About the work of the trust

The trust works with women within the Dalit communities, who experience three levels of discrimination based on their caste, their economic situation and their gender. Due to traditional gender roles and religious customs, women from the Dalit communities have little or no access to education and income, making poverty and persecution for them a fact of life. Girls from poor families often don't attend school as they have to help with housework, have to assist with the care for younger siblings, or with generating the family income, particularly when there is no school nearby. Since 2018, another focus of the work of the NGO is to support gender minorities.

The following projects are run:

• Women Empowerment Centers: The non-profit currently has 8 empowerment centers in Jodhpur, Setrawa, and Jaisalmer. At each center, for 3 hours in the morning, around 30 women come to each center to receive training in sewing and embroidery, as well as classes in Hindi, English, and Maths. Many of the women have never been to school or dropped out early, and are often the first learners in their families. The centers provide them with a safe space to learn, be themselves, find support, and take their first steps towards financial independence. The women can also join weekly workshops in general knowledge and self-defense.
• Primary School Education: The same locations are used as Primary Education Centers in the afternoon. For 2 hours, children from the neighborhood, often children of the women attending in the morning, participate in classes in Hindi, English, and Maths. Once per week they can also join general knowledge workshops and computer classes.

Moreover, the trust runs three Boarding Homes in two locations of Jodhpur, housing around 70 girls aged between 5 and 21 years old. All girls are from rural backgrounds and they came to Jodhpur to excel academically and pursue their dreams. The organization provides education, accommodation, and essential life skills training, which their parents are not able to provide in their living circumstances.

Since 2018, the Garima project is dedicated to gender minorities in Jodhpur. The main component is a Sunday meetup, which provides a safe space for LGBTQIA+ individuals to gather, be themselves, and find communal support. Occasionally, medical camps, workshops, and other events are organized to spread awareness among and outside the community.

Your tasks as a volunteer or intern in Jodhpur

Being a volunteer or intern with this non-profit trust gives you the wonderful opportunity to do important and valuable work, empowering the underprivileged women, children and other minorities of Rajasthan. Not only will you help an organization that changes the lives of hundreds of women and girls, but you will also gain insight into the intricacies of Indian culture and develop an understanding of how a grassroots, non-profit organization operates.

For the empowerment and primary education centers, the organization accepts volunteers and interns who can assist local tutors in conducting English and math classes. International volunteers play a crucial role in the education programs provided at the trust, as they are bringing different teaching approaches, new ideas, and methods which have greatly contributed to the development of the organization in the past and had a significant impact for many beneficiaries. Working with and learning from people from different countries is a big motivation for the women and children to learn and attend the center.

If you would like to contribute differently to the organization, or your strengths are not fully in teaching? In this case you might be interested in assisting in the office in Jodhpur. You might work in the fields of fundraising, writing reports, and creating workshops.

In the afternoons, you can tutor the girls living in the boarding home, helping them with their homework or providing extra lessons in English and Math. The girls typically return to the boarding home from school after lunch.

It is also possible to assist in the office in Jodhpur. You could contribute to areas such as fundraising, report writing, and the development of workshops. This can be done full-time, or you can split your time between office duties and other projects, such as the women's empowerment center, primary education, or tutoring in the boarding home in the afternoons.

Placement in the desert village of Setrawa

Setrawa is a village with 3,000 inhabitants in the Thar Desert, about 100 km from Jodhpur. In Setrawa, you can volunteer in the following ways: similar to Jodhpur, you can work in the women's empowerment center in the mornings and in the primary education program in the afternoons. Additionally or alternatively, you can teach children from the neighboring tribal community or assist teachers in the local government school.

The minimum stay in Setrawa is 4 weeks. You can also combine Jodhpur and Setrawa sequentially. Volunteers in Setrawa often travel to Jodhpur for the weekend, where they can stay in the volunteer accommodation and either spend their free time in the city or participate in weekend activities organized by the foundation.

Please note that an assignment in Setrawa is not always available and must be confirmed by us, as there must always be at least 2 volunteers there at the same time.

The exact decision on how you will contribute in Jodhpur and/or Setrawa can also be made on-site after you have seen everything.

Working hours at both locations are Monday to Friday from 10 am to 5 pm. Volunteers are warmly invited to visit other projects, such as the boarding home or the Garima project, on weekends.