Based in
Bangalore, this gap year volunteer placement is a unique and innovative project working with several children's organisations throughout the city to improve the quality of life of children from underprivileged children. They run programmes in sports (hockey, table tennis, basketball and football), 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 Physical Education and Fitness Leader in the sports programmes you have the chance to take the lead in providing a general physical fitness programme. This will involve planning a fitness program session-by-session, running the programme at different centres across
Bangalore and then evaluating the programme. The children participating in this programme do not have the opportunity to take part in activities such as these through school, and this gives them the chance to build confidence through teamwork, and improve their health and fitness. In addition, you may support some of the existing sports programmes run by the organization such as field hockey, table tennis and football.
What you Gain: The most important thing you gain is the 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.
Day in the life of a project volunteer:
The volunteer comes into the office in the morning to plan their sessions, evaluate previous sessions, or to write about a specific child's progress. Then having planned a fitness session they will then go out to run the session in the late afternoon, or sometimes first thing in the morning around 6:30 am for approximately 15 - 20 children. On other days they may want to assist in the other sports programmes - hockey, football or table tennis - that the organisation runs.
Volunteer skills/experience: We are looking for volunteers with an interest in sport and physical fitness. Previous experience working with children or training others is preferable. Volunteers should be outgoing, and confident. Volunteers with specific training or experience in sports such as football, Field Hockey and Table Tennis could add value to the program.