Help underprivileged children improve their health, strength and fitness

Based in Bangalore, this gap year volunteer placement is in a unique and innovative project working with several children’s organisations throughout the city to improve the quality of life for underprivileged children. Started in 1999 by a group of people during their university, this soon became an organisation that has been a huge catalyst of change. They promote life skills amongst children by exposure to extra curricular activities. They run programmes in sports (hockey, table tennis, football and rugby), summer camps, monthly camping trips (with canoeing, trekking and bird-watching), creative arts (pottery, painting, drama, music), spoken English and computer training, to name but a few.

Your Role: As a sports coach, you will be helping coach the children in 3-4 different sports. Currently the centre runs Hockey, Football, Rugby and Table Tennis and is constantly adding more sports to its portfolio.

All the sports have professional coaches who train mainstream children as well. Along with the coach, you will be responsible for running the sessions, giving tips on technicalities of the sport, leading the warm-up and warm-down sessions and observing the behavioural patterns.

Sports are used as a medium to build skills like confidence, team work and discipline. As a volunteer, you will be required to actively observe children for these skills and give inputs to the coach and staff to help improve them. Previous volunteers have built strong bonds with children and have helped designed fitness sessions to increase the agility and confidence of the children

There is also an active adventure camp program that runs alongside the sports program. Most volunteers do go on adventure camps with the children and lead them in canoeing, night trekking in the jungle, rock climbing and other activities.

What you Gain: There is an immense personal satisfaction when you see a bunch of kids with sparkling eyes eagerly awaiting your sessions and seeking your acceptance after every small assignment that they complete. That apart, you will learn to work in a challenging environment and learn to "Expect the Unexpected". The project will also help you develop planning and project management skills, to learn to work with limited resources and use your creativity to the maximum. It will help build your own self-confidence, problem solving skills, decision-making skills, creative-thinking skills and inter-personal skills.

Going to a new country can be unnerving. But it’s a great experience when you have the basics taken care of. At GapGuru, we have arranged for what we believe will make for a comfortable trip.

What’s included?

• Country and Project Guidance – There is so much to choose from! Our team gives you a run down on destinations and projects that you are tempted to go for, so that you can choose the right placement. If you are not sure of what you want to do or where you want to go, our experienced team is there to guide you all the way.
• Pre Departure Briefing – Before you leave for your chosen destination, we will arrange for a pre departure briefing where we help you out with extremely helpful details. Things like – what clothes are suitable, peculiarities of people, food that you could get, safety of the place and precautions if any, how much should you pay for a cup of coffee – simple things to make your life easier !
• Guidance for processing visa – GapGuru will arrange for all the relevant documents and guide you through the visa process.
• Airport Pick Up – Arriving in a new city and not knowing where to go and how to go can be quite unsettling. A GapGuru representative will meet you at the nearest airport or train station and take you to your place of stay.
• In country Orientation and Welcome Pack – When you arrive in the city, you will have an orientation where you could meet other gapers from GapGuru, know all about the city, how to find your way around, where to get SIM cards for the phone, small bits that you will need help sorting out in the first few days.
• In Country Support – Our local co-ordinators act as a friend and guide through out your stay. Whether you feel home sick or just want some local information, they are there to make sure you have a memorable experience.
• Accommodation – In most cases, you will be staying with a local host family. It gives you a taste of the daily life of a local and sample some delicious come cooked food. In some cases accommodation is provided with the projects.
• Breakfast and Dinner

Not included: ( But we are happy to assist you with)

• International Flights
• Visa and Travel insurance fee
• Vaccination
• Local Transport and Travel
• Personal Expenses

Next Steps
If you like this project, you can apply now here.
If you have some questions, send us an enquiry or call us and we’ll be happy to help.

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