Affordable Volunteer Opportunities Abroad
Africa, Latin America, Asia

Thousands of refugee families from Bangladesh have been displaced and living in shanty communities for years. The lack of food, education, employment, shelter and medical facilities are the root to the problems. It is our hope that "Street Children Welfare" will provide a support system to help diminish these issues, while focusing on the street kids.

Currently we have one established cite, Sealdah Station, where hundreds of kids (200+) are suffering and taking shelter. Sealdah was chosen because it is the main station in Kolkata and there are many needy homeless children who live there. Some of these street kids live with their families, while other live alone. For these kids medical support does not exist because local hospitals simply do not care about street kids, or any street people to be exact.

Work at Sealdah normally starts between 5:00-7:30am and includes many possible welfare activities. These activities can be as simple and necessary as shear affection and a smile, washing clothes, cleaning, and providing food for the street kids. Other extremely important activities include basic education and providing medical supplies and treatment.

We have also just initiated a new location where we have found street kids hanging out. This is the garbage dump where all the garbage from Kolkata goes. There are more than 500 4-15 year olds who are working on a daily basis in this place to earn some money to survive. The street kids and some of their families, if they have family, go to the garbage dump to pick up anything that may be useful (plastics, used materials, goods, toys etc.) for selling. This is clearly a very dangerous place for people and kids. They are being put at high risk for getting infected with all kinds of diseases; and this considering the lack of medical treatment. The initial target is to provide education to those who are picking through this garbage so they know what risks they are taking and what they can do to help prevent infection. It is also our goal to start a mobile medical camp to help treat these individuals. However, both of these tasks need to be headed by some much needed funding.

Minimum Program Length: 2 weeks
Start Date: Every Monday
Arrival Date: 1 day prior to your Start Date (Sunday)
Minimum Age: 18 years old
Volunteer Gender: Male and Female

Accommodation:
Your accommodation is included in the program price. Volunteers could stay in any of the following: family homestays, halls, lodges, guest house and school lodges (dormitory) depending on availability at the time and location. Accommodations will be for 2-4 (same gender) volunteers per room with basic living conditions.

Food:
Three meals a day are included in the program fee.

Pick-up Info:
A Volunteer Visions representative will be waiting for you at your arrival point and guide you to your accommodation and project location.

Project Schedule:
The working day can range from 4-8 hours Monday to Friday, starting between 5:00-7:30am.

Suggested Donations
Donations of basic medical supplies, clothes, blankets, hygienic items, books, pens, notebooks, games, tools etc. are welcomed.

You will be given a more specific list a work details during your orientation, but the following is a very basic description of what you may be able to expect. Your role as a volunteer at Sealdah would start at 3:40am when you would leave your accommodation 20 kilometers from Sealdah in order to get there in time to start working by 5:00am. Your day would begin with washing the street kids, providing them with breakfast and then some basic education, medical treatment and a happy face and affection to make them smile.

As we are waiting for the site at the garbage dump to take off it is difficult to say exactly what your day would entail. The basics would include medical education on sanitation and hygiene, as well as infectious disease prevention. It is also our hope to start a mobile medical camp in order to provide actual medical attention, such as disease prevention and treatment.

Suggested Skills and Interests

Most importantly the volunteers need to be open-minded, have initiative, creative, patient and enjoy working with children. Self-motivation is very important as well. Volunteers should respect the culture, dress codes, and traditions very closely. They need to be flexible with local foods, accommodations and systems of living. Specific skills or trades that have been found in previous volunteers include, but are not limited to: teachers, health care professionals, social workers, community developers, construction workers, and dieticians or food distributors.

In the north of India, Kolkata (Calcutta), India's third largest city is defined not by its poverty but by the energy, imagination and zest for life of its people. Located in West Bengel, Kolkata has a population of 14,000,000. From April to June the city is extraordinarily hot, so the arrival of the monsoon rains in mid June can feel like a blessing. From mid June to October these rains poor down on the city and lighten up starting in October and run through February. Temperatures in Kolkata rarely drop below 15ºC (59ºF) and often soar above 35ºC (95ºF). The city is expected to date back around 2000 years, therefore it clearly has an abundance of history underneath your feet. More recently the IT boom in India has started to catch up with Kolkata, prompting many multinational companies to set up base in the city.

Local Activities And Attractions

Considering volunteers have weekends free they are more than welcome to travel to nearby places. We are also capable of organizing tour programs for our volunteers before or after their program. Possible excursions depend on available time and project location. Here is a list of destinations you may choose to visit: Taj Mahal, New Delhi - Capital of India, Trekking or simply seeing the sights of the Mountains of India - Himalayans, Western Ghats, and Eastern Ghats, Villages of India with cow driven cart and man driven cart rides, Ganges Safari, Pilgrimage places of India, Jaipur - the Pink City of India with elegant Elephant ride, Deserts of India - Thar Desert with a challenging Camel ride, Beaches of India, and Indian valleys which include snow-capped peaks, dry and cold deserts, luxuriant fields, rock-faces, mangroves, bare stretches of earth, and a range of alpine to impenetrable tropical rain forests.

Activities that are available on site to volunteers include Yoga and Language classes. Yoga classes are available for $50 per week, per person. This includes two classes a week on Saturday and Sunday evening. Bengali language classes are also available for this same rate on Saturday and Sunday early mornings.