Program Reviews

I participated in the Street Children Program through Volunteering With India, and every minute of the program was incredible. From the moment I arrived in Jaipur I felt at home. Sukret met me at the airport and drove me to my host family's home. Every morning our host family prepared a wonderful breakfast for us, before our driver (Tota Ram- who is amazing!!) would pick us up and take us to the school to teach and play with the children. Teaching the boys English was the highlight of my trip! Everyday they are eager to learn and excited to play new games. The boys greeting us with smiles each morning made for a really rewarding experience. I also learned how to cook chapati, while helping prepare lunch for the boys one day. Govind and Sukret are so kind and helpful with guiding you throughout the entire experience. My host family left an imprint on my heart - my trip would not have been the same without them. Thanks to my host family, I was able to see Jaipur and Indian culture through an authentic perspective. I learned a lot about traditional food, Hinduism, family practices, fun local activities like flying kites. One night I went to the local temple with one of the family members. I will never forget how welcome my host family made me feel - they will forever be extended-family in my heart. I also became close with my fellow volunteers, and have made new friends for life. I will definitely stay in touch with everyone from the program, the entire experience was unforgettable. I will be back. If you are considering this program, don't think twice - just sign up!

Email communication with this organization is very quick and easy. Seeing the other NGO projects, sightseeing and attention to detail prepared schedules etc is all good. Everything described on the website was accurate apart from mentioning that the elephants are chained and living in unnatural conditions.

We were attracted to working with the elephants as we have a commitment to animal welfare issues and we wanted to work and make a contribution. However as people will know, elephants are highly intelligent and sociable mamals who have complex emotional relationships in the wild. Although I understand that many of the working elephants on this program have been rescued from circuses and this is laudable however they are CHAINED, not abe to relate to other elephants, in concrete stables of 3 or 4 and living a life of servitude for the profit of the owner running a tourist business at Amber Fort and Weddings.

One of the elephants was demonstrating depression and anxiety by swaying side to side for long periods of time. We tried to sooth her but there was little we could do with three of her feet chained to the concrete floor.

Our 'volunteering work' consisted of nothing more than joining in - a tourist experience. We felt we made little or no contribution to the welfare of the elephants. This may be a misunderstanding at best of what volunteering means but at worst feels exploitative and puts us in the position of condoning abuse.

The cost for two of us was 27,000 rupees a considerable amount of money in relation to the cost of living in India. Although a pie chart showing a breakdown of where these funds go was provided it didn't really adequately explain why things were so expensive for basic accommodation, food and transport.

I feel very conflicted as they are working hard and clearly the NGO programs working with children , the women's empowerment work is very important and making a difference but the elephant experience is morally hugely compromising. And with leading published tour books advising against the elephant rides at Amber Fort i question why this project should benefit from volunteers fees. I realise we live in a complex world and the challenges are many but to remain silent is to be complicit.

In February 2016 I finally had the chance to visit India. It was a big dream since I was a little kid, but I never had the time to go. Since I took a whole year free before going to university in Zürich I decided to go volunteer. While I was searching online for an organization I got in touch with an old high school friend which told me about this organization in Jaipur. She went there last year and told me about her good experience. My parents were scared to let me go to India all alone, especially since I'm a girl and I have never been there. After several conversations I could finally convince them and I started to prepare myself for this big trip. I was really excited, since I went already to teach a few weeks before in a local school in Zambia. I knew though it would be different this time, because we would be taking care of a whole class ourselves.
As soon as I arrived at the airport Sukret was waiting for outside as promised. He brought me to the guest house I would be spending the next 3 weeks. The location for the house was amazing and the family was really nice. I needed a bit time thought, to get used to the spicy food. :)
Felipe, the other volunteer staying in the guest house during my time, and me, became really good friends, he even came to visit me in Europe a few weeks ago and at the moment I am planning to go visit him in his Hometown in Colombia.
The teaching was a bit hard at first, because we didn’t had enough help from the staff. We had a schedule to follow, like first math then english etc but they didn’t gave us any instructions for the subjects itself. After a few days we started to be creative and organized our own schedule. It was funny that after a few weeks exactly this became one of the positive parts of teaching. Since we didn’t had any instructions on what we had to teach we were really free and could take for example enough time for each student on any task we gave them. We could create our classes really fun to make the boys learn in a creative way.
Surprisingly I must say, that I felt really safe during my whole stay in Jaipur. Whenever we needed some help Govind, Sukret and the house family were free to help us or even drive us somewhere.
I hope that I will have the opportunity again to visit India and whenever I do, I will make sure that I can pass by in Jaipur and say hi to everyone.

I was a total newbie when it comes to travelling. Deep inside, I felt excited but nervous at the same time. However, I had no regrets on taking part of the volunteering programmes in Jaipur. The people who I worked with made it so much easier to settled in the place and their reliability made me feel confident that I would enjoy every bit of my experience in Jaipur. The guest house was cheap yet the service was good. I have enjoyed their vegetarian meals and the hospitality that the family has presented whilst staying in the house. Even though I only had a week of volunteering, I thought that I have learned so many things that haven't even crossed in my mind. Working with elephants made me aware of their situation and I am proud that I have taken care of their welfare. I have also enjoyed working with children, teaching them English alphabet and addition and subtraction. I feel that my small efforts on being there with them and interacting with have contributed to their personal growth and hopefully, these children would be successful as they can be. The city itself is full of attraction such as palaces and forts that made me love India more. I wish I had stayed a bit longer and I am sure that there's more to explore. Being a first timer, I would definitely recommend this experience to anyone regardless of their background

My time in Jaipur, India was fantastic! On my very first day of arriving in Jaipur (from England) I had the Theatre Volunteering programme explained to me and details about when I would be picked up the next day to begin. Sure enough, I was picked up the following day by my designated tuk tuk driver, who was an absolute hero from day 1-so lovely and helpful, he would stop off anywhere on the way for food etc and he even introduced myself and some of the other volunteers to his family.

Upon arriving at the school where I would be volunteering I was a little surprised how poor the area was (I knew these children would be disadvantaged and the school would be a state school, however their facilities barely ceased to exist.) The school was located at the top of a bumpy, dirt track and consisted of two small rooms-one with a cupboard, a rug and a wash basin and the other with a white board, a writing book for each child and pencils. I was then told it was over to me to take the class and the three teaching assistants (who were all very pleasant) stood back as I began to introduce a few warm up games with the children. Drama games were all I could teach on my first day as the school had no equipment or facilities (such as costumes, props, arts materials etc) for acting purposes. I also was asked to teach an hour of English a day, which was completely fine, however this wasn't outlined when I signed up.

The following days in Jaipur were filled with acquiring various materials from the local markets to make costumes, accessories and props. I also brought paper for scripts and paint to make scenery. After I had made these, I felt more ready to teach the children as they were subsequently very excited when I turned up with bright colours and silly plastic props they could play around with. I had decided before traveling to India that alongside suitable interactive games I knew and had researched, I would teach them two scripts for them to learn, act out and perform. One was a script from a popular children's story 'We're going on a bear hunt' and one was the script of Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' which I adapted for the children's age group (2-15 yrs old.) Both stories were fun to act out, were very interactive with multiple parts and had lines that were easy to pronounce and learn. The great aspect of this programme is that you are free to arrange whatever theatre programme you like and can teach the children whatever it is you may specialise in or have an interest in. Additionally, the children were a delight to teach, so friendly and enthusiastic! Just make sure you come fully prepared!

At the end of my programme, the children were able to perform what they had learnt to an invited audience (this consisted of the project coordinators, the teaching assistants, other volunteers whom I lived with and myself.) I also filmed the performances, which overall made it a brilliant experience for the children who had all developed in confidence and awareness of English and British Art.

During the rest of my month in Jaipur I had the opportunity to experience Indian culture right in the heart of the Pink City. I experienced the way a traditional Indian family operates (from living with an authentic family who's values, class system and importance of religion contrast starkly to the European way of life), to experiencing various Indian festivals and visiting Indian monuments, architecture and places of interest. These included the famous Amer fort, the monkey temple the Hawa Mahal, the City Palace, and the Jal Mahal (the floating Palace)-all very beautiful with interesting historical stories attached. Additionally to this, I was lucky enough to book myself on to the company's Golden Triangle tour package which I completed after my time in Jaipur. This included travelling to the City of Agra where on the way we stopped off at Fatehpur Sikri and then the next day I got to see the incredible Taj Mahal, a sight I will always cherish and never forget. I then visited the Red Fort of Agra, a truly fascinating building. The next day, I traveled on to New Delhi where we visited the Indian Gate and the Buddhist Temple-again wonderful experiences.

I would thoroughly recommend the Theatre Volunteering programme in Jaipur as it is a life changing adventure and an experience which really opened my eyes to a way of life so different to my own.

Having spent 3 weeks as a volunteer for the women empowerment program, I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone wishing to join the women program. The variety of volunteer workshops/programs balanced well with free time allowing me to explore and soak up the local community and culture. I also found the VWI team to be extremely warm, helpful and generous with their time ensuring all needs of volunteers were met. The absolute highlight for me was teaching young girls who had a burning desire to learn, My only regret was that my teenage daughter and I could not stay longer.

I would recommend anyone who is looking for a pleasing, satisfying as well as a real experience of volunteering abroad to go with VWI. The staffs are very warm, friendly and funny and they make feel at home. The project itself was very safe and organized. One is given the opportunity to form strong relationship whilst teaching with the community children and school kids who were all very friendly and eager to learn. The feeling I got when the kids smiled and when they progressed in their learning is an extremely overwhelming and rewarding feeling which is very difficult to describe in words. The time spent with the children will definitely stay in my memories forever. The program also includes sightseeing tour of Pinkcity, Jaipur which include you to visit famous places like Amber Palace, Monkey Palace, Hawa Mahal, City Palace and many more. These trips were enjoyed so much. The Six weeks that I spent in Jaipur with VWI was fun and I did not want to go back home as the time spent so fast. Overall it was a wonderful experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Volunteering in Jaipur for two weeks gave me new perspective on many levels. Living with a lovely family showed me how the culture lives and worships. I enjoyed their food and hospitality. Talking to different members of the family and hearing their views on daily life. The similarities and differences. I remember watching their version of America's Got Talent. Working in the orphanages teaching english and music to the boys was very rewarding and fun. I felt close to these kids after only spending a week with them. Sharing different kinds of music they had never heard before and teaching them about instruments they had never seen was exciting. The smiles from these kids lifted my heart and mind and I didn't want to leave.

My father and I had a truly amazing time with volunteering with children India and have so many unforgettable memories! I was travelling on my gap year and my father had some time off work!

The pick up from the airport was prompt and the Indian family who kindly took us into there home were so welcoming! They provided lovely vegetarian meals with and endless supply of chai tea which are great! The family also had Internet which was great to Skype people back home!

Teaching the street children in the school was a truly rewarding experience! The children were so excited and eager to learn from us! We taught a wide variety of subjects from English and maths to art, dance and singing! Neither of us had any experience of teaching in the past so we did a lot of improvising but the children were so great! I will always remember one little boy who loved to dance like Michael Jackson and his favourite thing to do was the moon walk!

We were provided with meals every day at the school and ate with the children.

To conclude we had a truly unforgettable time with volunteer with children India and would not change anything! If you want to experience the true India this is a great opportunity!

There isn't a day that goes by where I don't think back to my time in India. I went with my mother 3 years ago now, when I was only 19 years old. I had been to India before, so I had an idea of what to expect. What I didn't expect, though, was how much more I could fall in love with this place and with every single person we met. We had looked around a lot before we went, to see who we would like to volunteer for. Sukret was the first person to answer the many emails we had sent out to various volunteer groups, and as soon as we had read it we were sold and never looked back. The organization of everything was impeccable! The family we stayed with are so unbelievably welcoming and will help you with anything you may need. The food is amazing, and their company is amazing. One thing that has to be said is that this is in no way an easy experience. Working with boys that have been through a lot of unthinkable things is hard to comprehend and very emotional. We soon realised that teaching them English and maths was not the most important part. Some of the boys had never had the opportunity to just be kids. Simply letting them play, making them smile and laugh, giving them cuddles and allowing them to be children was what a lot of them needed! Letting them learn through play was one of our many goals, and we couldn't have done it without the amazing help from Govind who translated for us and brought much joy to the boys as well.
The days can be long and hot, and after a day with the boys we could always look forward to a warm cup of Chai with Govind and our lovely tuctuc driver Totoram on our way home.
If you are there for a long time, Sukret and Govind have many ideas for things you can do over the weekends. They took us to a tiger safari, where we unfortunately did not see any tigers but still had such an adventure just getting there! Such great company:) India is a beautiful country that 'attacks' every single one of your senses - smells, noises, tastes and colours. Be prepared to be amazed! I would recommend this programme to anyone and everyone. I will never forgot this experience and truly hope to come again one day! We miss you all and think about you all the time. See you soon!