Program Reviews

We just had a memorable trip in India with VWI. Sukret is very responsive before and during the trip, which is extremely helpful. We didn't pick the best season to visit India, so it's pretty hot. But we didn't get any time spent in Inda wasted. The guides, drivers and the mahout for our giant girl 'Champa' are all very good. We spent decent time with the elephant and also did some sightseeing. India is definitely worth multiple visits. Will make another trip during Nov. to Mar when the weather is better.

I had the opportunity to spend 4 weeks with the association, working in two different settings. First, I worked in a school located in a clearly disadvantaged neighborhood, where I provided academic support to teenagers. Then, I joined a beauty school where women were training for careers in esthetics.

My biggest surprise was discovering that the community members didn't speak, or spoke very little, English. This posed a challenge to my initial goal of empowering women through English language learning. Unfortunately, I was only able to truly pursue this mission in the last five days, once a translator became available.

Personally, this experience was enriching. However, I remain unsure about the actual impact of my involvement. At times, I felt left to my own devices, without a structured program or insight into previous activities. Although I'm not an English teacher but rather a business and marketing trainer, I was still able to share my expertise with some women, though it was less relevant for the teenagers.

On the other hand, I want to highlight the quality of the association's hospitality, as well as the weekend excursion offerings and the comfort of the guest house. These aspects undoubtedly contributed to making my stay enjoyable.

I was supposed to spend 2 weeks, in the end I spent 3 weeks
I had a wonderful time with the children and teenagers so keen to learn
My time with the women was so wonderful: we laughed a lot, we exchanged so many stories. Through them all I learned a lot
I chose Jaipur because of the program
I was there a few years ago as an ordinary tourist. This time I wanted to take part in the everyday life. Being in the guesthouse taught me a lot about the culture ( I knew a bit already through books and films). I was often alone in the streets day and evening. I felt so safe even with the monkeys, the cows and the dogs. I danced in the temples, in the streets during all the ceremonies

I had the best time during this volunteer program, i learnt a lot regarding to medicine and Indian coulture. I had a chance to assist the staff by operating medical devices, measuring blood pressure and make injections. Everybody was very friendly and I felt comfortable working in a small team in the clinic.
I would recommend it to anyone interested in working in healthcare and gaining some medical experience. I think 2 weeks is a minimum.
The program is mainly observational, and without knowing Hindi I missed a lot on what the patients and doctor said, so make sure you learn some basics beforehand, to not feel left out. Not everything was included(tickets for sightseeing, transport for the evening shift).

First of all, the best thing for me was that there were no anxious moments. And I was able to teach very motivated and bright children and get to know India deeply. I think one of the strengths is being able to interact with participants from various countries. My coordinator and driver were very helpful and introduced me to popular foods and places in our free time. The family at the guesthouse took good care of me about my meals and daily life, and we had a great time together. Even a single female student can try this program. thank you!

During August I volunteered for three weeks with the Women’s Empowerment Program and the School Program. Volunteering for an extended period of time meant I was able to build strong relationships with the women and children. Most of the time was spent teaching English, however, the programs are flexible which means you can contribute knowledge and skills based upon your own background and strengths. I was able to draw upon my own resources (nutrition, yoga) and I would encourage this for future volunteers - if you have teaching resources/activities/games from your home country, bring them with you! The home stay accomodation was AMAZING. The family treated me as one of their own, sharing safe, local advice and including me in activities such as visiting the temple, the cinema and a theme park! My favourite part of the stay was playing with the children and helping cook meals. I recommend Volunteering with India for those who want to experience an authentic Indian lifestyle.
Danae, Australia

The team of program coordinators in Jaipur are excellent. They go above and beyond in making sure that you get the best out of your chosen program, and do a lot to make sure everyone gets a true Rajasthan experience, including sites, food, and other unique events. They were always friendly and positive no matter what issues arose. Rajasthan is a great place with a distinct culture from the rest of India. I highly encourage anyone joining the program to had sometime to visit parts of the province outside of Jaipur.

It was an amazing and heart filling experience to be in contact with the enormous beautiful elephants, their committed caretakers and staying with the local family at Prity Guesthouse. I also enjoyed the tours with the Subhash and the tuktuk driver. Overall the guidance and communication was great and felt very safe at all times.

Taking care of the elephants is a very grateful job to be so close and connected to the elephants. We drank a lot of chai and had a lot of fun. They were very enthousiastic involving me and also connect me to the other animals.

The family is very caring and I felt very much at home. Also they took me places which was really nice to learn more about Indian and Jaipur life, including dancing at the Navatri festival! The food was super delicious too.
I even extended my stay!

My experience was definitely very unique here. I definitely recommend people to volunteer with this organization especially if they want to get medical experience. I only would add one thing which is ensuring that we work more than 4 hour shift because there are people who want to grasp more hours. The location was great because we also get to go sightseeing in Jaipur. Also, this program allowed us to better understand Indian culture specifically Rajasthani culture and how medicine works differently than where I’m from.

This is a really fun project to get a chance to see and interact with elephants up close. The communication ahead of our arrival was all helpful/clear, and the train station pickup on arrival was really handy.
Our guesthouse was well located, clean, and the food was really tasty.
Working with the elephants we got the opportunity to get stuck in with feeding, washing, and mucking out, and the mahouts were all very supportive in guiding us and showing off the animals. They clearly know and care for them a lot.
The weekend's tourist trips around Jaipur were really nice and as a lot of the sights were spread out it was comforting to have our own driver for the morning so we didn't have to navigate finding our own transport. Would recommend a composite ticket from the Amer Fort which gives access to a number of additional sights close the guesthouse to visit on foot.
My only significant complaint with the process was that on a couple of occasions we were asked for tips by the mahouts, after being given a ride on an elephant, and at the end of the project. While we didn't have an issue with paying for the ride, it would have been good if the guidance we had been given had made this clear from the outset, and given us a reasonable figure or some advice on what tips are expected/unnecessary.