Why volunteer is important for an NGO

Volunteering offers vital help to people in need, worthwhile causes, and the community, but the benefits can be even greater for you, the volunteer. Volunteering and helping others can help you reduce stress, combat depression, keep you mentally stimulated, and provide a sense of purpose. While it’s true that the more you volunteer, the more benefits you’ll experience, volunteering doesn’t have to involve a long-term commitment or take a huge amount of time out of your busy day. Giving in even simple ways can help others those in need and improve your health and happiness.

 

 

Why working for an NGO can be extremely rewarding

 

1. You make strategies for the country/world

While in schools and colleges you plan to change a few things here and there, in an NGO your plans can go much beyond. You plan and strategize to change the country, the world. Your targets are not 1 week or 2 weeks but spread across years and decades. Lakshyam is one of the best NGO in Delhi which provides the training facilities for volunteer, and we have the best volunteer programs in India.

2. Better networking:

This is the best networking you can possibly get. In the corporate world your networks are based on mutual benefit, but in NGO it’s for a common goal. In most other types of networking ,your Network is a list of your acquaintances but, in the NGO world it is a list of people who become your best buddies,your mentors ,people you respect and people who respect you.

3.Lesser Egos:

It has been observed that behavior of people change when they are in a situation where they are reminded of moral values and idealism, such as near Schools, in churches and in temples. This is exactly why when you meet truly dedicated people in an NGO you will see their Guards down, people become much more open, much more ready to change and much more inclined to listen to all points of view. Suddenly there can be order in the chaos of an NGO decision-making process.

4. It opens your mind:

Try working with any NGO and you will see what I mean, you gain a sense of perspective and start seeing the impact of small things. You realize what is more important

5. Leadership:

The chances of being a leader or learning leadership are much more in NGO sector than any other. It takes about 4-5 years to become a team lead in an IT field but in an NGO you could be doing that the moment you join. It all depends on what you are willing to do .It is not necessary to even join them full-time.

More importantly, you can learn the meaning of true leadership very early on such as

Ø  Post does not matter as much as the work/role

Ø  Difference between enforced leadership and earned leadership

Ø  Importance of NOT being a leader sometimes

Ø  How to be a good follower

Ø  How to motivate people

While I did point out various Pros of working with NGOs, I am not discounting the exposure and experience you get in the corporate sector. This article is simply to point out some of the very unique takeaways from NGO sector.

My personal belief is that your learning and personal growth can be accelerated by working for an ngo. Remember when you join an NGO, you are not just doing it for giving back to society, but are also gaining much more.

Top 5 volunteer Organisations in India

What else do they have in mind when they hear the word India? A prestigious land with cultures ranging from mountains to barrens, a beautiful and colorful country.  But since time immemorial, poverty and hardship have also tagged along. What if they tell you there is more to traveling than just discovering new places and striking dreams off your bucket list? There are many travelers who try to give it back in a whole way by reaching out to orphanages, rehabilitate the refugees and conserve the wildlife.

“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” – Hellen Keller.
There are organizations in India who enroll volunteers and who can work from office or can travel around to reach out to the interiors. In such organizations, you get the experience of work life, contribute towards building a better place and travel to fulfill your dreams.

The top 5 volunteer organizations in India are:

1.Khiddispore Red Light Area Community Programs in Kolkata:

This organization aims to give a better life to the sex workers of the area and takes care of their education and employment. The volunteers take English classes, teach communication and writing skills, enhance their crafts and create resource bank by selling the products.

2.Teach Tibetan  refugees in Dharamshala:

This organization aims at giving the Tibetan refugees a safe and secure home, rehabilitation and transition into Indian Community. They provide them with social services, courses and vocational training.

3.Lakshyam

Lakshyam has been battling since 2004. It expects to manufacture a safe and clean world for the underprivileged; giving them instruction, fundamental needs running from garments and nourishments to sheets and toys, human services programs and some more. It focuses on the ghetto territories of numerous states crosswise over India and furnish them with a steady, sound condition. It has three noteworthy projects among numerous others, to be specific, Lakshyam: Toy Library, Lakshyam's Butterfly Program and Lakshyam Rooh. Taking note of the smog filled air that we breathe in at the time of November-December in Delhi, or the gray air that we breathe in all the time, or the never ending fights for a timely supply of clean water; we should stop teaching the next generation tots that air and water are colorless. Funny, eh? Well it is not until you are in Delhi.

Lakshyam's Toy Library goes for circulating toys and books to the underprivileged kids gave by the ones who have it in wealth. Till now, Lakshyam has dispersed more than 2,00,000 toys and books the nation over. Putting up Facebook statuses, tweets and Instagram stories as a voice raised against the increasing unemployment; do you really expect Prakash Javadekar to take out time for you and read your stories? Or is life getting any easier as you continue to make fun of the unemployed B.tech graduates? Memes and stories won’t end anytime soon, but dreams and lives of thousands other unemployed youths get shattered while you scroll your feed.

Lakshyam's butterfly program gives healing training focuses to understudies, keeping in mind the end goal to fill the hole in the administration instruction framework. 

Lakshyam's Rooh program enthusiastically endeavors to instruct the ladies of India and enable them to believe in themselves and venture up the stone of quality and achievement.

Can Volunteer as:
i.    Media and interchanges
ii.    Administrative work and business improvement
iii.    Academics
iv.    Indoor and open sports
v.    Performing expressions
vi.    Data administration and research
vii.    Social business enterprise
viii.    Building and development
ix.    Co-curricular exercises

4.Ethical Volunteering:

There are currently heaps of approaches to get associated with global volunteering. You may take a hole year after school, or a profession brake from your activity, you may have been allowed to have a holiday or you may have resigned and be searching for new enterprises. Regardless of whether you have half a month or a couple of years there are currently heaps of associations that will enable you to locate a volunteer program.

5.Concern India Foundation:

Can organize arrangements in nearby NGOs for volunteers in fields, for example, instruction and network advancement; volunteers can likewise work with Concern India assisting with organization and raising money. Can organize arrangements in nearby NGOs for volunteers in fields, for example, instruction and network advancement; volunteers can likewise work with Concern India assisting with organization and raising money.

So however big your dreams are, however colorful your goals are and however places you want to visit, there is no bigger a happiness in lightening up a face and home with nothing more than your sheer lone work. Because as a volunteer, you can boast of yourself as the change that you want to bring.

NGO’s WORKING FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN INDIA

Women’s movements in India have been going on since pre-independence days. It has moved from demands of social reforms to equality in the post independence period. Sadly, even after independence women in India are still facing violation of their human rights and do not enjoy or get equal treatment as men. India is still a male dominating country. From rape and domestic violence to forced labor and denial of educational and employment opportunities, the struggle for rights and empowerment is a disheartening one for Indian women.

As per Census 2011, the population of India is 1210.19 million comprising 586.47 million (48.5%) females. Females have a share of 48.1% in the urban population and of 48.6% in the rural population. The sex ratio is 943 as per the census of 2011. The literacy rate of females is 64.63%.  In the adult category the literacy rate is reduced to 59.3% compared to 78.8% for males.  Thus education for women has always been a problem over the years. Also, about 68% of the girls drop out from school even before they reach 8 grade.

Education is one aspect of economic development. Involvement of women in the workforce also enhances the economic development of the country. According to the census of 2011, the workforce participation rate shows that 25.51% were females and 53.26% males.

The crime against women is growing day by day at an alarming rate. In order to empower women government has come up with several laws and policies to safeguard and empower women in the society. A National Commission for Women was also set up in 1992 with the same objective to empower women and safeguard them.

In order to speed up the women empowerment process it is not on the government who is coming up with laws and polices but several NGO’s are working collaboratively to make the society a better place for women to live in. Some of the NGO’s include CREA, CARE India, Snehalaya, Swayam and Lakshyam.

LAKSHYAM which came into existence in 2004 is a non-governmental organization, established itself for the welfare of the society, and mankind at large.  It is engaged in a number of social welfare activities like child welfare, health, education and women empowerment.

One such program is TOY LIBRARY where Lakshyam had set up its toy library with thousands of toys books from various schools in Delhi. These toys and books were put up in the toy boxes installed and were free for children to play with. As a result, children have access to toys and story books which were read by teachers to the students present at the centers. They longer had to long for toys and no longer missed a major part of their childhood.

The other program is BUTTERFLY - Child Welfare Program where children are taught Hindi, English, Math and Computer Sciences, in purview of methodically filling in the gaps in formal education. When a child who is not very well-versed with English or computer language suffers in government or private schools, Lakshyam’s remedial center provides free of cost tutorials. This program symbolizes freedom with the wings of a butterfly. The concept of ‘Butterfly’ is based upon imparting the two most crucial aspects of welfare, a holistic education and well-round development. This endeavor functions with a motive of completely demolishing the term “underprivileged”.

Lakshyam’s program ‘Rooh- Awakening Womens’ Soul’, meaning the spirit, is a strategically developed, three-tier project that aims at strengthening a woman’s character towards life itself.

The first step in this program begins from providing remedial education to children; where children from under privileged sections of the society are taught basic arithmetic and how to read and write. Second step is to provide an essential degree of exposure along with professional training in behaviour and counselling, Third step is equipping girls with an established platform to sell and showcase their skills.

Apart from this, the program also targets financial development by organizing various workshops by portraying marketable skills which these girls women possess in the form of handmade goods that enable poor women to self generate employment opportunities.

Renowned professional trainers personally conduct these workshops and training sessions. Few women also get an opportunity to work under them and not only get a source of income for themselves but also learn in better ways enhancing their skills and potential. Keeping in mind the saying Health is Wealth, health awareness campaigns for women are also organized every now and then. It includes creating awareness about importance of iodine in salt to causes of Breast Cancer to importance of personal hygiene

Lakshyam’s struggle has so far enabled thousands of women to realize their true potential and be a support to families and played a crucial role in the development of the country.

Residential Volunteering Programs in India

When was the last time you did something for the first time?

Many of us would’ve come across this quote at some point, but most of us would’ve skimmed over it without thinking too much about it.

Today, I urge to really pick your brain to try to recall the last time you experienced something new.

Maybe it was the first time you lived away from home. Maybe it was your first driving lesson. Maybe it was your first day at work.

Whatever it was, I guarantee that most of us go long periods of time without trying anything new. Whether it’s out of fear, laziness or time constraints; there’s always something holding us back.

There is, however, another question that’s more difficult to answer. 

When was the last time you changed someone’s life?

You might say that changing someone’s life is a culmination of much time and energy being invested into the same, but what if I told you it’s far simpler than that?

Lakshyam is a Non-Governmental Organisation that imbibes this idea into its operations by offering volunteer work in India. Lakshyam’s volunteering stands out from conventional programmes - by allowing people to contribute to the organisation what they do best, Lakshyam manages to provide productive work for volunteers and effective results for the women and children they aim to educate.

Lakshyam’s residential volunteering programme is one-of-a-kind. Volunteers can take up residence in India to help Lakshyam accomplish its goals of women and child development.

Volunteers above 18 years of age with a passion for social welfare would find Lakshyam’s residential programmes a highly rewarding and satisfying experience. By being able to educate children at the grassroot level, volunteers are able to see, first-hand, the fruits of their labour. There is perhaps no greater joy.

Lakshyam offers a diverse range of tasks for its volunteers, from media and communication to administrative work to teaching children. The organisation ensures that each volunteer will find their perfect fit.

For 4-week Residential Volunteering Programs in India, volunteers work at one or more of Lakshyam’s centres and are able to participate in a variety of experiences - from interacting with women and children to helping them rebuild houses to bringing smiles to the faces of many of Lakshyam’s beneficiaries.

Lakshyam welcomes volunteers from all over the world to come assist them in their mission to educate and empower each child. Learning about and adapting to Indian culture will surely be an enriching experience for anyone who wishes to take up this programme.

By working in the slums and small schools, a volunteer can experience the very heart and soul of India - the women and children who work day and night to rise above poverty and create a better life for themselves.

Lakshyam’s administration extends a warm welcome to all volunteers who come on board, and the enthusiasm is only sustained by the children who the volunteers come to work with. One would be pleasantly surprised to see how children with close to no resources can have such a passion for life and learning.

As mentioned, it’s easier to change someone’s life than you might think. It’s even easier due to the fantastic work of organisations like Lakshyam that work tirelessly to help disadvantaged sections of society.

So the next time someone asks when you last did something for first time, I hope you’ll answer that you changed someone’s life.