Location
  • India
    • Delhi
Length
1 to 24 weeks

Program Details

Language
English
Timeframe
Short Term Spring Break Summer Winter Year Round
Housing
Apartment Guesthouse
Travel Type
Budget Family Older Travelers Solo Women

Pricing

Starting Price
275
Price Details
Fully hosted experience from only $275 for 1 week - this includes accommodation, meals, airport pick-up, orientation and 24/7 in-country support.
What's Included
Accommodation Some Activities Airport Transfers Meals Wifi
What's Not Included
Airfare Travel Insurance Visa
Apr 27, 2023
Nov 30, 2023
97 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

Trusted by 125,000+ volunteers, IVHQ offers the world's #1 rated volunteer programs in India and 50+ destinations worldwide.

For the past 5 years, we've won the "Top Volunteer Abroad Provider Award" from GoOverseas, so you can trust that you're in the safest hands with IVHQ in India.

Our affordable projects start from $18/day for your accommodation, meals, airport pick-up, project placement and local support. Projects run year-round, with durations from 1-24 weeks. Choose from 12 projects, ranging from providing education to young children in Delhi on the Teaching project to shadowing doctors in Kerala's world class healthcare system on the Medical project. Plus, you’ll stay with other like-minded, impact-focused travelers from around the world (private room options available).

With IVHQ’s superior pre-departure support services, you’ll gain exclusive access to your own Volunteer Travel Specialist, comprehensive preparation tools and volunteer training before you leave home.

Consider your impact: Volunteering abroad can be a rewarding experience for both volunteers and local communities, and at Go Overseas, we believe all volunteers should have the resources to make informed decisions about the type of volunteer project they want to partake in. However, despite best intentions, some organizations offering placements in orphanages may unknowingly place children in danger. You can read about the potential dangers of orphanage volunteering here. Learn more about how International Volunteer HQ - IVHQ is promoting ethical volunteering.

Video and Photos

Program Highlights

  • Cheapest volunteer programs from $18/day for your accommodation, meals, airport pick-up, project placement & local support.
  • Volunteer for 1-24 weeks, year round start dates most Mondays
  • 15+ years experience & only B Corp certified volunteer travel organization
  • Get free changes up to 14 days before you start with our flexible booking policy
  • Affordable way to earn college credit - gain 5 credits for only US$500!

Popular Programs

India Childcare Project

Join us in making a life-changing impact on the future of India's young children. International Volunteer HQ's Childcare project in Delhi empowers caring and enthusiastic volunteers to provide crucial assistance to under-resourced childcare centers in Faridabad. With a high demand for volunteer assistance due to poverty and illness, your efforts can make all the difference for children aged 4-8 from disadvantaged backgrounds.

India Healthcare Project

Experience India's world-class healthcare system firsthand as a Medical volunteer in Kerala with International Volunteer HQ. Shadow respected doctors and nurses, observe consultations and surgeries, and gain valuable insights into the medical field. While most work will be observational, medical and nursing students may have opportunities to assist with basic tasks. Join us in making a difference in healthcare access and improving patient outcomes.

India Slum Teaching Project

Millions of vulnerable street children in India lack access to basic education. International Volunteer HQ’s Slum Teaching project empowers volunteers to make a meaningful impact on the lives of disadvantaged children by providing access to education and new opportunities. As a Slum Teacher, you'll lead classes of 5-11 year olds with limited supervision and bring new perspectives to the local community.

Special Needs Care Volunteer in Kerala, India

Volunteer in Special Needs Care to help children with disabilities in India. Many families face social stigma and struggle to provide adequate care and education. You can provide educational assistance to students aged 2-22 in schools and care facilities. Local carers provide support as students have limited English. Make a meaningful difference in their lives.

Physical Therapy Volunteer in Kerala, India

As a Physical Therapy volunteer in India, you'll assist a licensed physiotherapist in providing top-quality care to clients. This project focuses on patient care, and placements are typically based in local clinics with home visits as well. You'll have the chance to learn and contribute to healthcare development in Kerala, while exchanging your skills with grateful communities. Your tasks will vary based on project needs and your qualifications.

Women's Empowerment Volunteer in India

Volunteer in Women's Empowerment in India to help local women build skills beyond English. Assist in embroidery and computer sessions using donated equipment. Volunteers help with lesson planning, documentation, and session support, with guidance from the local team. Come prepared with teaching ideas and activities to incorporate into lessons.

Program Reviews

4.94 Rating
based on 113 reviews
  • 5 rating 93.81%
  • 4 rating 6.19%
  • 3 rating 0%
  • 2 rating 0%
  • 1 rating 0%
  • Impact 4.8
  • Support 4.9
  • Fun 4.9
  • Value 4.8
  • Safety 4.95
Showing 1 - 8 of 113 reviews
Default avatar
Amrin
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

A Life Changing Journey

Volunteering in India was a transformative experience which allowed me to contribute to a cause greater than myself.
It also gave me the opportunity to witness the strength of human spirit despite life’s challenges, it helped me learn from the resilience of those facing adversity and to make a lasting impact on the lives of individuals in need.
I would encourage anyone to come forward and embrace this amazing and very humbling experience, you won’t regret it.Volunteering in India was not without its challenges. The living conditions were harsh, and the lack of basic amenities was glaringly apparent. However, these challenges served as a reminder of the importance of perseverance and adaptability. The experience taught me valuable lessons in resourcefulness, and appreciating the little things in life. It also ignited a sense of gratitude within me for the privileges I often took for granted.

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?
If you have the opportunity to help others in need go and volunteer. India was the best experience of my life, it will humble you and make you appreciate what you have in life.
Pros
  • The People/ Children
  • The Food
  • Beautiful Attractions/History
Cons
  • Poverty
  • Animal Care
  • Pollution
38 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Lara
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Just travelling, learning, growing, living..and collecting beatiful memories on the way❤️

Feeling blessed✨
The imperfect and daring balance between its strong flavour of danger, its impossible chaos (which somehow, unexplainably, always gets to be solved) and its unique beauty, along with the elegance with which it pulls off all its imperfections, is what makes India so fascinating to me.
From the moment you arrive, you feel just totally overwhelmed and your 5 senses so completely overstimulated that you think you can't take it anymore..but that's when India surprises you all over again..✨
The cows, the monkeys and the dogs round every corner, along with the fear of a monkey-attack coming from the tree above the entrance to your house; the mountains of rubbish littering the roadsides; the pollution and heaviness in the air to the point that everything, including the sky, appears faded; the sweat clinging to your body in the scorching heat; the dangers everywhere, from the rabid animals to the food you eat and the water you drink; the overpowering and ever contrasting smells down every street; the fear of mosquitoes and disease...
And then there's the people: the brilliance of the colours of women's sarees and the sparkle of their jewellery, the melodic cadence of the language, the head bobbing, the jingle of all the bangles and the intensity of their stare...
But most of all it's never-ending chaos: the jostling crowds, the incessant congestion of the Indian traffic, its maddening confusion dictated by the rhythm of its never-ending honking and the blast of indian folk music coming from every tuk tuk🛺..
All these small details of daily life in India are aspects that really hit you when you get there, but that you slowly get accustomed to and grow to love and finally miss once you've left.🥻🐒🇮🇳
This is my photograph of India, a country magical in all its contrasts and that will forever have a place in my heart.❤️

Thank you IVHQ, I'm so grateful for the opportunity you gave me to combine two of the things I love the most; getting the chance to travel and visit some beautiful places, while at the same time investing in my future as a doctor made this experience really meaningful to me.🌍🩺
But most of all, it was really special to volunteer in a country where so many are in need of help and I feel like working in the slums made the experience even more fulfilling. It was truly heartbreaking to see the living conditions of people in the slums and really humbling to be able to experience their day to day life, even if just for a few hours each day. It also brought me to see the most beautiful aspect of it: all those people showed a strong sense of belonging towards their slum and the community they had built together. It was moving to see how much importance those people give to taking care of one another, taking time out of their daily activities to dedicate it to accompanying their friend, their sick mother or an elderly neighbour to be seen by the slum doctor.
This experience really made me realize how unjust the world is and how it's so wrong that our opportunities in life are so strongly dependent on the country and family we're born into; it made me realize how many things we take for granted.
I was also deeply touched by how each medical volunteer, however inexperienced, is immediately made to feel appreciated and welcomed into being part of the slum community.
Feeling like I could make even just one person feel slightly better each day and bring a smile to their face despite all their challenges truly filled my heart with emotion.🥹❣️

It was also really special to share this experience with other volunteers from all over the world. I learned that although every volunteer comes from a different past, is at a different moment of their life and has chosen to volunteer for different reasons, during their time as a volunteer everyone is facing the same daily struggles, in a foreign country and away from home. And it's having this kind of experience, this small but so meaningful fragment of our lives, in common, that I feel created this strong sense of mutual understanding between us and brought us even closer together.
Every single one of you was an important part of this experience; thank you for the unforgettable memories we created together.❤️

16.09.23 - 06.10.23🙏🏻🌍🇮🇳

39 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Daniela
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Medical project india

It was a life changing experience I was looking for, I love the culture the country
And the agency support in all the way.
I feel in a home for two months.
I help a lot of people and children’s, I hope someday I can go again to the same school and clinic and know the children are growing up and learning all the things that the volunteers give them. And in the clinic I hope someday I can go and help so much more like a dentist and give a new way to smile for all the pacient in the city of faridabad.

60 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Apolline
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

IVHQ Special Needs Care in Kerala

I had a fabulous experience in India.
I felt a true immersion in the country by meeting the locals and contributing to impactful volunteering in Special Needs Care as well as providing a First Aid Training Class in Women's Empowerment. We built strong bonds with other volunteers from different countries and trully hope I will stay in touch with them.
The IVHQ team and local were always kind and helpful, and they went out of their way to make this trip as great as possible.
I highly recommend this experience and will be volunteering again with IVHQ :-)

Pros
  • Local team support
  • Organisation from end to end
  • Many volunteering choices (type and geography)
75 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Anna
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Making a difference

I could really feel to make a difference and it was great to see where the money actually went to. I had a great time in the slum clinic of Delhi and the work there was very rewarding since the people that needed help were very thankful! The clinic was very basic so I also learned how to treat patients with less things than we would normally do in europe or improvise. Also the food and the homestay was great, they also were able to prepare vegan meals for me!
Would recommend going with IVHQ and would definitely go again with them since the organization of the program was all in all great!

Pros
  • it was very rewarding
  • saw medical cases that dont exist in europe anymore
  • the food and homestay was great
Cons
  • did not challenge my medical knowledge
89 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Sandeep
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Medical Mission

This was a wonderful humanitarian opportunity. My wife and I are physicians and had never had the chance to volunteer in an underprivileged clinic in a developing country. IVHQ through their vast network offered a medical mission in a slum clinic in a city outside of Delhi known as Faridabad. We are of Indian heritage so we jumped at the opportunity. I hadn’t heard of this place but rather the surrounding areas such as Gurgaon and Noida. Both IVHQ and the local team were very supportive and guided us prior, during and after our trip. We had the privilege of working alongside a dedicated and compassionate doctor in the clinic. We were able to use our basic medical and specialty skills in offering assistance to these patients. This was quite a humbling and rewarding experience.

Pros
  • Humanitarian effort
  • Cultural immersion
  • Explore the world
Cons
  • Expense
114 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Jennifer
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

An incredible, life changing experience…

I recently returned from volunteering on the Women’s Empowerment Programme in Kerala, India. I can honestly say this was the best and most incredible experience of my life. IVHQ, the local team and the students warmed my heart every single day, with their support, kindness, willingness to learn and interest to make genuine, lifelong connections. The accommodation catered for all of my needs and there were delicious meals cooked every single day. The women who oversee the Women’s Empowerment programme were hands on and extremely supportive of the volunteers, in terms of lesson planning and translating where needed. I personally grew as a person and learned that I’m actually a pretty good teacher - there were plenty of resources available too when required!
Outside the the programme, there was heaps of support and recommendations around how to make the most of any down time, I saw many sights of Fort Kochi and Kerala, as well as socialising with the other volunteers. The highlight of my entire programme was when the beginners English class made me a cake to celebrate my birthday and gave myself and the other volunteers roses as a thank you on our final day.
I learned a lot about the culture, and was immersed into the Keralan way of life by the local team and students. I felt like I made a difference, and the experience was so rewarding. I’m so thankful to the community who make this programme possible!

Pros
  • Immersion into a different culture
  • A rewarding opportunity to teach and impact a community
  • Made lifelong friends
Cons
  • There’s never enough time to do everything!
123 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Eva
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Highly recommend

I had the most incredible time volunteering solo with IVHQ in Kerala, India. The pre-trip guidance was excellent with detailed explanations and expectations set clearly from the get-go. The women’s empowerment project and teaching at a local school were both incredibly rewarding. The staff at the local volunteer house were friendly and professional. The volunteer house was clean and safe. I met like-minded people and learnt so much about India, the culture and had so much fun! Thank you so much IVHQ

132 people found this review helpful.

Questions & Answers

Nope! When I was in India, our orientation group had volunteers of various ages!

It all depends how long you are staying for, while volunteering you do get meals with the families you stay with but some may not like the food and want to eat out, generally India is one of the cheapest places you can visit, if you are purely just going to volunteer and don't intend doing any other activities which is doubtful in India then you won't need much at all, if you are the type to live...

I took a look and you can find the price breakdown for both programs in India below. Hope that helps!