Volunteer and Internship Program
Seva Mandir’s volunteer and internship program provides an opportunity for people to gain an insight into the development sector through hands on grassroots’ work.
The need:
- The volunteer program was originally started to raise awareness about the development sector.
- Now with a large gap between the corporate and development sector, getting people from different sectors to volunteer and intern with Seva Mandir allows us to develop better relationships with them.
Impact
- Volunteers have been a strong source of support for various programs, by lending their expertise and knowledge to help improve them.
- Volunteers are an unbiased, outside perspective to evaluate our programs and offer recommendations to help improve them
- Seva Mandir’s volunteer and internship program also allows students studying in institutions both in India and across the world an opportunity to participate in research and fieldwork.
- Seva Mandir’s volunteer program helps establish relationships with individuals from various parts of the world and spreads the message about Seva Madnir’s work and philosophies.
Current Situation
During the past year (2010-2011) Seva Mandir hosted 180 national and international volunteers and interns.
Challenges
- Seva Mandir’s volunteer program is free, providing both housing as well as a monthly stipend. This however leads to a large financial burden on Seva Mandir and can also lead to a lack of accommodation for new volunteers.
- There are many organizations that help place interns with respectable organizations. While they charge their clients large amounts of money, they often do not provide Seva Mandir with any compensation further leading to a strain on our resources. Seva Mandir is in the process of establishing a protocol to deal with these types of situations.
If you would like to volunteer with Seva Mandir, please visit our Volunteers Page