samagra.co.in

Volunteering can be a positive experience: “Helper’s high” is a well documented phenomena in medical science, which simply put, means that when we truly serve someone unselfishly, it generates certain euphoric neuro-transmitters in brain, certain positive emotions of well being in us, which may last for weeks to months. It also hastens our inner growth and could be compared with Bardo moments of Buddhist philosophy: periods of sudden spurt in our understanding and perception. Quite often, someone else’s suffering helps us to understand the deeper meaning of suffering, both in personal and generic terms. We also get to learn the universal elements underlying our diverse cultures. We ‘return home with new eyes’ and begin to appreciate what we have...



Things to Consider About Volunteering in India

* “Necessities” of life - things taken for granted at home - may be difficult to find in Herbertpur: uninterrupted Internet access, running hot water, constant power supply, thick mattresses, western food, etc.

* Life here is very communal. The concept of ‘Privacy of the Individual’ is nearly non-existent here.

* Being a tropical humid country, cockroaches, flies, mosquitoes are part and parcel of the eco-system and daily life.

* Cultural mores widely differ in India. In Herbertpur, both men and women have to operate within the margins defined by the conservative culture of this rural region. In a nutshell, this means appropriate covering of the body and legs and modest behavior in public spaces.

* Work culture in India too can be a sore point for many - especially western volunteers. You need to first learn and then - if you have energy and commitment - try to change it.

* Samagra is foremost an ashram - a place for contemplation and sadhana (spiritual development).

* Volunteering involves provision of boarding, lodging and accompaniment (e.g. translators) in field. This is not free. Why do I have to pay, when I am offering my services freely? To understand this, please refer this article from transitionsabroad.com, and this one from crossculturalsolutions.org

* Time slot: volunteering for just a week (or less) is not feasible at present. A reasonable time frame will be at least 6 weeks. More will be better!


What can I hope to do as volunteer?

* Samagra is working with children (in and out of school) with special needs (mostly speech and hearing) in the age group 5 to 15 years. Volunteers can teach various skills: origami, story telling, word games, taking turns at listening and speaking, singing, play acting, drawing, painting, etc.

* You can help in group therapy sessions for children and adolescents who stutter.

* You can help in group sessions aimed at imparting conversational English skills.

* You can help in documentation, translation, editing, preparing training aids etc.

* If you are experienced, you can teach counseling and speech therapy skills to the Samagra team.

* You could learn Meditation, Yoga asans (postures), creative writing and self defense in exchange.

* Contact: Volunteer Coordinator (Nikolai’s email ID)