Voluntary Project Overview

MondoChallenge works with a school more than 100 years old to support a voluntary teaching programme, which provides an education for the most marginalised sections of society. Having grown from a few basic buildings, the school now has facilities for over 700 children, and volunteers teaching English abroad can teach children from Kindergarten right up to age 15.

The school teaches children from mixed caste backgrounds, who all speak Tamil, which is a local language in South India. What makes this project unique for career breakers wanting to volunteer teaching English, is that the school switches its teaching from Tamil to English when the children reach 11 years old. This gives the children on this volunteer project a huge advantage when they start looking for work after their studies. With the aid of volunteers teaching English the school hopes to provide much more for its students than the standard government curriculum.

While teaching children is the primary aim of this career break volunteer project, the school has also built a community hospital next door, which addresses the healthcare needs of the children, their families and the local community.

The Volunteer Abroad Role

As a volunteer teaching English in India you can work with children of both primary and secondary school age. Because the children are taught in Tamil up to age 11, your work in the primary school is largely activity based, and can involve painting, songs and games.

Volunteer teaching in the secondary school allows you to interact with children aged 11-15 years old, who you can help by teaching English. The director of the school is particularly keen to see career break volunteers encourage cultural exchange through special teaching projects.

These voluntary teaching projects allow you to use your creativity and can be developed to suit your own skills and interests. Previous volunteers teaching in India have run quizzes, researched a current affairs topic with the children, taught pupils about their home town and country, and organised class photographs. With opportunities to take children on trips away from the school, as a volunteer teaching abroad you are encouraged to widen the children’s horizons.

Volunteer Work Impact

Teaching in India as a community school teacher in Bangalore, gives career break volunteers an opportunity to help children from the poorest backgrounds to learn and develop to their fullest potential. There are a number of social and economic factors that keep local children from school, and the very presence of a volunteer teaching English, motivates students to attend.

Unlike elsewhere in India, children on this volunteer programme are taught in English from Year 8 onwards, and the change from being taught in Tamil can be difficult. As a volunteer in India, you can help to ease this transition and improve the prospects of disadvantaged children, while providing invaluable cultural interaction.

Other Volunteer Abroad opportunities

As a volunteer in India on this career break programme, you can get involved with health care at the community hospital opposite the school. This provides health screening for all the children at the school and the director is happy for volunteer teachers to contribute their time on their career break abroad.

Volunteers teaching English in India can also use Bangalore as a base to explore Southern India, with its wealth of holy sites, wildlife parks and palaces.

Voluntary Programme Requirements/Eligibility Criteria

Volunteering to teach in India can be quite challenging but it is also a rewarding and memorable experience. Career break volunteers need to bring energy, enthusiasm and motivation to work, in order to communicate effectively and clearly with children and teachers who live and work in a completely different culture.While teaching experience is an advantage, it is not essential to teach English in India. If you feel you need any preparation, we can arrange for you to take part in a TEFL training weekend before you depart.

Volunteer Accommodation and Living arrangements

Career break volunteers travelling to teach in India are provided with accommodation with an Indian family, where they will have a private room and can eat meals with the family. If you would prefer more independent accommodation, please discuss the options and costs when you book your volunteer programme.

What’s included in your Programme Fee?

• Project selection and placement - Our in-country teams work constantly to identify and select projects that are doing exemplary work in developing countries but need your skills and effort. Our staff are in dialogue with you to ensure that we choose a project that really needs you, where you will use your skills and contribute, because at MondoChallenge, we believe that a great volunteering experience is largely dependant on matching you with the right project
• Pre Departure Briefing - Before you leave, we will arrange for a pre departure briefing where we help you with small but extremely helpful details on your chosen destination. Things like: what to pack, local culture and customs, food, safety and precautions if any - simple things to make your life easier!
• Guidance for processing visa - MondoChallenge will arrange for any relevant documents and guide you through the visa process.
• Airport Pick Up - Arriving in a new city and not knowing where to go and how to go can be quite unnerving. A MondoChallenge representative will meet you at the airport and take you to your place of stay where you can put your feet up after a long flight.
• In country Orientation and Welcome Pack - When you arrive at your location, you will be given an orientation where you could meet other volunteers from MondoChallenge, learn all about your location, how to find your way around, where to get SIM cards for the phone, small bits that you will need help sorting out in the first few days.
• In Country Support - Our local co-ordinators are there to guide you through out your stay. They will make sure that you are settled at your project, are comfortable with your accommodation and provide guidance on local culture and customs to ensure that you have a memorable and rewarding experience.
• Accommodation - In most cases you stay with a local host family. It gives you a taste of the daily life of a local. You will be sharing a room with another volunteer, however if you prefer to have a single room to youself, this can be arranged but a cost supplement may apply. If you prefer totally independent accommodation, this maybe possible in certain areas at an additional cost and our Programme Managers will be able to assist you with this.
• Breakfast and Dinner - Local home cooked food, will be provided at the home stays. This gives you a chance to experience local dishes.
• Optional Contribution to the Education Grant - The Educational Grant helps projects like the one you will volunteer with, to get basic infrastructure and resources. Open air schools need a roof, some need tables or chairs and some need books for children. We identify needs and constantly work at improving the conditions at our partner projects. We also encourage you to identify needs at your project and let our local management know of any specifics that you feel may help. The grants are made through our registered charity, FutureSense Foundation (Charity No: 1132101). In the project fee above we recommend an optional contribution towards these grants. If you would like to fund raise or contribute further amounts towards this directly to the foundation we can assist you through the process.

Not Included:

• International Flights
• Visa and Travel insurance Costs
• Vaccination
• Local Transport and Travel
• Personal Expenses

Project photos

Testimonials