The Volunteer Programme
Would you like to have an exciting and unusual experience, a lifelong memory and make new friendships? Would you like to take part in the mountain culture of the Himalayas and get to live with people from the native tribal community? If your answer is yes, you may apply to become an ABC-volunteer, getting a unique experience from a completely different culture than your own.
Volunteer information
Since 2001, ABC together with our local partner organisation HIMAD lead a development project in the South of Uttarakhand, where the sublime peeks of Himalaya rise above the canyons. The aim of the co-operation is to educate the local people in democracy and human rights through education and awareness programmes provided for the poor community. ABC and HIMAD are running an Education Centre, located just outside Gopeshwar in Uttarakhand. At the centre children, youngsters and adults are able to take part in different tuitions, workshops and conferences.
Different responsibilities for our volunteers
As a volunteer you will live and work at the Education Centre, where you will take part in the daily work. You will also have the opportunity to contribute in the education programmes and workshops in the nearby villages where you have the possibility to live and experience the everyday life of the local people.
Our Education Centre operates lessons, seminars, and conferences for local people and also for national and international participants. The target groups of the centre are children, youth, and adults. In the centre there are forty beds, one lecture hall, two group activity rooms, one library, a kitchen, and a reception. As a volunteer you may specify which tasks you are interested in from the different activities below. The activity-areas are the following:
- Food hygiene, kitchen and serving
- Ecological agriculture
- Gardening
- Medical Health and Care
- Furnishing, shape and colour
- Daily teaching as well as workshops (teaching subjects for example: English, Human Rights, HIV/AIDS, Sustainable Development and Children’s Rights)
- Administration, Reception, Office and Library
- Organisation and Leadership
- Handicraft, design and product-development, with a possibility to support and develop a local self-help group
- Electricity and Building Construction
- Biogas and Solar Energy
- Your own ideas and suggestions
Qualifications
To be able to travel as a volunteer you will need personal skills as tolerance, patience and humbleness as you will face various challenges in a different culture. The limited water access and electricity are big set backs in the area, as well as roadblocks caused by monsoon rains. To work in the mountain surroundings is also a challenge for the body; therefore you need to be healthy and able to work. It is also of high importance that you speak and write English fluently. Besides this, you should be able to co-operate and to conform to new cultural situations. We do not have an upper age limit, but our volunteers must be at least twenty years old. To be able to apply for volunteering in India you must also already be a member of ABC, the membership fee is 100 SEK per year and the simplest way to arrange this is by making a deposit of 100 SEK into PG 90 07 43-6.
What we offer
We can offer you an exciting and challenging experience in a peaceful and beautiful environment. The Education Centre is well located, with a view over the highest peeks of the Himalayas. As a volunteer you are going to have all the needed information and preparatory education in Sweden, you will also get a personal mentor from whom you will get continuous support, also while being in India. After the volunteering period you will take part in a follow-up and evaluating seminar in Sweden. During the preparatory meetings you will be provided with information about vaccinations, visa application, insurance and advise on how you can apply for supporting grants through different organisations, in order to finance the fee of your volunteer programme.
Expenses:
The fee for the volunteer programme in India is 20 000 SEK, which includes:
- Materials, food and lodging during the preparatory weekend and the follow-up seminar in Sweden
- Coaching and your handbook (information compendium), which contains the necessary and practical information about your stay and work in India
- Personal mentor in Sweden
- Persistent mentoring during your complete volunteering period, including the preparatory-weeks and the meeting after you return back home
- Guidance and support in the seeking for grants for your expenses
- Transfer from and to the Delhi airport
- Food and lodging in Delhi after arrival and before departure
- Travel costs between Delhi and Gopeshwar (train or bus, and jeep taxi)
- Accommodation at the Education Centre during your stay
- Three meals and three snacks per a day at the Education Centre
- Material, which you need to be able to carry out your work
- Hindi lessons on request
- Transportation in the area during your stay
The following expenses are part of your own responsibility: flight-ticket, insurance, visa costs and possible vaccinations, together with transfer to and from the airports in Sweden and/or Copenhagen.
Application
Application Deadline and volunteer periods:
- For volunteering during the period 1 February to 31 March 2015, the last application date is 1 October 2014.
- For volunteering during the period 1 September to 31 October 2015 is the final application date 1 May 2015.
There is also a possibility of making your volunteer period longer, or shorter, if you choose to. In this case, please let us know your preferences through your application form.
How to apply:
Your application should include your letter of application and your CV/resume, in which you define which area(s) you are interested in.
Please send your application to: ann.ottengrim@abcsweden.org
Do not hesitate sending us your application as soon as you can!
Further questions about volunteering in India through ABC will be answered promptly by our founder Ann Ottengrim, please contact her by email on: ann.ottengrim@abcsweden.org.
Volunteer Stories
ABC has for years sent volunteers to their partner organizations in Uganda and India. They have experienced many and various adventures and unique experiences gained from cultures very different from their own. At the same time, they have created life-long memories and friendships across the world’s borders.
Are you interested in going to India as a volunteer but would like to know a bit more before you decide? Then you can read more about previous experiences of volunteers in the volunteer program here. Coming soon!