Destindia Internships - Teaching

I chose to volunteer at an orphanage in Delhi through DestIndia- what an experience. Before coming, I was sent a Volunteering handbook, which helped me prepare for my time ahead, both in terms of things to bring with me, but more importantly, to prepare me for the emotional shock and expectations that would hit me upon my arrival. The background stories the vast majority of these children is tragic- how they came to be orphans. However working with these children and the team of volunteer dedicated to helping them has been a inspiring experience. I could see the joy and excitement in the kids faces when I was teaching English, telling them stories about England, and playing music! The children are so happy that they have foreigners coming to work with them, giving them attention, helping them develop, as for so long they have not had this. My day to day experience involved helping them with their school work, playing music, taking them on trips around Delhi, and arts & crafts. One thing my experience taught me was how fortunate I am- and how grateful these kids are for the little they have. It have brought about a new perspective on life that I hope I won't lose. This has been the most rewarding experience of my life, and I will cherish the time I spent with the children.

I had been inspired to work in micro-finance from a course I did at university. I came across DestIndia Internships and lovedd the internship position they had on offer. Unlike many micro-finance organisations, who work directly with the communities they are trying to help, the company I was place in, Access Development, focused on the policy level, partnering with the state and national governments to help influence and implement reforms in the micro-finance space to ensure the industry was evolving and improving. A key part of this was identifying, learning, and sharing best practices in Micro-finance globally, and to this end, I worked a lot on arranging a conference for micro-finance leader from all over the world came to India to share their ideas. I then helped share this new knowledge to the micro-finance organisations within India.
The accommodation DestIndia Internships provided was close to the office, had A/C and I had my own en-suite bathroom. They offered a lot of support at the start of the program, and as I became more settled and confident, they checked in less often. Of course their team is only a phone call away if I needed them.
All in all this was a great experience- putting learing into practice, and working at such a high policy level was inspiring.

I spent 3 months is one of the most beautiful hotels in Rajasthan- Rawla Narlai. I worked closely with the general manager across a variety of activities including marketing, taking guests on horse rides and safaris, F&B and front of house. The main goal was to ensure the guests had an amazing, unforgettable experience- the thing is, I ended up having on too! The setting was idyllic, the food was really good, and the local staff were fun to work with too. The skills I developed have been really useful with securing my new role.