It's hard to come up with anything unsaid... All the lovely accounts provided by previous volunteers are all true! My four weeks work & travel program was unforgettably amazing.
I worked in Women Empowerment, a smaller program. Initially I signed up for the Orphanage Program but it was so confronting that after two days I decided it was too much for me. The orphanage is actually run by the government, but lacks both adequate resources and staff. Without enough nappies the babies excrete onto themselves, often not getting changed for it; we are under the impression that they are also not fed enough. The staff are also at times patience-less with the children, slapping/beating/yelling at them as a solution to stop them from crying. As horrific as the condition is, seeing an orphanage in a developing country is an experience I will never forget. I just felt too helpless with it and I requested a change, which Pranay and Amita agreed with absolutely no hassle. They also really tried to comfort me when I let them know how useless I felt because I couldn't deliver what I came here to volunteer for.
Women Empowerment turned out to be exactly right for me. Together with another volunteer, we would work with 4-12 girls at a time, age between 10 and 18. They come from rural villages, and although they do go to school, our main goal is to improve their English to broaden their life choices and job prospects eventually. Especially with the older girls who have a slightly better grasp of English, we encourage them to extend their horizon of aspirations by telling them life stories of India's great female banker, engineer, teacher, police etc. With the younger girls we incorporating drawing and games like Simon Says. Each day we also brought over a laptop belonging to Sankalp so we could introduce the girls to computers and typing. - I hope they will achieve their dreams, given that ALL their mothers were not given a choice but being housewives. These are the most lovely and sweet girls- after three weeks we felt like sisters. Most are so eager to learn, fighting over each other to give an answer in class or getting me to check their works. Everyday they came with a cheerful smile that would melt my heart; and towards the end as I was starting to learn how to wear a sari, they were more than eager to give me a helping hand to rearrange my pleats and pins. Asha in particular is amazing when it comes to it. She is a young woman (although mother of two) teaching in the Street Kids program and helping in our program, so that she can occasionally translate a few things and in the rare occasions that our girls lost control she could get them back in order in Hindi. She is very friendly and supportive, and through talking to her I've learnt so many things about the local customs.
All the Sankalp Staffs are incredibly nice people. Plenty of reviews have talked about Pranay and Amita, how they never let us feel unsafe or doubtful; I'll just expand a little. They are tireless when it came to our questions, and went out a long way to help us. Initially I had issue with date change and the Indian visa; I felt so awful for all the troubles I've created but Pranay was always there to offer help and never seemed bothered. You can ask them any questions, apart from the volunteering they also let me helped me with sightseeing and auto-rich saw bargaining!
One of the most delightful gems I've met on this trip though, was Puni, our cook. Everyone has talked about the very delicious food so I won't go into that. Apart from being an extremely talented cook and a cheerful girl, she is also such a helpful and enthusiastic friend. She didn't spare any effort to introduce me to the art of sari; another great insight of the Indian culture. She gave me opinions and advices all the way from choosing the right colour and material, to blouse making, and to how to wear a sari in different styles. To me it was interesting to see that the love for clothes and beauty definitely transcend beyond cultures- after all, she is just a girl our age.
The guesthouse we stay in is very reasonable a d safe, actually quite a treat for the standard of the place and price. Most of us have done extensive research on volunteering organisations and compared a fair few before choosing Sankalp, particularly because of it's affordability, and it didn't let us down. Come here not expecting luxury and you will be fine. I always felt protected, and all the things you need are around; it's true that water, power and Internet occasionally go out, but never for long and the fact that Sankalp has it's own power generator shows how organised they are. Most fellow volunteers are also a great fun to have around; in the evenings we would chill, chat, watch movies together. You come here for India and you leave here with new knowledge and insights for many more countries!
The traveling itself is pretty full on, cramping a lot of things into a short time. It is perhaps not my ideal way to travel, often feeling out of breath and time; but for time and budget restricted people, which sadly includes me, the Sankalp travel programs are of good value and organisation.
In terms of Jaipur- it is a lovely city (once you get used to the craziness of India) to spend two or three weeks in to explore it in a leisurely pace, as it does offer a lot.
Altogether it is an experience I cannot recommend enough.
