Corporate volunteering incentive in India
| country: | India |
| location: | Rajasthan |
| departures: | This corporate trip can be tailor made to your specifications with departures throughout the year. |
| price: | From £1845 (12 days) excluding flights. Price includes travel safety course, food, accommodation, transport and community project funding. Maximum group size 16 |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Your experience begins with a day in the bustling Indian capital of Delhi before catching a flight to Jodhpur. From here we transfer to our project site, a remote Bishnois village.
Your task is to refurbish a local school for the community which will considerably improve the life of pupils, teachers and the village as a whole. The work is physical but no practical experience is required, you will be assisted by trained craftsmen throughout the project. You will have time to visit the surrounding area such as Mandore and its beautifully laid out gardens with an impressive array of cenotaphs.
Upon completion of the project we transfer to Jodhpur where we stay in a luxury Moghul inspired hotel for 3 nights. Rajasthan’s second largest city, Jodhpur is dominated by its spectacular fort towering over the city below. A whole day is needed to explore this magnificent palace. Looking over the city from the ramparts it’s easy to see why they call it the “Blue City”. The indigo tinge of the whitewashed homes make the whole city appear blue!
You will have time to indulge in some traditional Indian activities, take a cookery class, treat yourself to a relaxing ayurveda massage or haggle for souvenirs in the bustling market.
It is impossible not to interact with the village children and in the past we have organised football and cricket matches or impromptu art and drama classes after school. We stay in comfortable bungalows built in the traditional Bishnois style and take it in turns to prepare the daily meals. Cooking alongside a local family is a great way to learn all about authentic Indian food.
Your task is to refurbish a local school for the community which will considerably improve the life of pupils, teachers and the village as a whole. The work is physical but no practical experience is required, you will be assisted by trained craftsmen throughout the project. You will have time to visit the surrounding area such as Mandore and its beautifully laid out gardens with an impressive array of cenotaphs.
Upon completion of the project we transfer to Jodhpur where we stay in a luxury Moghul inspired hotel for 3 nights. Rajasthan’s second largest city, Jodhpur is dominated by its spectacular fort towering over the city below. A whole day is needed to explore this magnificent palace. Looking over the city from the ramparts it’s easy to see why they call it the “Blue City”. The indigo tinge of the whitewashed homes make the whole city appear blue!You will have time to indulge in some traditional Indian activities, take a cookery class, treat yourself to a relaxing ayurveda massage or haggle for souvenirs in the bustling market.
What you will be doing
The project involves a light to medium level of construction work. You will be working with timber, paint, electrical equipment and the local children. You may be building desks and benches for the pupils to sit at during lessons, installing fans in preparation for the sweltering summer months or constructing an on site kitchen.It is impossible not to interact with the village children and in the past we have organised football and cricket matches or impromptu art and drama classes after school. We stay in comfortable bungalows built in the traditional Bishnois style and take it in turns to prepare the daily meals. Cooking alongside a local family is a great way to learn all about authentic Indian food.
how this holiday makes a difference
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We work alongside Marwar Medical & Relief Society, a local long standing NGO that provides health and education assistance to the Bishnois communities. Our help here improves the lives of the community by improving the basic infrastructure in schools and upgrading health facilities. Your help in building school desks and benches, constructing a school kitchen, installing electrical connections, fans and fuel efficient stoves benefits pupils, school teaching staff, cooks and the community as a whole.
There will be a local builder in overall charge of the construction and where required, other trained craftsmen, thus providing employment for local people. Throughout the project you will be staying in locally owned and locally run accommodation with the chance to help out with the cooking and learn some recipe secrets. There will be ample opportunity to interact with the village children and this interaction through activities and classes all helps to improve the children’s English language skills. Since 2003 we have refurbished 8 village schools in Bishnois homelands of Rajasthan. Countless families have installed our fuel efficient stoves and our free funning quern bearing conversion is making the job of milling corn easier for ladies throughout the region Before departure from the UK you will be invited to our one day Travel Safety Course in Stratford Upon Avon which has a session on travelling responsibly and how to behave in fragile, vulnerable indigenous communities such as the Bishnois. This is also reiterated in our field manual which you will receive as soon as your booking is confirmed. We only travel in small groups (maximum 16) which limits the impact on the communities and habitats we visit. Funding for our development projects comes directly from our registered charity. For each person that joins a project, we as a company, donate approximately US $250 per project week. 100% of the money the charity receives is spent on projects. To date, we have funded over 70 development projects around the world. We are a carbon-neutral company using the futureforests calculation. This means we plant sufficient trees every year to cancel the CO2 emissions we create by flying groups around the globe. Our commitment to responsible tourism is not limited to our overseas operation. We have various measures in place to ensure our UK office operates according to our responsible tourism policy. We walk and ride to work and we recycle everything from paper to plastic to printers to coffee (makes great fertilizer). |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |