Boomers Abroad

Description

Hands-on, rewarding orphanage volunteer project in Madurai, India that allows you to assist the nurses with day to day care of the youngsters, from small babies to children of 6 years of age. Give your love and energy to young orphaned children who look to others to help give them the confidence and social skills to grow in life and be successful adults. You really will make a difference to the lives of these children! Our projects are situated in and around the bustling temple town of Madurai where you will have the opportunity to experience the culture of India.

PROJECT OVERVIEW
The main care centre where we work is at a home for victims of female infanticide and abandoned children. Their mission is to help them first to survive and then to ensure the right of the child to a family. Currently there are 29 children at the orphanage, but this number changes frequently as new children are brought in or are adopted.

All of the children's backgrounds are heartbreaking; some of them have been found abandoned in nearby churches or temples and others are surrendered by their parents. The children are all in desperate need of tender loving care.. and this is where you come in!

WORK CONTENT:
Your work will be very hands-on as you will be dealing with all of the children - be prepared to get very grubby!! Your work load and responsibilities will depend on your abilities and attitude to your work, and you'll assume more responsibilities as you grow in confidence and as the staff's confidence in you grows. You should be supervised all of the time while you are there, and you will be given help and directions. Your work may include some or all of the following:

* Helping the staff wash and dress the older children
* Bottle feed the babies
* Changing nappies
* Feeding the older children
* Teaching basic English and Maths
* Teaching the older children nursery rhymes
* Organising and facilitating games for the children

By playing games with the children you also encourage confidence building for the children. It also encourages children to use English in an informal way, and even with the younger children it gives them exposure to the language at an early age. Playing games may seem irrelevant on the surface, but it helps to build up team spirit and skills, leadership skills, dexterity and quick thinking, and a healthy competitive spirit. It also gives them a more developed ability to interact with their peers.

Volunteers work in rotations, either doing the morning or afternoon shift. Depending on the number of volunteers, you may have the chance to do 2 shifts a day but it is very exhausting and challenging work and you may appreciate the morning or afternoon off to relax and unwind.

For many of the older children, you are able to integrate education into games and also help with homework etc. Where children are not taught at the orphanage you will help these on their return from school in the afternoon.

"Your tasks are fairly routine and repetitive, but really you're there to give the children individual attention that the full-time nurses don't always have time to provide. That's the most important thing you'll do there may not feel like much, but it's so important for them as some of the children's' social skills and ability to interact with people are a bit poor. Plus it's very rewarding to just be there to make them laugh and feel a bit loved!"- Aliki Salter

You may also have the opportunity to work at a boys home in the evenings. The boys are aged between 7 to 18 years of age and all of them attend local schools during the day and return to the home in the evenings. The boys are semi-orphans and they are resident at the home and go back to their families only in the holidays. When they arrive back after school, they have a few chores and then there is an hour of play time. At this time you can go along and interact with them by organising games (they love cricket and football!) or just going to chat to them.

When the games session is over there is an hour and a half of study time. You can choose to stay and help them with their homework at this time or help them practice their conversational English. Again, this is a very rewarding project and the boys with be overjoyed to meet you.

We can also arrange your flight dates to give you additional time at the end of your project for travelling around and sightseeing - this is a fascinating and wondrous country!

WHAT YOU'LL GAIN FROM DOING THIS PROJECT:
--> An exciting, never-to-be-forgotten adventure into beautiful India and it's fascinating culture.
--> The enormous satisfaction of helping disadvantaged children and knowing that you made a difference to them.
--> New skills, more confidence, a greater understanding of a different culture, invaluable personal and professional development.
--> An entry on your CV or resume that will put you head and shoulders above most others in the job market
--> And best of all.. an unforgettable experience!

This project can also be combined with any of our other projects in India, such as Sports or Summer Camp, Teaching or various Care, giving you a varied and broad experience of life in India.

OUR USERS SAY...
"I've had a short stay here but it been so much fun. The orphanage has provided the best moments of the trip and the children have been fantastic. The other volunteers have also been great. I will definitely come back next year" Uma Ramani

"The orphanage is a fantastic place to spend time. The babies and children are adorable, the staffs seem pleased to have us there and we always have lots to do. It's sad to see how little quality of life the babies/children have but it's great that we are able to help improve things for them ... if only a little. It's far far better than I hoped it would be! Thank you for arranging such a great project." Emma Wolveridge

"It's chaotic and loud here but there is a charm to the place. Once I got over the crazy driving, the staring and the noise... I really started to have a good time. Karen and Pradeep are both extremely helpful and friendly. Today they took me to the orphanage to introduce me to Elizabeth and the kids, and they are all just gorgeous! So affectionate and energetic - I can't wait to start there on Monday!
Karen also took me around the town and showed me where everything was, including the tailor markets where I'm getting a few things made up - highlight was spotting the temple elephant on the street. I also visited the temple with the other volunteers today and it was pretty amazing. The other volunteers are very nice and friendly, and I can't wait to get to know them all better. The volunteer house is really lovely and I'm going to go home FAT because Jaya is a brilliant cook!" Monica Philalay