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GYC3102 - Orphanage projects Country: India Cost: £995.00 Cost Includes: The price includes accommodation, food and pickup from airport but does not include flight, insurance, kit or visas     Duration: 1 months Company Rep Nearby: All the time 0845 344 7627 or

 

	This placement would suit... People who want to help out overworked staff and spend time brightening the lives of the children. Working in an orphanage is probably one of the toughest and most rewarding things that you can do. The orphanages we work with are well run but often the staff are busy and have little time to interact with the children. Your job will be to simply spend time with the children and pay them some attention. This will involve playing games, sports and helping the children develop interests. You might start an art club, get the children interested in nature, put on a play or simply run around chasing a ball. Some of the orphanages we work in are for children whose parents have died of AIDS or AIDS related illness, many have simply been abandoned by parents and relatives. Your daily duties will really depend on which orphanage you work with. Most orphanages have mixtures of ages from new born babies up to children who are 13-14 years old, but some specialise in older or younger children. If working with younger children you daily tasks will be to help bath, clothe and feed the children, putting them down for naps but most importantly spending time playing with the children and keeping them entertained. This is perhaps the most vital role as this is really something that the staff don't have time to do. The older children go to school during the day so if working with this group your day will be broken in to two sections. In the morning you will be helping the children get up, washed, dressed, fed and ready for school. The children come home about 2pm so then you will be helping with homework and again spending time with the kids. At this time it would be great if you could take the kids down to the beach or on other trips. If you're interested in music or drama, why not get the children involved in a play. If you’re into sports why not start a team! Kindness and compassion are necessary prerequisites for all of these projects. Note all projects working with children require a background check. This is an extra cost of about £10 but we will make the necessary arrangements. Parking tickets, speeding fines, and some criminal convictions will not prevent you from joining us; we simply check if you have any prior convictions relating to harming children. Accommodation During your time with us in India you will be staying in accommodation that we rent from the local people. This house is quite spacious and clean and volunteers share a dormitory style room with 3 other people. Whether you are teaching, on the journalism placement or working in hospitals, all the volunteers stay together in the same accommodation which means that you are never far away from someone to socialise with in the evenings or travel with at weekends. Usually, four people will share a room. The standard of the accommodation will be basic and not be what you are used to at home so please don’t expect all mod cons, but it will be clean and tidy. The house has running water and electricity, but please be aware that the water is delivered and stored in a tank above the house so there may be times when it runs out and the electricity supply is unreliable and may often fail. India often has problems with its electricity supply and will be cut off at times with no warning. Even breakfasts in India have an element of curry spices to them. There will be someone there to look after the house and they will cook your meals, which means that if you can't quite get used to Indian food then they can cook something similar to what you are used to at home. Travelling around Trivandrum is easy whether you are teaching or on a medical project, you placement will be easy to reach by auto rickshaw or bus. Very occasionally, we place volunteers with local families. This is usually during off-peak times when only a handful of volunteers are with us in India. If this is the case we will send you full details of your family accommodation before your departure. Our staff will be on hand during office hours if you have any general queries and only a phone call away outside office hours if there’s something much more urgent. Weekends The cost of the programme includes yoga lessons which are usually conducted each morning. Practising yoga is a great way to learn a little bit about Indian culture. Weekends are usually free and volunteers usually use this time to meet and go travelling. Our location in Kerala means that you are well placed to see some of the most interesting sites in India. The beaches of Kerala are reputed to be some of the best in the world. Not far away is the palm fringed Kovalam, perfect for just chilling out and relaxing by the sea after a hectic week in India. Further afield is the coastal port of Cochin, once centre to the spice trade from India. Travel further inland and travel down the famous backwaters of Kerala or journey up into the Western Ghat mountains and the wildlife reserve at Periyar roamed by herds of mud-caked elephants. If you’re exhausted by constant travelling, take a weekend off and take time to appreciate the various theatre and dance styles that abound in Kerala. Mohiniattam (‘dance of the enchantress’) and the martial art influenced Kathakali dance drama are well worth experiencing if you have the chance during your time with us in India. Those interested in travelling much further afield can journey into neighbouring Tamil Nadu to visit the many Hindu temples or much further north to Agra and a pilgrimage to the Taj Mahal. 0845 344 7627 Joining Global Volunteer Projects is as much about learning as it is about giving. Our programmes are designed to incorporate learning the local language and something about the local culture. All our programmes include, where applicable, basic language courses as well as 'culture' courses. This may be drumming in Ghana, yoga in India or learning Swahili in Tanzania. We also offer a wide range of projects, teaching, conservation and orphanage work for those keen to get involved as well as medicine and journalism placements for those looking to gain that all important work experience.