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27 Jun 2024
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Description
Wanakame, Namaste, Hello, Bonjour,
Dear volunteers,
My name is Albert and I am the founder.
We are a non- profit based in Alampoondi, 10 kilometers from Gingee, Tamil Nadu.
Our main goal is to fight for the rights of Irular people, an indigenous group of people living in the region.
These communities are discriminated against and have lived for 30 years without basic necessities like water, electricity, housing, land, documentation and education. Although government schemes exist to support the Irular communities, their unawareness of these regulations continues to inhibit their development and welfare. The organization is dedicated to supporting the Irular community by providing relevant resources, applying for the government schemes, helping with legal documents, etc. We act as a link between Irular communities and the legal policies.
My motto is « every action matters, small is beautiful! » so we try to act as close as possible to the real needs of the Irulas and would love to welcome you to help!
As a volunteer, you would be living in the community house next to my house, with Fatima and Arvin, as well as my wife Shiba and my son Hanish. You will live in a quiet South Indian village and really be able to soak in the atmosphere!
We provide for food housing and all transports to the Irulas villages.
With my best regards,
Albert.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Charity Work
Art Projects
Language practice
Teaching
DIY and building projects
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
Help with Computers/ Internet
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Working closely with the Irular community is an unforgettable experience for the volunteers. Here is a list of few things you will gain from your stay at Enrich:
• You will get to experience what a simple life is like in village of South India.
• You will get to visit Irular communities and have a hands-on knowledge on their issues. You also get to connect to other organizations working for the same social cause.
• Throughout your stay here, you are constantly meeting new people. Locals, fellow volunteers, social workers, Irular community people—you get to learn so much from people you meet here.
• You can develop or sharpen your skills (e.g. communication) as there are so many opportunities to work on what you want.
• You get to travel with a purpose and work on projects that are result oriented.
• This is the perfect opportunity for indépendance work as you will have a lot of alone time figure out what you can do.
Help
We wholeheartedly welcome your ideas and project. We want you to observe, study and understand the Irular tribe so that you can figure out how your skills can be utilized in our projects. There is a very little structure in terms of volunteering so it is up to the volunteers in terms of what they want to do. Listed are few examples of task you could work on:
✔️ GOVERMENT SCHEMES & ADMINISTRATION:
If you have background in law and/or administrative experiences, the skill could be use towards document preparation. There are also a lot of admin tasks such as gathering documents, updating computer files and managing database where the help could be used.
✔️ VIDEO
If you like video and film making, you can work on your own video project showcasing the life of Irular people, the issues they face or the work we do.
✔️ WEBSITE MAKING WITH WORDPRESS
If website making is where you can help us, you can use you skill to develop a website with WordPress.
✔️SOCIAL MEDIA
Help us with updating our Facebook and Instagram pages. You can take pictures in the field and write about what is going on. You can be as creative as you want!
✔️ EDUCATION
Volunteers can assist the children afterschool with their homework and English language. You can also plan fun and interactive performances for the kids. If you know how to play guitar and have it with you, you can perform for them and even teach them.
✔️ WORKSHOPS
If running workshops is what you like doing, then you can organize an educational workshop for the Irular children. You can focus on courses such as Maths, English and Sciences and artistic activities for the kids.
✔️ REPORT WRITING
We have many reports to prepare. If report writing is what you are good at, you can help us with that. We also have few reports from the past which you can use as a reference for developing new reports.
As mentioned earlier, these are some suggestions for the volunteers. It is completely up to the volunteers to figure out how they can help the organization. If you are someone with a social work background, have experience in working with marginalized communities, have worked in community development, have experience in grant writing, etc., then you can share your knowledge with us and help us grow.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Tamil: Fluent
Accommodation
The volunteer quarter is right across where I live. If you need anything, my family and social workers who work with me are always around.
If it is not too busy and rooms are available, you will get a private room. If not, you will have to share room or adjust in a common room. The bathroom and the kitchen are shared. The rooms are basic with mattresses on the floor. We will try our best to make sure that you have a comfortable and memorable stay with us.
We will try our best to arrange free transportation for the trips you make to the villages.
Volunteers are provided with free food (three simple meals per day +tea)
What else ...
When you are not working, you are free to walk around the village and talk to the villagers. Alampoondi has many forts and temples in case you want to discover the town. If you want to make a day trip, Alampoondi Bus Stand is in a 5-minute walking distance. From there, you can find buses to Poondicherry (2hours), Chennai (3 hours), Gingee (15min) and Tiruvanamale (1 hours). The buses are easy to take and are affordable. The landscapes, fields and mountains around the village are really nice!
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week
Feedback (6)
The job Albert is doing in Tamil Nadu is amazing. By staying with him 2 weeks, my husband and myself learned so much about the indian culture and the problems that are still existing in south of… read more
Thanks for everything. See you in March.
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Feedback
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(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
The job Albert is doing in Tamil Nadu is amazing. By staying with him 2 weeks, my husband and myself learned so much about the indian culture and the problems that are still existing in south of… read more
Thanks for everything. See you in March.
Overall the experience of living in the village of alampoondi was an absolute highlight. Everyone in the village is very very welcoming and it was such a honour to experience this aspect of authentic India.
Albert and his team are working very hard on their vision and… read more
We are the second volunteer in Alampoondi, and like our predecessor we really enjoyed Albert, his familly, his place and his project!!!
Unfortunely we were just able to stay one week, but it was enough to have a good comprehension of the reallity of the situation.
Albert brought us to visit some Irula's village, show us… read more
We were the first volunteers in Alampoondi, and we really enjoyed our stay with Albert and his family, as well as his friends and Danielle, the french woman with whom he sometimes works, but they are working in different associations. It was difficult sometimes, as the first volunteers, because the organisation and the… read more
