A little info about my trip

You probably already know that I will be travelling to India on January 18^th for 3 months as a volunteer, but as my departure date draws closer I thought I’d give a little more information about what I will be doing when I'm out there.

I will fly to Delhi from Heathrow airport with the other volunteers, making up 3 different teams working in India. When we arrive we will receive some in-country training and a little time to settle in to the ways of life in the area. The three teams will then split up to live in their respective areas.  I will be living with 9 other UK volunteers and 10 national counterparts (local volunteers) in a shared house near to the SWECHHA offices; the partner organisation we will be working with alongside VSO.

“We are a youth-run, youth-focused NGO operating from Delhi, India, engaged in environmental and social development issues. We work with and through young people from all walks of life in order to raise awareness and bring about change. For us, 'change' means a transformation in the attitude of the masses, in their perceptions, and simultaneously in the environment - both social and human. We provide support, guidance and a platform for people to ‘be the change’ themselves. “ – SWECHHA
To find out more about SWECHHA and the work they do, visit http://www.swechha.in/

I  will be working in Jagdamba camp, a slum located in Sheikh Sarai ph-1, Malviya nagar, South Delhi.

The camp has been built around an open drain. It is spread over an estimated area of one square kilometre, which is roughly 248 acres of land. According to the 2001 census, the total population of the camp is 2783 approx., and has 594 registered households. Presently, there are 4000-6000 households within the camp space. Each family has 5 children on average, resulting in 30,000 plus people living in Jagdamba camp. The inhabitants of the community belong to two religions, Hindu and Muslims. The entrance of the community is dominated by Muslims and interiors of the community belong to Hindus. The occupational structure of the camp includes people who own small businesses within the slum such as barbers, painters, grocery shop and cosmetic shop owners. There are also people within the camp working in government bodies.

The literacy level of the community is very low, with the maximum being the higher secondary level. Most of the women are illiterate. The community has a considerable number of school drop outs between the ages of 6-18 years. The literacy ratio is primarily unfavourable to the girl children. Almost all the children go to primary school till the 5th grade. There is a high rate of unemployment amongst the youth of the slum. Some of the issues faced by the community include problems related to water, electricity, sanitation and congestion. 

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 Top-line aims and objectives:

·         To increase participation of children, youth and older community members in projects designed for them

·         To increase awareness level of the community with regards to their rights and responsibilities

·         To increase the overall outreach of the organisation

·         To develop new content for existing school programmes

·         To be able to devise and implement new ideas for future projects

·         To build capacity of youth and children associated with Swechha to become environmental and social leaders for future

“VSO has been working in India since 1958. In 1994, after a 20 year break, we re‐launched our India programme and established an office in Delhi. Since then, we have partnered with over 100 NGOs and placed approximately 200 international volunteers with these partners – volunteers who build capacity to support grassroots participation and good governance, especially in areas of disability and HIV and AIDS.

Over the last few years, our work has evolved to meet the changes and demands of a rapidly developing economy and, capitalising on the skills, experiences and passions in-country, VSO is increasingly utilising Indian volunteers.

Since 2008, VSO India have placed 4,780 Indian volunteers and mobilised over 11,000 active citizens who have played an important role in creating awareness through educating approximately 320,000 poor and marginalised people on their rights. VSO India aims to address the power imbalance and inequality in the distribution of wealth, as well as discrimination on the basis of income, gender and marginalisation from the development dialogue.”

I feel completely honoured to be working on such important issues in such a different culture and will be keeping my blog up to date with information about what I’m doing whenever possible and hopefully a few pictures if I can.