Voluntary Project Overview

Kolkata is considered as one of the most liberal, educated, historic and culturally vibrant cities in India. MondoChallenge supports volunteer teaching projects across the city where volunteers can teach English abroad.

We work with local NGOs in Kolkata that believe that teaching children is the best means to support vulnerable communities in inner city areas. Social and economic issues mean that many children do not attend formal education and volunteers can teach in India to support community projects aimed at improving the lives of families in slum areas.

While much of this career break teaching programme is based at informal schools and centres, located within the city as well as in certain semi-rural outskirts of the city, our partners also run open learning centres, which teach in parks and open spaces. As well as teaching children to a basic level of education, our volunteer teaching projects in Kolkata support the well being of the children and their families through healthcare and awareness programmes, and by providing nutritional meals at school.

The Volunteer Abroad Role

Volunteers travelling to teach children abroad, work in Kolkata to teach English, number work and craft activities to small groups of children aged 5-12. Career break volunteers teaching English abroad are expected to plan lessons and monitor the children’s progress, while helping to develop learning resources at the schools and learning centres.

Language barriers can make teaching children in India a challenging experience, but our local partners encourage volunteers to use their imagination to make learning fun and interactive for the children.

Volunteer Work Impact

Volunteering to teach English overseas can be an incredibly rewarding experience and our local partners are extremely grateful for any help career break volunteers can offer. The slum and street children benefit greatly from their interaction with those who volunteer in India, and many are so excited to see a new face that they rush to school to get to their lessons on time!

For those wanting to teach abroad, a placement in Kolkata provides the opportunity to take children off the streets, increase their confidence and expand their horizons.

On a personal level, volunteering to teach in India gives you the opportunity to gain confidence and experience in organising, planning and conducting lessons. Many volunteers also form close bonds with the children they teach, making it difficult to leave at the end of their career break.

Other Volunteer Abroad opportunities

Outside of the child teaching centres, volunteers to teach in Kolkata have the opportunity to provide after school coaching for children who attend government schools. These children are often first-generation learners and benefit greatly from the support of volunteers teaching English abroad. Coaching these children will involve planning and teaching larger groups and working closely with local teachers to fit the learning into their curriculum.

Volunteers teaching in India can also plan to spend time exploring the subcontinent itself. MondoChallenge can provide advice on a range of career break travel opportunities for those wanting to teach in India.

Voluntary Programme Requirements/Eligibility Criteria

We expect volunteers teaching in India to bring energy and enthusiasm to this career break teaching programme. Teaching children abroad can be a challenging prospect and volunteers must be committed to the programme and have an interest in teaching children. Volunteers to teach English overseas must also be patient in dealing with children and staff who may not understand your language or accent.While previous experience of teaching children is not essential, career break volunteers with experience of working with children or teaching English as a foreign language would be useful.

Volunteer Accommodation and Living arrangements

Volunteers to teach English abroad in Kolkata are provided accommodation in an Indian home where they have a room to themselves. If you prefer independent accommodation, this can be arranged either in a self-service apartment or guest house. Volunteers to teach English overseas can discuss these options when booking their volunteer project abroad.

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