Do you want to support vulnerable rural communities? Are you a non-government organization and want to develop your own project proposal to attract donors for funding? Then, you are in the right place. We are here with this project to create a cadre of young volunteers to support social development projects and at the same time also hone their skills in the social sector. This project proposal has objectives like initiating a volunteer program and engaging students to understand the local arts, culture, and traditions of rural communities; this project will also provide training on leadership skills to the volunteers.
Project Overview
The project seeks to connect 100 volunteers from Delhi NCR and Mumbai with rural communities in five states of India. Volunteering will help to positively impact lives and connect community members with their urban counterparts. Through careful selection of volunteers, we will screen for their interest level and commitment to providing long term support to the identified rural communities. Thoughtful placement of the volunteers with our partner organizations, will ensure that the volunteers connect well with their communities and thereby are instilled with a desire to continue their work once returning to their homes. The positive experience gained during volunteering will ensure that the volunteers don’t just “drop in and then drop out” of the communities as too often happens in other volunteer programs.
The three months long program would ensure that the volunteers are able to understand the local arts, culture traditions and the problems that the rural communities face. This learning phase will have a positive impact on the minds of the volunteers and will present them an opportunity to explore the social sector.
Project Goal
The project aims to create a cadre of young volunteers to support social development projects and at the sametime also hone their skills in the social sector.
Project Objective
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- To initiate a volunteer program to engage 100 students from Delhi NCR and Mumbai to understand the local arts, culture and traditions of rural communities in 5 states of India.
- To provide training on leadership skills to the identified 100 volunteers and engage them in our field projects with support from local NGO partners.
Activities
Selection of Volunteers: We will be selecting a total of 100 college graduates aged between 21- 25 years of age from different states. The following tasks will be performed as part of the selection process:
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- Advertising – We will be posting our requirements for volunteers on various portals and social media platforms.
- Screening of Applications- We shall be screening the applications and will shortlist over 500 applications for the next round.
- Virtual Interview of shortlisted candidates- We shall undertake telephonic or virtual interviews of the shortlisted candidates. We shall select a total of 250 candidates for the next and the final interview.
- Final Interview- The selected 100 candidates will be called for interviews and we will be finally selecting over 100 volunteers for the program.
Partner NGOs: To make the volunteership program a success we shall be partnering with five NGOs in 5 states to mentor the volunteers. The primary purpose of the partnership is to expose the selected volunteers to understand the diverse culture, practices and social issues in different states. The following activities to be undertaken as part of the partnership with volunteers.
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- Identifying NGOs- We shall be identifying NGOs with good rapport and impact in 5 states (Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Sikkim and Madhya Pradesh).
- Agreement with the identified NGOs- We shall sign an agreement with the identified NGOs to ensure the safety and security of the volunteers. The voluntary program will be for a period of 4 months and during this period the identified NGO will provide mentorship to the volunteers.
- Selection of projects- We will select different projects with the partner NGOs, to accommodate the volunteers.
Orientation of volunteers– We will be conducting an online orientation for all the volunteers to understand the program. During the orientation program our partner NGOs will share the following details about their organisations:
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- History, Mission, Vision of their organization
- Ongoing Programs and Projects at their organization.
- Overview of how their organization functions.
- The different projects on which the volunteers will be working.
- Policies and procedures that ensure safety for volunteers.
- Expectations from volunteers and the role of volunteers in the project.
Training of volunteers: Once the orientation of the volunteers is complete, we shall conduct a comprehensive training for the volunteers. Through the training the volunteers will gain insight into the social sector and will also learn the basic social skills required to conduct field projects. The training will cover the following aspects:
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- Tasks and duties of the volunteer
- Engaging with local communities
- Process to be followed when interacting with the local communities.
- Problem identification in the different project sites
- Preparing action plan for dealing with the problems in the respective project sites.
The training will be for a period of 10 days and during the training, the volunteers will be given some practical hands-on tips and tricks by development experts. After the completion of the training the volunteers will head towards their respective project sites.
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- On Field Training: Our NGO partners will conduct an on-field training for the volunteers. This field training will give them exposure to the specific cultural, socio-economic and environmental conditions of the project area. The NGO partners will share relevant literature with the volunteers and will define the scope of work for the volunteers. The on-field training will be for a period of 10 days, during which the volunteers will develop the action plan for the next three months.
- Field activities: The following activities will be undertaken by the volunteers under the guidance from the local NGO.
- Developing Village profiles of the area
- Problem Identification of area
- PRA Tools
- Secondary Research
- Stakeholder meetings
- Identifying solutions
- Literature Review
- Community Meetings
- Develop Community Development Action Plans (To suit the ecology, economy and socio-cultural beliefs)
Along with the above-mentioned activities the volunteers will also provide English and Computer training to the youth in their respective project sites.
Presentation of work: At the end of the three months, the volunteers will present their case studies and reports. This will be a two-day event, during which the volunteers will discuss their stories and the lessons they learned during the program.
