A fun and rewarding experience!

In March 2017, my 14 yr old daughter and I had the pleasure of volunteering with the Womens Empowerment group.
It was a wonderful experience getting to know the girls. At first everyone was a little shy, but over the course of the week, we became a part of the group.
This experience gave us a small insight into the local culture and the opportunity to interact, share, and positively impact the lives of the women we met.
We learned about the challenges these women face in their society, as well as the joy they get from being in a supportive environment that allows them to learn valuable skills which they can take and use in their community.
There was no set program for us to follow, so we improvised, teaching the girls a little English, then joined in with them in their henna drawing and sewing classes.
We became models for the girls to practice their new hair dressing skills, nail polish techniques and latest henna hand designs. They also taught us some great Bollywood dance moves in an impromptu dance class, providing an invaluable lesson in self confidence for everyone.
As part of the program, we also spent some time each afternoon in a children's after school program near the women's centre in rural Jaipur. The kids were keen to learn and practice their English, keeping us busy with setting math problems, marking book work and playing games.

The Volunteer with India program was a great package and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a grass roots experience.
The host family was very welcoming and caring, feeding us very well with an abundance of traditional meals. Our assigned driver, a happy guy named Totaram, promptly picked us up each day for our assignment, doubled as our weekend tour guide on our day off and occasionally took us for chai at the local stall ‘after work’.
A great experience overall - I would highly recommend this program!!