Women's Support in India

Our Women's Support Volunteer Program in India is a part-time position. Volunteers spend 3-4 days a week volunteering with children at orphanages or street shelters, then 1-2 days with a woman's group. We have found that this arrangement worked better for both the volunteers and the women's groups, because the latter do not meet daily.

While working at the women's groups, volunteers have the opportunity to help disadvantaged women by showing them caring and support. For example, we work with a number of homes that have been set up to provide food and shelter, a shield from further abuse, and vocational assistance to help them earn a better living.

Some of the volunteer duties include helping the women with learning English, gaining skills like beautician work and stitching, as well as health education such as HIV/AIDS, child rearing, nutrition, and sanitation. There are also occasional opportunities to assist the women who seek redress in the judicial system for the abuse they have suffered.

In Delhi, we also partner with a local non-profit that provides free daycare for the children of poor working women. As a volunteer, your role would be to assist the full-time Indian caregivers witht care of the children, while their mothers go to work each day. Without this program, the working mothers would be forced to either quit their job or to take the children to the job, where the conditions are often unsafe, unhealthy, and loud.