Rupees to 20 per day, while the more experienced ones earn 25 to 40 Rupees. The waste collected by these children is recycled to produce writing paper, packing materials, economical plastic and household metal items. For their basic needs like food, clothes and shelter these women and children search of waste and scrap. These laborers are deeply engaged in evil circles of addiction, blind faith, and unhealthy. The conditions of children engaged in rag picking are suffering from back pain, they carry the heavy gunny bags and on a foot they travel each day for the best pickings. As per a survey, a total of only 23 children out of 160 children are going regularly to school.
  • Project Description: Volunteers shall be working at a pair of centers. English education at these centers is very basic and in some cases it is difficult to upgrade it as per the trends. Jan Adhar Sevabhawi Sanstha centers work to ensure that rag pickers children do not lag behind or remain poor in English. Volunteers will have to understand current status, trends, processes, and then frame English curriculum. They shouuld an aptitude to teach and develop curriculum in English. Previous experience of teaching English to children and youth advantageous. 
  • Living Arrangements: Volunteers will be staying at a hostel provided by Jan Adhar Sevabhawi Sanstha. Food will also be available at the hostel. The food available is vegetarian and spicy.
  • Please answer the following questions in your application: (1) Have you tried teaching English to a child or to an adult whose first language is not English? Elaborate your previous experience. (2) Visualize this: You identify that a boy in your class likes poems or rhymes, but does not remember/ dislikes things you teach about English. How would you deal with this? (3) Write 10 lines about ‘Innovative education for children at risk’. (200 words) 

 

Environment

1.  Project Title: Spreading Eco- Friendly practices in Residential Localities

  • ​Location: Hydrebad and Andra Pradesh
  • Partner NGO: Youth for Seva (www.youthforseva.org)
  • Laguage Requirement: Fluent English 
  • Background: Youth for Seva (YFS) Hyderabad was established in Feb 2010 and has been involved in connecting youth interested in community service to various grass root NGO’s . The YFS team of volunteers now supports close to 15+ projects in and around Hyderabad.  Volunteering activities take place in Education, Health, Environment, Differently Abled and Rural sectors. YFS spreads environmental awareness and promotes eco-friendly practices in residential localities. This includes waste segregation, composting, reducing the usage of plastic and celebrating festivals in an eco-friendly manner. 
  • Project Description: Volunteers will be involved in working with the local YFS team to conduct the following activties: (1) visiting various residential localities and talking to the association to adopt eco friendly practices in partnership with YFS (2) documenting the change and experience of people staying in the locality. Volunteers should have good communication skills to present the idea of Green Localities to various associations in residential localities. The volunteer needs to have good knowledge of various environmental issues and potential solutions. http://youthforseva.org/news/yfs-hyderabad-cloth-bags-and-narayan-patra-drive/
  • Living Arrangements: Volunteers will be staying with host family for the first one week and later at a hostel or paying guest accommodation.
  • Please answer the following questions in your application: (1) Have you ever worked on any Environmental issues? Elaborate your previous experience. (2) What challenges do you foresee in the above project and how do you plan to deal with them? (200 words)

2. Project Title: Medicinal plants and traditional health practices

  • ​Location: Karjat, Maharashtra
  • Partner NGO: OakVanaushadhi Sanshodhan va Samvardhan Pratishthan (OVSSP)
  • Laguage Requirement: Marathi/Hindi (Assistance in English will be provided) 
  • Background: The forest-dwelling communities or Tribes have seen a decay of their conventional livelihoods over last few generations. Modern education has not been of enough help in getting new livelihoods and the tribes have become an extremely deprived section of our population. Oak Vanaushadhi Sanshodhan va Samvardhan Pratishthan (OVSSP), a NGO with its head office at the tribal Taluka of Karjat (District Raigad) has propagated an eco-friendly technique of honey collection as an alternative source of livelihoods for tribal people. OVSSP is documenting traditional knowledge of medicines and is supporting that with references from Ayurved. The organisation has a network of voluntary health workers in 63 villages and Women’s Self- Help Groups in 29 villages.
  • Project Description: Karjat has a rich variety of flora and fauna as well as diverge anthropological base which is the right mixture for the development of various local medicinal practices using locally available flora and fauna. These need to be well documented before they become extinct or commercially exploited by various firms without benefiting the real inventors or knowledge-holders. Volunteers will conduct extensive local survey and collect, document and record evidences for the healing practices, medicinal plants and animals under the guidance of Doctors of OVSSP. At the end well documented survey results will be handed over to OVSSP which will be presented to  the government of India. Volunteers must have background in biological sciences (preferably botany) and in healthy physical condition for long walks in mountains and forests. Basic computer skills are expected and knowledge of documentation practices beneficial. 
  • Living Arrangements: Volunteers will be staying at a room provided by Oak Vanaushadhi Sanshodhan va Samvardhan Pratishthan. 
  • Please answer the following questions in your application: (1) Have you worked/volunteered in a tree-centric project? Elaborate your previous experience. (2) Visualize this: You come across a rare plant with highly critical medicinal properties. The world would want to know this. Once the word is out, the pharmacies of the world will take this plant and the original knowledge-holder will not get any benefit. Will you disclose his knowledge? How would you deal with this? (3) Write 10 lines about ‘Traditional medicines in India. (200 words) 

3. Project Title: Setting up Data Management system for Farm Science Center

  • ​Location: Nandurbar, Maharashtra
  • Partner NGO: Dr. Hegdewar Seva Samiti
  • Laguage Requirement: Basic Hindi / Marathi (Assistance in English shall be provided)
  • Background: Nandurbar is a predominantly tribal district in the north western part of Maharashtra state, India. The district is divided in to 13 taluks and the population comprise of 69% tribes (mountain-dwelling communities), 3% backward castes and rest urban population. About 40% of population does annual migration to neighboring state of Gujarat during drought season. There is a Krishi Vigyan Kendra (Farm Science Center), a nodal agency from government of India which is the premier government institute there training and educating the local population on scientific agriculture to health care. The NGO Dr.Hegdewar Seva Samiti (HSS) has been undertaking a large number of social projects with the help of government of India as well as with other voluntary organizations. HSS is an NGO (Non Government Organization) working in Nandurbar (Maharashtra). It runs single teacher schools, free residential schools, women self help groups (micro-credit groups), village self help groups and render many other training and facilitations to the marginalized and uneducated villagers in Nadurbar. HSS has an energetic team of young volunteers and it is led by learned social workers and help from various central and state government agencies in their pioneering efforts for the deprived villagers. HSS works along with Seva Sahayog and Seva International provide expert help to villagers equipping them to develop methodologies and instruments to handle their day to day issues.
  • Project Description: Volunteers will (1) develop a complete data management system for Nandurbar Krishi Vigyan Kendra which allows easing the administration and updating hassles of various projects undertaken by KVK (2) train the KVK officials on updating and maintaining the same along with up to date documentation and hand over process.Volunteers are required to provide proper documentation, test cases as well as implementation procedure for the software developed. The volunteers shall be conducting hands on computer-training to the KVK officials making them confident in day to day activities. Volunteers must have sound knowledge of computer applications and preferably some experience in teaching the same. Liking for teaching, training with lots of creativity is required. The volunteers should be able to understand the ground reality and deliver the result in locally available resources and restrictions in the stipulated time.
  • Living Arrangements: Volunteers will be staying at a hostel provided by HSS.Food will also be available at the hostel.
  • Please answer the following questions in your application: (1) Are you a good organizer/ systemic manager? Have you helped anyone organize his data using simple MS-Windows tools? Elaborate your previous experience. (2) Visualize this: You try explaining the use of an existing machine to a village youth. He gives you ten different reasons why this machine is useless. How would you deal with this? (3) Write 10 lines about ‘Bringing technology to the common people’ . (200 words) 

 

Empowerment

1. Project Title: Promoting the Talent of Visually Challenged Students

  • ​Location: Hydrebad and Andra Pradesh
  • Partner NGO: Youth for Seva (www.youthforseva.org)
  • Laguage Requirement: Fluent English 
  • Background: Youth for Seva (YFS) Hyderabad was established in Feb 2010 and has been involved in connecting youth interested in community service to various grass root NGO’s . The YFS team of volunteers now supports close to 15+ projects in and around Hyderabad.  Volunteering activities take place in education, health, environment, differently Abled and Rural sectors. YFS helps Visually Challenged students by promoting their talent in society. The aim is to sensitize the society on disability and also help find job opportunities for the visually challenged. The experience of volunteers and the differently-abled has been very positive and we want to continue this effort in a bigger way.
  • Project Description: Volunteers will be involved in working with the local YFS team to conduct the following activties: (1) visiting the hostels where visually challenged students stay and documenting their talent (Chess, Cricket, Singing, Mimicry etc) (2) visiting various companies and residential localities and organizing talent shows of the visually challenged at look for potential job opportunities for them. Volunteers are expected to have patience and to be sensitive to the challenges faced by the blind.  Volunteers should have good communication skills to present the idea of the Talent Show to various corporations and residential localities.  http://youthforseva.org/news/yfs-hyderabad-chess-competition-visually-challeneged-vs-wipro-employees/
  • Living Arrangements: Volunteers will be staying with host family for the first one week and later at a hostel or paying guest accommodation.
  • Please answer the following questions in your application: (1) Have you ever worked with the differently-abled? Elaborate your previous experience. (2) What challenges do you foresee in the above project and how do you plan to deal with them? (200 words) 

2. Project Title: Documenting Change in lives of slum women and children

  • ​Location: Yerawada, Maharashtra
  • Partner NGO: Surajya Sarwangin Vikas Prakalpa
  • Laguage Requirement: Marathi / Hindi (Assistance in English will be provided)
  • Background: Approximately 30% of total population in India lives in urban areas, out of which around 20% live in slums. Urban poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon. The slum dwellers are faced by problems of poor health and education, deprivation of knowledge and communication effectively leading to lack of dignity and selfrespect. Alcoholism, declining cultural / moral values, and ill effects of media channels also result in poor socio-cultural environment in the slums. Surajya Sarwangin Vikas Prakalpa is an NGO working in the slums on outskirts of Pune city (Maharashtra). It runs study-rooms, free tuition classes and micro-credit groups for working women. The micro-credit groups and study centers also act as a platform for other edutainment programs Surajya organizes for the betterment of slum residents. Surajya has an energetic team of young volunteers and it is led by learned social workers.
  • Project Description: Volunteers will participate in Surajya activities to understand the lives of slum children and women of different age groups. Volunteers will participate in the study room teaching and get first hand experience of how these function. Here, they will get to interact and know the children and identify the challenges they face and their struggle to overcome. Surajya runs Self-Help Groups of women and they have regular meetings. The volunteer will participate in these meetings and shall also visit the homes of these women to understand their life-style. Volunteers will document (using various media) (1) the effect of proper education on of slum children (2)the effect of micro-credit and peer support on the conditions of slum women. Volunteers will further interact with select individuals from the focus groups. Surajya has worked among children for last five years and has run study-rooms andstudy-mentoring activities. This has developed into success stories for many children. Similar is the case with women's Self-Help Groups (micro-credit groups). Documenting the success stories and the basic change in lives will serve two purposes. First, people fromslums will look at those persons as role models and more people will strive to follow their success. Second, people from outside the slums (here and abroad) will understand the struggle for life that goes on in slums and the terms of what is seen as success. Volunteers are expected to have an aptitude for playing and interacting with children and an empathetic attitude towards slum conditions. Volunteers should  be acquainted with basic uses of media (photography, video shooting etc.). Female volunteers are preferred for working with women.
  • Living Arrangements: Volunteers will be staying at a hostel near Surajya Sarwangin Vikas Prakalpa.
  • Please answer the following questions in your application: (1) Have you worked/volunteered in a slum? Elaborate your previous experience. (2) Visualize this: You are living in a slum. Your bathroom does not get running water and you often see cockroaches in the toilet. How would you deal with this? (3) Write 10 lines about ‘Status of urban poor in India'. (200 words) 

3. Project Title: Empirical analysis of counseling needs of rural women

  • ​Location: Sangola, District Solapur, Maharashtra
  • Partner NGO: Mata Balak Utkarsha Pratishthan (MBUP)
  • Laguage Requirement: Basic Marathi / Hindi (Assistance in English shall be provided)
  • Background: Sangola, is a small town in District Solapur in southern Maharashtra. It is an arid and dry region facing extreme water shortage and is deprived of basic agricultural resources such as fertile land resulting in low income levels of the villagers. Considering the severe problems of such drought prone region, Mata Balak Utkarsh Pratishthan (MBUP) was established in 1979 for overall development of Sangola area. The focus of activities for the center is “rural women” as the activities started of with several urban women emerging as volunteers to start a Mahila Saha Vichar Kendra (Women’s Study Center/ Women’s discussion forum) and Anyay Nivaran Samstha (Legal Counseling and self help Center). They realized there is a need for a counseling center where women’s problem would be heard and guidance, moral support and legal advice would be offered. Thus, a counseling center called “Maitrin” (meaning friend) was started. With the support of the counseling center even the most harassed women, have now got the courage to take their complaints to the police station. The strength of organized effort has given many women the confidence and courage to stand for their rights. To reach out to the rural women, the Mata Balak Utkarsh Pratishthan started Balak Mandir, a nursery school where the young women would come with their children. The Balak mandir has now grown to a Primary school and is a renowned institute in the neighborhood.
  • Project Description: This project is designed to analyze, statisically analyze women's issues commonly encountered by the counseling center. Volunteers will document success stories and understand the best practices used at the center.  This includes (1) classifying various issues of women handled by the counseling center into broad categories such as domestic violence, lack of health awareness, etc.(2) documenting past cases in each category, to serve as reference cases for handling similar such cases in future and at other rural counseling centers. Volunteers should have knowledge of simple statistical techniques for data collection and analysis. Volunteers should have the aptitude for living and interacting with the community and should be willing to share space with the local community.
  • Living Arrangements: Volunteers will be staying at the Mata Balak Utkarsh Pratishthan building. 
  • Please answer the following questions in your application: (1) Have you worked/volunteered in a slum? Elaborate your previous experience. (2) Visualize this: You are living in a slum. Your bathroom does not get running water and you often see cockroaches in the toilet. How would you deal with this? (3) Write 10 lines about ‘Status of urban poor in India'. (200 words) 

4. Project Title: Coaching a sport (Athletics/Gymnastics/or any other) to rural children

  • ​Location: Male Village, District Pune, Maharashtra
  • Partner NGO: Rashtriya Sarvagin Gramvikas Sanstha
  • Laguage Requirement: Basic Marathi / Hindi (Assistance in English shall be provided)
  • Background: Pune is one of the rapidly growing urban conglomerates in India. While Pune is a hub of development and economic activity, the villages on outskirts of Pune continue to be deprived of opportunities. Availing better opportunities to rural people in general, and students in particular – was taken as a challenge by a group of socially concerned industrialists, field workers & experts from various sectors and Rashtriya Sarvagin Gramvikas Sanstha (RSGVS) was established in 1995. RSGVS runs schools as well as hostels and takes up various projects for community development in rural areas. As a part of all-round development of children in its rural schools, RSGVS believes in sports as a good medium of building confidence and self-expression. This project expects that a volunteer can coach the children in a sport hitherto not known to them. The sport may be anything except cricket and local Indian games. RSGVS would prefer athletics or gymnastics coaching, however it is open to all sports.
  • Project Description: To provide necessary infrastructure for improving Education for the children living in villages is the oneof key objective of organization. The volunteers will get to interact with children with age group of (10-15), coaching will be giving to these children and exposed to the professional field of sports.Volunteers need to (1) develop children’s sport spirit (2) coach sports like soccer and volleyball (3) try to take children to a district (county) level competition in the sport. Volunteers must have sound background in the selected sport and having the aptitude of playing and nteracting with children.
  • Living Arrangements: Volunteers will be staying at a hostel near the school.
  • Please answer the following questions in your application: (1) Have you worked/volunteered as a sports coach? Have you helped a younger friend enter your sport? Elaborate your previous experience. (2) Visualize this: You think you are a master in coaching. You coach the children and two of the boys play constantly truant. How would you deal with this? (3) Write 10 lines about ‘Sport emerging as a career option’. (200 words) 

 

Research and Documentation

1. Project Title: Documenting the success stories of Aruna Chethana 

  • ​Location: Banglore
  • Partner NGO: Aruna Chethana 
  • Laguage Requirement: Good knowledge of English, knowledge of spoken Kannada helpful, not mandatory.
  • Background: The School of Aruna Chetana was started in 1987 with just 5 students. The school, over the last decade has trained and rehabilitated a large number of children suffering from ailents like Cerebral palsy, Spina Bifida, Muscular dysrophy, Austim, Dyslexia, hearing and visual impairment, behaviour and emotional disorders, etc. Aruna Chetana helps to bring about a change in the life of these children. It helps them to learn, builds their confidence and makes them look at their disabiliies as challenges. This brings about a change in the inner selves of these cildren. They become self dependent. They gain greater social acceptance. 
  • Project Description: Aruna Chetana is a school for mentally challenged and multiply disabled children which has completed 25 years of service. Document the journey of Aruna Chethana since the beginning capturing the vision, the accomplishments, challenges and the way forward for this project. The volunteer must interview the team members, students and teachers and capture their experiences and understanding of the project. The intern must present the findings in a report that details the accomplishments, the challenges faced and potential solutions to overcome them. 
  • Living Arrangements: Volunteers will be staying with host family for the first one week and later at a hostel or paying guest accommodation.
  • Please send a sample of your writing with your application. 

 

2. Project Title: Document Best Practices to Engage Volunteers by NGOs

  • ​Location: Banglore
  • Partner NGO: Youth for Seva
  • Laguage Requirement: Basic English, knowledge of spoken Kannada helpful, not mandatory.
  • Background: Youth for Seva (YFS) is a project under Hindu Seva Pratishthana. Youth for Seva(YFS) was started in April 2007 as a platform to provide opportunities for youth who want to take an active part in the community despite time constraints. Through this platform, YFS aims to empower youth to become positive change makers who will enable organizations and institutions to work without a vested interest. The goal of YFS is to support schools, NGOs, government hospitals and other organizations in the social sector through volunteers who can help them mitigate some of their shortcomings and challenges. Volunteering is made easy and customized to the individual’s interests and time constraints. For more information, visit www.youthforseva.org
  • Project Description: Document the best practices implemented by NGOs to engage volunteers to form a handbook that can be used as a resource by other NGOs. This handbook is to help NGOs learn best practices to recruit, engage and retain volunteers. This will require some travel and/or phone interviews to understand current challenges and how some NGOs have tried to overcome them. The volunteer must interview team members in at least 20 NGOs who have actively engaged volunteers in their work to understand the strategies they have used to recruit, engage in retain volunteers and consolidate best practices that can be used by other NGOs as well.
  • Living Arrangements: Volunteers will be staying with host family for the first one week and later at a hostel or paying guest accommodation.
  • Please send a sample of your writing with your application. 

3. Project Title: Understanding NGO involvement in Government Schools

  • ​Location: Banglore
  • Partner NGO: Youth for Sewa
  • Laguage Requirement: Basic English, knowledge of spoken Kannada helpful, not mandatory.
  • Background: Youth for Seva (YFS) is a project under Hindu Seva Pratishthana. Youth for Seva(YFS) was started in April 2007 as a platform to provide opportunities for youth who want to take an active part in the community despite time constraints. Through this platform, YFS aims to empower youth to become positive change makers who will enable organizations and institutions to work without a vested interest. The goal of YFS is to support schools, NGOs, government hospitals and other organizations in the social sector through volunteers who can help them mitigate some of their shortcomings and challenges. Volunteering is made easy and customized to the individual’s interests and time constraints. For more information, visit www.youthforseva.org
  • Project Description: Document the type of work and the impact of interventions initiated by NGOs in government schools to discover potential collaboration and partnerships to serve more children better. Most children in government schools come from financially challenged families and are first generation learners. This will require some travel and/or phone interviews with the staff at school and NGOs. The volunteer must interview teachers, headmasters in government schools, team members in at least 20 NGOs to understand the impact of the NGO-school partnership. 
  • Living Arrangements: Volunteers will be staying with host family for the first one week and later at a hostel or paying guest accommodation.
  • Please send a sample of your writing with your application.  

4. Project Title: Document Best Practices to Engage Employees in Volunteering

  • ​Location: Banglore
  • Partner NGO: Youth for Seva
  • Laguage Requirement: Basic English, knowledge of spoken Kannada helpful, not mandatory.
  • Background: Youth for Seva (YFS) is a project under Hindu Seva Pratishthana. Youth for Seva(YFS) was started in April 2007 as a platform to provide opportunities for youth who want to take an active part in the community despite time constraints. Through this platform, YFS aims to empower youth to become positive change makers who will enable organizations and institutions to work without a vested interest. The goal of YFS is to support schools, NGOs, government hospitals and other organizations in the social sector through volunteers who can help them mitigate some of their shortcomings and challenges. Volunteering is made easy and customized to the individual’s interests and time constraints. For more information, visit www.youthforseva.org
  • Project Description: Ts part of Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR), most corporates are interested in engaging their employees in volunteering. Document the best practices implemented by corporates to engage their employees in volunteering to form a handbook that can be used as a resource by other corporates. This handbook is to help corporates learn best practices to encourage employee engagement in the community. This will require some travel and/or phone interviews to understand current challenges and how the companies have tried to overcome them. The volunteer must interview team members in at least 15 corporates who have actively engaged their employees in volunteering and consolidate best practices that can be used by other companies as well. 
  • Living Arrangements: Volunteers will be staying with host family for the first one week and later at a hostel or paying guest accommodation.
  • Please send a sample of your writing with your application. 

5. Project Title: Best Practices for Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) Activities 

  • ​Location: Banglore
  • Partner NGO: Youth for Seva
  • Laguage Requirement: Basic English, knowledge of spoken Kannada helpful, not mandatory.
  • Background: Youth for Seva (YFS) is a project under Hindu Seva Pratishthana. Youth for Seva(YFS) was started in April 2007 as a platform to provide opportunities for youth who want to take an active part in the community despite time constraints. Through this platform, YFS aims to empower youth to become positive change makers who will enable organizations and institutions to work without a vested interest. The goal of YFS is to support schools, NGOs, government hospitals and other organizations in the social sector through volunteers who can help them mitigate some of their shortcomings and challenges. Volunteering is made easy and customized to the individual’s interests and time constraints. For more information, visit www.youthforseva.org
  • Project Description: Document the best practices implemented by corporates to engage in CSR activities to form a handbook that can be used as a resource by other corporates. This handbook is to help corporates learn best practices to engage in meaningful and impactful CSR activities. This will require some travel and/or phone interviews to understand current challenges and how the companies have tried to overcome them. The volunteer must interview team members in at least 20 corporates who engage in CSR activities. 
  • Living Arrangements: Volunteers will be staying with host family for the first one week and later at a hostel or paying guest accommodation.
  • Please send a sample of your writing with your application. 

* Regarding projects: (1) Any discoveries/inventions occurred during the time of project will be entitled to Sewa International and partner NGOs. (2) Any documentation and discovery of traditional knowledge and discovery/invention of tools/bio materials will be subjected to Indian Patent Rules and Indian registration. (3) The volunteer shall be solely responsible for his/her physical, mental and emotional health.  (4) Any legal issues will be dealt under Indian laws and local jurisdiction.