How many volunteers do you see in this picture? The village student of Nandurbar District, Maharshtra, India, who is pedalling to generate electricity for lighting his school is a volunteer. The people who helped design and manufacture AID's Bijli bike (pedal power generator) are AID-India volunteers and their friends. Those that got excited by the project idea and raised funds to support it so that the village student is empowered to generate his own electricity are AID volunteers in USA. The person who took the photo and the person who uploaded it on the website are AID volunteers. And finally the jeevanshala (school of life) in a tribal village without electricity that inspired AID's alternate energy initiatives is managed by volunteers of Narmada movement. Want to volunteer? Click on the picture!
|
|
Fieldnotes from Intern Roopal Patel |
|
What do interns do? Roopal Patel spent 6 months in rural and tribal villages of India, hand in hand with people struggling for sustainable and just development. She visited villages, documented programs, summarised legal data, presented research, and shared in the festivities as well as struggles of the people in the Narmada Valley. She writes, "I do a lot of filing and typing and reviewing legal documents as well. But even the most mundane tasks feel infused with meaning here because they are a part of something so much larger. And not everything has been inspiring and rejuvenating. I fell sick several times ... But I was in good hands, as my extended family here in the office made sure I was well cared for. And of course, as soon as I was feeling better, I was expected to get back to work, which what my family in the States would expect of me as well." Read snippets from her despatches over her 6 months (unpaid) volunteer internship. |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
