Hello! My name is Steph and I am currently on a Gap Year. From the beginning of October until the end of December, I spent a period of 12 weeks living and volunteering in Faridabad, a town on the outskirts of the city Delhi in India with the organisation Plan My Gap Year (PMGY). My host family have dedicated their lives towards the five projects that their run within their community. I am therefore raising money in aid of all projects, so that they can be further developed and continue being run at the high standards that they currently are. In June 2015, I am returning back to Faridabad for the second time, for 13 weeks, acting as a coordinator, and the money that I am hoping to raise will be donated at this time.

Main aims

Currently. money has been raised towards a new floor for the Alice and Wonderland orphanage. Here, children from bad family backgrounds are provided with a safe, homely place to live and sleep, school access, school work support, 3 meals a day and clothes. Volunteers will visit at every and any opportunity, and I spent a lot of time myself there. The lack of space means that no more than the current 8 orphans can be housed, and hence  turning other applicants away is obviously an extremely difficult thing to have to do. One of the main aims therefore for my fundraising  is to raise money for the cooling system, beds, toys etc that will be needed for this extra floor and new orphans, as well as any additional support required.

The family also run the Izabella School for children with special needs. Another of my aims is to raise money for equipment to aid the children's learning and for activities such as physiotherapy and speech therapy. The more funding, the more students can be supported by this very rare type of school!

The final main aim is to raise money to support excelling students from the Eco slum school, so that they can go into private education and provide the future that they deserve. Schooling fees are roughly £90 per student per year.
 
Below I have included information about the time I spent on the projects in Faridabad, and the other areas that I feel could excel with more funds!
 
My time on the projects

I started off on the medical programme, where I was fortunate enough to see many surgeries, including hysterectomies, gall bladder removal, plastic surgery / ear reconstruction, hair transplantation surgery etc. I was lucky enough to shadow in an Emergency department on several occasions which was really exciting. There was also the opportunity to visit GP surgeries in the evenings, if I so chose to. I also got involved in some basic hands on work. I did not want to spend my whole time shadowing as I wanted to make as much of an impact as I could during my time. Therefore I spent time volunteering in the lab of a government hospital as well a clinic in the local slum school. Here I aided health professionals in carrying out basic health checks. Having no previous medical experience, and with it very difficult to get any in the UK, the vast amount of things I got to see during first few weeks was absolutely phenomenal!After those first five weeks, I then changed to the Women Empowerment programme. The aim of this project is to provide local women with vocational skills which will help increase their independence in a very much male-dominated society. We changed the location of the project so that we could develop this programme further. At the beginning, there was little structure, but during my 7 weeks on this project, we put in a lot of effort to make it work. I really feel as if massive amounts of progress were made, and that it has a lot of great potential. The India coordinators worked extremely hard with me during this time and I really enjoyed being part of it. Working with the women, I felt that I was really making a difference - I had a lot of energy to give, especially as I had spent quite a lot of time prior to this observing. My time on this programme was a difficult, and at times stressful, but it was so rewarding, it made every effort worth it. A couple of other volunteers and I worked hard, teaching these local women from the slum community basic English and Maths. I also worked with some women to teach them computer skills. The family provide the ladies with an opportunity to learn to sew, and cover all the costs of transportation for the women to the project. It took several weeks to get the project running as smoothly as we could with the resources that we had. It still has a lot of work that needs to be done, however, it has such great potential, and I am so fortunate that I had a chance to make a difference.

The family run an orphanage just around the corner from the volunteer/family house, providing children with bad family backgrounds a safe and homely place to live and sleep; three meals a day; school access and school homework support. Volunteers will visit at any and every opportunity. I spent a lot of my evenings visiting this orphanage. I’d start by helping them with their homework. Once this had been completed, we’d then make crafts, play games or take a visit to the park. I also began teaching a couple of the children how to use the computer, which they thoroughly enjoyed and grasped very quickly. One of the most heart-warming moments of my time in the orphanage was when one of the children asked my permission for them to call me their sister. Another was on Christmas day – I’d brought a selection of super hero and princess related gifts for the children. There is currently only one girl at the orphanage, and upon opening her princess colouring and sticker book, the pure happiness on her face is a moment that I will never forget, and treasure for the rest of my life. They all showed true gratitude which I know is often can be lost back home.

I visited the Eco School on several occasions. This is a school in a nearbyslum community. The clinic is based here. Before I would begin seeing patients with the doctor, I would help run the school assembly, singing nursery rhymes, songs, and teaching new dances! This was incredibly fun and the children love it! Following this, I would go into the clinic, whilst other volunteers would teach one of the three classes run within the school. After the lessons had finished, volunteers would then work with individual students. I too would help children with their maths or science work when there were very few patients. The number of children fluctuates a lot because many parents will prevent their children going to school hence the average number of students each day ranged from 30-60; however, it was so lovely to watch the enthusiasm of the children in their learning. I also helped carry out Diwali and Christmas celebrations at the school, including dance competitions, pass the parcel, pin the ‘flame’ on the candle (Diwali), singing and much more!

I also visited the Izabella school for children with special needs. This project was founded by a previous PMGY volunteer in 2013. In the last month of my 12 weeks, I spent half an hour each morning working with one of their pupils. Although this pupil did not suffer from special needs, they are currently a member of the school with the aim of improving their concentration so that they can enter mainstream school next year. I spent time teaching them phonics, basic maths, shapes, animals and helped them with their homework. The school would begin after this. Daily activities included storytelling, singing songs, alphabet, basic maths, and games, all of which helping the children interact with each other, with the aim of giving the children the best opportunities in life. Some mothers of the children would join the women empowerment project next door during this time.

Once a week, I'd also visit a village orphanage on the outskirts of Faridabad. We'd play games, help with homework, teach English songs and dances (as they requested) and have a general great time with them!

Here is a brief video I made for future volunteers about the India Delhi PMGY programme and the projects on offer:


Why I need your help!

Women empowerment:

Working on the project for so long, I was able to assess key areas which need the biggest improvements. The largest area of development was the computer lessons. The lack of equipment makes this a very difficult task. The women are currently learning basic computer skills. Whilst I was working on the project, I taught very basic skills, such as the ability to turn on/off the computer, navigation around specific programmes and applications, and practicing typing. However, with access to only one working computer, the task of teaching and learning for both me and the women was very difficult. The computer in question has no internet access, and does not have the ability to play DVDs so that tutorials in Hindi, such as how to make bracelets etc can be played. I hope that with donations, we could afford to purchase an internet dongle, and pay for internet access so that the women can learn to write emails, search the internet etc. I know that there will be plenty of volunteers willing to become email-pals, and this will also enhance their typing and English skills! It is Having these computer skills could improve the career prospects of these women, and I feel it to be very important for these lessons to therefore continue. UPDATE a new computer has been bought through donations made outside of this particular campaign! If I raise enough, I would like to contribute money towards one more computer so that more of the women have an opportunity to practice their computer skills at one time. General resources such as exercise books, pens, pencils, chalk boards and learning books are also required.

Alice and Wonderland Orphanage:

The children are all provided with school access. They are then helped with school work in the afternoons by members of the host family and some volunteers. The children of the orphanage come from bad backgrounds, where it’s unlikely that they would have had access to such education and support, instead having to work from a young age. The average school fees are between 4500-12000 rupees per year (roughly £45-£120) per child. As mentioned previously, the children are also provided with a bed each, three meals a day, and school work support. The children’s access to school will not stop, nor will anything else, however, the money that is put towards this means that it makes it difficult to afford to accommodate any further applicants to the orphanage. Children have to be turned away because they just cannot afford to put a roof over any more heads, which is heart-breaking. Another volunteer has just finished raising money towards a new floor for the orphanage. Money that I am able to raise will also go towards the costs of extra baggage, so that I can bring out toys and books for the children, to aid them academically and also provide them resources to use in their free time!

Medical programme:

There is a lack of health education and access to medical help is often difficult, hence PMGY periodically run free medical camps in slum communities in the local area. Medical camps throughout Faridabad to provide health care to those with little access. Volunteers work with members of the public, carrying out basic health checks and dispensing medicines with the help of local doctors who provide the equipment and medication required. The medicines are free for the patients.

Eco-school (Slum school):

Unfortunately, not all the children will be able to continue with their education after finishing their time at Eco-school. My knowledge is that £100 a year can pay for one child to enter mainstream school and education at a higher level. Children can be selected by the donor, or alternatively, the money will go towards children with the best academic ability. Although this may sound tough, it is impossible to pay for every child in a school of over 60 children. The school also relies on donations for resources such as books, pencils, pens etc.

PMGY also support a number of other slum schools in Faridabad. The NGOs provide free education, school supplies, food and uniforms so that parents are encouraged to send their children to school, as opposed to making them beg or work to earn money for the family. Although I did not work with these schools, money raised may also be contributed towards these.

Izabella school for children with special needs

This is a truly inspirational project. With increased funding, more students will be able to be welcomed to the school. The children are provided with physiotherapy and speech therapy if needed. With more funds, more equipment can also be bought to aid the learning of these children and support the staff and volunteers who are working with them.

Lakshaya Badhte Kadam

I would also like to contribute some money towards Lakshaya Badhte Kadam. This is a village orphanage whereby young boys who used to live a life working as rag pickers and pickpockets in railway stations have been rescued. They are now provided with food, shelter, the opportunity to attend school and partipate in vocational training. Those who run it employ local people to make a wonderful selection of bags and other handicrafts, all of which go towards running the orphanage. This orphanage is not directly associated with PMGY but having visited them so often, and seeing the resources that they lack, such as enough beds for everyone to sleep in, basic outdoor equipment such as balls, cricket sets etc which they deserve, I feel it only appropriate to donate some of the funded money to them too.

To read their story, please click on the link below
http://thecolorcaravan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/the-journey-of-lakshya-badhte-kadam.html

The money that I raise will be split accordingly between and within the projects. I will spend time with the PMGY host family deciding upon this and the areas that need the most attention. However, if you do have a specific project that you’d like your money to go towards, please leave it in the ‘Comments’. Thank you for taking the time to read this –it really means a lot to me, and any donations will be greatly appreciated!