Voluntary Project Overview

The school is situated in the quiet residential area of Noida, on the outskirts of Delhi. Children are aged between 4 and 14, with many of the older children re-sitting classes which they may missed when they were younger.

It is an English medium school and Hindi is used often to teach when the younger children have a difficulty understanding the subject. Subjects taught include English, Maths, Science, General Knowledge and Social Studies. There is also a strong emphasis on teaching cleanliness, hygiene and nutrition to the children. Computer classes are held twice a week in small groups, as there is only one computer.

The school was started in 1997 by the wife of a retired army officer who wanted to do something for the poor children in the area. She started off in her garage with just 3 children, belonging to her housemaid, and soon this number rose to 40 in the same year and to 93 within two years. Today, the school has a yearly enrolment of 180 children and with only 6 teachers on the roll, need for help is huge.

The Volunteer Abroad Role

As a career break volunteer you will be working alongside the existing teaching staff, teaching the children particularly those of classes 3 and 4. You will mainly teach English but can help with the other subjects, as the medium for teaching is English.

The curriculum follows the Local (State) Government syllabus and prescribed schoolbooks. The medium of education is English although the smaller children find it difficult to communicate in English and therefore Hindi is also used for teaching. Students of Classes 3 and 4 can understand English better.

Career Break volunteers presence and assistance at the school is of tremendous benefit to the children and their quality of education. Volunteers in Delhi also get a chance to live and work alongside a community and have the satisfaction of helping educate the area's poorest children.

Other Volunteer Abroad opportunities

Outside of normal teaching hours you can organize fun and extra curricular activities to increase children's confidence and build important life skills. The school also conducts vocational training and volunteers with suitable skills will be very welcome to help with this activity.

Voluntary Programme Requirements/Eligibility Criteria

Career break volunteers should be prepared to immerse themselves in a new culture. Volunteers need good communication skills, an open mind, lots of enthusiasm and a good sense of humour! Our philosophy is to encourage the students to learn by having fun in the lessons.

Volunteer Accommodation and Living arrangements

Delhi is a wonderful mix of past and present of India and the west merging. It has a semi-arid climate with high variation between summer and winter temperatures. Summers are long, from early April to October, with the monsoon season in between. During the summer season, the city faces extreme heat and water shortages. Winter starts in November and peaks in January and is notorious for its heavy fog, which often disrupts road, air and rail traffic.

Accommodation is provided in a comfortable homestay in Delhi.

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