PROJECT OVERVIEW
About 20 million children in India, contributing to about 4% of the total Indian population, are orphans. Orphanages in India are rapidly increasing now due to various factors like poverty, social unrest and economic reasons.
Research has shown that children in orphanages lack basic and traditionally accepted social and cultural skills to function in their societies; have lower levels of educational attainment; have problems adjusting to independence after leaving the orphanage, lack basic living skills; have more difficulties with relationship, lack parental skills and some of them often have a misplaced sense of entitlement without a parallel sense of responsibility (Powell 1999; Wright 1999)
CYDF’s Care programme concentrates on Care and Development of children and youth living in underprivileged orphanages which struggle to provide the full care and attention that would truly support each child’s development.
Your main task will be to encourage and involve children in orphanages to use their time effectively, to involve them in meaningful activity and to strive for self-improvement and provide the necessary support and opportunities for each young person to increase their educational attainment and to empower their attitude
WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR
PROJECT LIFE
Monday to Friday You will work on the project from Monday to Friday. What will a typical day/week look like? What sort of activities will they do? A typical day is left to the creativity of the volunteer while sticking to our vision and mission statements! As a general work, in the morning, you will help the children in being self-organised with regards to preparing to school for the day. In the evening you will assist them with homework, playing games with more focus on developing their overall skills by engaging them in creative activities such as art, crafts, music and sport. Volunteers are encouraged to combine care program with teaching as you will have the opportunity to support more rural children in nearby schools or kindergarten when the orphanage children are at school. The plan for the entire placement will be discussed by the concerned project co-ordinator from CYDF. Volunteers should create a mutual balance between the children and themselves which will make a memorable moment in the minds of the kids.. Typically, each volunteer is expected to work not less than 5 hrs to not more than 8 hrs a day
PROJECT LOCATION:
It will be most probably a village based accommodation. You will either stay in a host family or guesthouse or in the accommodation provided by the orphanage. The orphanages are in close proximity to the accommodation and you will be guided by our local staff when you arrive on, how to travel to and from these locations. You will stay in basic dormitory accommodation with living space to relax with fellow volunteers. In the evenings the team will gather to eat and share stories, meals are cooked by a cook on a rotational basis. For weekends you can choose your own spots in this beautiful exotic country. Temples, Beaches, Water falls, Natural Sanctuaries are just some of your options to explore.
PROJECT DETAILS
" It is not how much we do,
but how much love we put in the doing.
It is not how much we give,
but how much love we put in the giving."
-Mother Teresa (1910 - 1998)
CYDF’s Care project aims for the holistic development of orphanage children, i.e, the integrated development of physical, social and emotional skills of children living in orphanages. The primary focus of the placements is on the education and development, the psychological well-being, and the malnutrition issue faced by these children. While, Environment becomes an integrated part of this. CYDF is impact–based and aims for mutual growth and personal development of both the volunteer and the children. The solution for the issues faced by orphan children should be from the grassroot level and hence, goals are set for every volunteer based on, their skills mentioned in their application and duration of volunteering. On your arrival, there would be 1-2 days of discussion on the plan for your placement and then you proceed for the execution of the same using your knowledge and skills. The time you give as a volunteer in this project will give the orphans and underprivileged children from challenging backgrounds, the opportunity to take part in fun and exciting activities that provide them with a means of self-expression to help build their confidence. Your support, experience and skills will be highly valued by the orphanage. The orphanages and schools you will be working in are under-resourced and children have extremely limited access to appropriate education. Our local partners and community have specifically requested our assistance in creating a fun learning environment to improve the education of disadvantaged local orphan children. On your arrival, you will receive a welcome presentation that will give you all the necessary info on life in India as well as training on care techniques and planning.
HOW WILL WE KNOW IF WE’RE SUCCESSFUL?
Physical growth records show signs of improvement and are on and above the normal measurements. Self confidence level of the children will be increased Considerable reduction in school drop outs Reduction in unethical activity Better performance in schools Each child would develop at least 2 life skills in addition to education Improvement in overall growth