Volunteering in India: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

jalebiwallah

I'm currently serving as volunteer coordinator for a small Delhi NGO and I'd love to hear about people's experiences as volunteers here in India - what did you like and what drove you a bit mad? Overall are you glad you did it? Would you do it again? Also, did you pay for a volunteer program or arrange it yourself?

Thanks

shashank.aggarwal

lets start with you experiences JW, as you are currently working as one..

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jalebiwallah

Fair enough. Let me start with the big caveat that I'm only 6 weeks into a 9 month stay, so I'm sure my feelings will change. Right now however, I absolutely love what I'm doing. I spend my days with the most amazing bunch of kids (from some of the poorest non-regularized colonies of south Delhi) and teachers, none of whom are formally trained. What frustrates me, though, are the workplace politics (and this is a very small NGO - I can't imagine what would happen in a larger NGO). I really feel like gathering everyone together every morning and asking them to think for a second about what we're doing and why we're doing it. I know when I keep "my eyes on the prize" disagreements seem more like passionate engagement and misunderstandings are easier to handle. I also get frustrated by the scattered nature of the work we do (even in India it's alright to say no once in a while). On the other hand from this chaos comes a constant stream of new opportunities for me as a volunteer (opportunities I may or may not be qualified to make the most of). Plus at the end of this theoretical day I feel like I've made a kid or two happy, taught a thing or two and learned much more than that. It's perhaps the best "job" I've ever had.

kristinm

The sit down is a good idea - in my experience years ago working for a charity in London, one needs to keep a firm grip on volunteers ... people who are passionate AND also donating their time can get very difficult to handle and tend to want to go off and do things their own way & just pick and choose their jobs. They get a bit bitchy and competitive with each other too.

.. You need to firmly direct them to what actually NEEDS doing and make it clear that it is their job to do it.. just pretend to yourself they are being paid and you are the boss... don't be intimidated by the fact that they are volunteering, there still needs to be a chief.. Otherwise you'll end up being the one who does all the crap work at the end of the day, and you'll spend all your time plugging the holes left by the volunteers.

Aishah

Kristin - thoroughly agree with your post - have just recently met a few volunteers taking a break and chatting with them. Not only do they need to be fully understanding of the work needed, but also as you mentioned, most necessary is ,the boss does too! A good clear intention in mind and how to put it in process, plus good directions for the volunteers. The volunteers were disagreeing with some of the other volunteers as to what they were doing, and the boss was ineffective. They were becoming very disgruntled and thinking of giving up.

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suzi

My experience with volunteering so far has been miserable and frustrating. Upon arriving in India and seeing so many street dogs in such a sad state I decided to go to my local animal shelter and sign up as a volunteer. After touring the shelter it was obvious that help was needed, there is no shortage of stray animals in Bangalore and many of them end up at this particular animal shelter which is supposed to be one of the best in the city. The employees do the best that they can, but they are just overwhelmed by the number of dogs, cats, puppies, kittens, cows, donkeys, etc. However, when I made it know that I would like to volunteer, doing absolutely anything that is needed at all; cleaning out cages, doing dishes, preparing meals, walking dogs whatever, I was told that the shelter didn't need any volunteers, that the animals were cared for by payed employees and that I would just cause more problems and that my presence would probably make matters worse.

I tried to reason with the volunteer coordinator that animals deserve more than just food and water but she was unwilling to concern herself with anything more than just the very basic needs of the animals (and I feel that I could even help in providing just basic care). I left heartbroken and in tears, knowing that there is so much that I could do, if only I would be allowed.

What is a person to do when they want to help, help is needed, but it is not wanted? I feel that the coordinator has been told what her job is, and she will do only that, no more. The whole experience has turned me off of volunteering entirely, it was made clear that my money would be welcome, but not me. The unfortunate truth that has yet to be realized by this organization and certainly many others is that money doesn't solve every problem and passionate volunteers, when utilized properly, can be an incredibly valuable resource.

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I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uhmmm, some people out there in our nation don’t have maps

chris123

Hi Suzi..

If you are interested to volunteer with a "Home for destitute girls" housing orphaned & semi-orphaned girls of Mumbai, please access www.amchaghar.org or contact me for more details...

Nick-H

Suzi, you should understand that many volunteers cause more problems than they solve. Ever been in the situation where it is easier to do something yourself than to explain it to someone else, so you end up doing it yourself?

Call me cynical, and I accept that this does not apply to you, but I'm sure you can imagine the potential volunteers at an animal shelter, who just want to pet kittens and so on. Its tough, but how are they to tell the genuine from the others? It would require staff just to manage volunteers.

I've never done it, but I know people who have, and I know people who have been involved in charities.

---there are good people doing good work for good charities.

--- there are the volunteers that just want a holiday, or get sick and have to be looked after, or run into problems and expect emotional support.

--- there are the charities for whom volunteers are just a source of income. In fact there are far too many people for whom charities are just a source of income.

Other members know much more than I do on this subject, both good and bad.

The money thing alone is such a minefield that it is our site policy to treat charities as businesses. Any charity advertising for volunteers on IndiaMike will be treated just the same as a hotel advertising for customers. This is tough, and hard to do, but experience over the years the site has been running has proved it necessary.

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suzi

I can of course appreciate that not all volunteers are necessarily wanted and or needed, but I am speaking only of my specific experience of attempting to volunteer my free time at the local animal shelter. Maybe it is easier for organizations to simply turn down all interested volunteers rather than spending the time to determine if a potential volunteer is qualified and volunteering for the right reasons but it seems to me that it is quite a waste of potentially valuable resources. In my specific case, there was already a volunteer coordinator, so there was already staff to whom the responsibility of volunteers should fall but as the shelter doesn't accept volunteers in reality I presume that this person is being paid for a job that isn't being fulfilled. And yet you they might worry about the inefficiency of vetting and or training volunteers? What a joke.

Additionally, in my case I am already gainfully employed in a completely unrelated field while in India and thought that while I was here maybe in my spare time I could do some good (which I of course made known to the volunteer coordinator at the shelter). Since I love animals and was raised on a farm and have extensive veterinary experience with farm animals I thought that maybe volunteering at the shelter would be a good fit. I guess I was wrong to think that I could make any sort of a difference and perhaps I should have known better. And to reiterate, I am talking about a small private local animal shelter, not some huge NGO who I can perfectly understand might be targeted by knuckleheads and would certainly be wary of volunteers.

Sorry if this post sounds bitter, but it breaks my heart everyday when I pass by the shelter and know that there is help that I can give to care for and comfort the residents but that the human inhabitants aren't willing to accept it. Why should the animals suffer because of their keepers' stubbornness?

P.S. And by the way, what is so wrong about wanting to pet the kittens? Don't you think that showing compassion and love to an animal is just as important as filling its belly?

gypsie,lotus

You are so right, what is wrong with loving our four legged friends on this earth. I think that maybe the director could be brought to realize that she does need a true volunter. I was at the shelter in Delhi under the bridge in Friends colony and they too need some more help, but they do take my donation every time I am in Delhi. I also give to the shelter here in the USA, in my home town. Keep trying, in India sometimes you do get the point across, and she will relent.

Nick-H

Well, that is what I was suggesting, but...

That's just ridiculous. I don't know if animal shelters get any government grant, but you will certainly find the human equivalent being run for the sake of its employees rather than its responsibilities. I was trying to understand their point of view, but this fact puts an entirely different light on it.

I have no problem with your complaints about this organisation. Be bitter; in your place I would too.

Nothing. Please tell our kittens that there is nothing wrong with petting humans; they came to us at about 4 weeks old, when it was already late to get them used to handling. But we are working on it. The mother cat who brought them is very affectionate.

I do understand your frustrations.

facing the end

jalebiwallah,
did u ever hear about Amma of Kerala
http://www.amma.org/index.html
she started out with four and to her fiftiest birthday
23 million pplz came, she hugs everybody and the only person I ever saw who go and lick the wounds of the leper with her own tongue - see utube clips

jalebiwallah

This is an interesting discussion, because I'm currently struggling with the role of volunteers myself (I am one, after all). Perhaps NGOs in general don't need the help of goras like me. I certainly don't understand the subtleties of what's going on around me. On the other hand volunteers can bring new energy and ideas that do good and often become financial supporters as well 9if they have a good experience as a volunteer, that is). The key is matching the right volunteers to the righ opportunities, I suppose.

Bwass

Hi Suzi,
I ask this purely out of curiosity and please, please don't take it personally but there is something in there that I profoundly don't understand/agree with, and again this is not directed at you and not meant as insulting at all but just as something I deeply don't understand in human nature:

How does someone get in a place like India and Delhi, where there are thousands and thousands of KIDS litterally dying in the streets in horrible conditions and be apalled by the situation of DOGS? Don't get me wrong, I love dogs myself, but I just simply can't understand that someone has an order of priorities that places dogs before children, if they want to give time, money and so forth. Again I don't mean this in any other way than to UNDERSTAND such a phenomenon, which I find incredibly puzzling... (really, I feel i have to reiterate this that there is absolutely no cynicism in this and that I' m absolutey not being condescending, I really really just don't get it....)

Thanks in advance!

Nick-H