Creating environments, connecting people and transforming lives in Elagiri Hills, South India

Details

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  Description

  Greetings from India!
  
  We are a family of social impact entrepreneurs who run a small non-profit in a beautiful hill station in South India. Our values are founded on Christian principles and we have been working for over 4 decades to uplift children, women and families through education, health care, conservation and agriculture. The Elagiri Hills is also a popular tourist spot for people from Bangalore and Chennai, which are about 3 hours away as the crow flies. We have a beautiful European climate that makes working outdoors a lot of fun and less tiring than a lot of hot places. We also have a lot of trees and vegetation which provides cool and shady spots especially when the weather is sunny.
  
  We run a Christian boarding school on a not-for-profit basis for since the 1990s impacting numerous lives. After a few years of not functioning, we restarted with a handful of children who come from disadvantaged families and single parent families. We employ Forest school, Montessori and a high standard English curriculum to give these children a great opportunity to be successful in life. We also teach them a variety of life skills and personal development. Our children also need a lot of guidance, love and compassionate care.
  
  We are a small team of dedicated and compassionate staff slowly rebuilding the school and developing it to be an institution of excellence. We are using parts of our campus for camping and other fun activities. We have also renovated some parts while others need more work to be done. We hope to build a kitchen garden and raise our own farm animals to provide for and feed the children and staff.
  
  We are looking for skilled and knowledgeable people to help us as we overcome challenges to make progress with such a big area with limited capital and a small team of staff. We would love to have small and large teams that are enthusiastic in restoring a beautiful campus to reach optimum productivity.
  
  1. The School Campus needs teachers - short term and long-term, landscapers, kitchen garden experts, tree surgeons, farmers, videographers and photographers and social media marketing experts to help share our message and rebuild our community. Remote help via internet and online help would also be great in training our staff and also other help in admin, marketing and fundraising.
  
  2. Our Campsite has mini-cottages, dorms and tents to raise income to support our charitable work. We need help in maintaining our campus, landscaping, kitchen help. social media marketing, carpentry, welding, gardening.
  
  3. Our farm needs a lot of care especially for our chickens, geese, turkeys, guinea fowl, rabbits, pigeons, ducks, cattle and dogs.
  
  4. Healthcare and Dental Clinic needs more support to keep our efforts to make healthcare and dental care affordable.
  
  Please send us your resume and list of interests and skills as well as personal references as we have to ensure the safety of our children and campus residents.
  
  If you can bring a team of 4 or more for more than a week, we could develop our campus in sections and phases which would have an incredible impact on our children and the future generation. We also like to develop long-term relationships with our Workawayers and welcome amazing volunteers to come back and stay connected.
  
  Innovation and cool ideas welcome! We would like you to get as much out of this experience as we and the people you impact do, so feel free to be creative.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Charity Work

  Art Projects

  Language practice

  Help with Eco Projects

  Teaching

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  Hospitality/Tourism

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  You will get to learn how life works in a rural area of India, with the impact of urban tourism on village life as well as on wild areas and wildlife.
  This place also brings together a unique perspective of modern progressive as well as conservative life in India as we are fairly close to both Chennai and Bangalore which will showcase how tradition and culture are facing globalisation and economic growth and give you a view into the widening gaps between the poor, the middle class and the rich.
  A great way to see how India has changed and is changing before your eyes. There are also cultural points of interest that showcase British influence in India as well as the melting pot of not just East and West but also of North and South of the Asian subcontinent.
  The school is also a very interesting place to wander around and see how quickly nature can reclaim a space. And as a volunteer here you will learn about self-organisation, self-direction, planning, and many other things depending on what you work on here.
  Finally, your time spent with the children and staff will make an incredible impact on young lives and those who have dedicated their lives to rebuilding broken lives of children by giving them an opportunity they might not have had otherwise.

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  We welcome any and all kinds of help including the use of soft skills, but we do need people who are able to self-motivate and figure out their own workload – you have a lot of freedom here, we don’t watch over your shoulder but we hope that you will find a project or task here that you will enjoy and can complete before you leave.
  
  1. Dog care and training for our pets. They have a bunch of energy and need lots of exercise each day. If you have experience with dog training that would be a huge plus!
  2. Short term rental assistance - Managing listings, identifying opportunities for improvements, greeting guests, etc.
  3. Building/Construction and Carpentry - There is a lot of renovation work needed to get the Campsite ready for guests. So there's a whole range of activities that include cleaning, repair work and new construction to improve on the existing infrastructure.
  4. Gardening, Landscaping and Farming, video and film makers to help us spread word about what we do.
  5. Eco Project/Other/Charity Work/Farmstay - We have opportunities for architects, entrepreneurs, permaculture enthusiasts, financial experts, philanthropists and Educators, both conventional and unconventional to come and make an impact in this part of the world.
  6. Planner/Administrator/Marketer - There are a lot of goals that we would love to accomplish. Some of this requires planning, while others need administration and marketing or getting the word out to build our resources and make us sustainable.
  7. There are lots of things we would love to be able to work on here, from the old Auto-Rickshaw that needs mechanical help, to someone to do archivist work on the old school records, so if you have a skill or specialty please get in touch! I’m sure there is a place for you here.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent
  Tamil: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  We have basic accommodations on our campus that will be made accessible according to availability. We primarily have dorm-style arrangements with shared bathrooms, and a few independent rooms. All have access to a shared kitchen to enjoy with your fellow volunteers.
  
  Most of the accommodations are fairly simple with beds and a cupboard or shelf to keep your things in a safe place. As outdoor focused place, we encourage using rooms for quiet times of reflection, solitude and rest and spend more time outdoors to enjoy nature and people around. This is an altruistic organization founded on Christian principles, all religions and none are welcome.
  
  HOUSE RULES
  
  We ask that you...
  - Refrain from smoking and consuming alcohol while you are here out of respect for the local culture, and to set a good example for the families and children that will be staying at the school and Campsite.
  - Refrain from online activities that use a lot of internet data or bandwith.
  - And most importantly HAVE FUN:-)
  
  FOOD
  Meals are made available from our kitchen on the campus. Basic provisions and groceries are provided for those who like to cook. You can use the Volunteer Kitchen. There is a nearby town where you can pick up ingredients and other necessities, if needed.

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  What else ...

  Life in our place can be a world of its own. However, there are other activities that are available for those who wish to see the sights or travel around. There is a waterfall close by, which may or may not have water depending on the season. Since we are also only a few hours away from Chennai and Bangalore, there are tons of activities, sights and sounds to explore in both cities which show different flavours of South India. We have a few buses that give public transportation, taxis and autorickshaws are also available on the hill station. Down the hill, we have access to railway station an hour away, that connects us to most part of India.
  
  My activities are generally focused on day to day management and development of the place as well as taking opportunities to share what we do with others for more people to come visit and benefit from our activities and facilities.
  We usually like volunteers and staff to be mindful of the needs of the place and take proactive steps that will bring about growth and improvement of the place as long as they adhere to some basic rules of being a blessing and improving what is available through the skills and talents we have without wanton wastage.
  
  There are also places to hike, trek and visit around our campus and in Elagiri Hills for those who wish to stay within the hills. There are also the tourist traps like the boat house, animal park, a garden and activity places with rope climbing, atvs and the sort.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  We offer basic internet connectivity and would appreciate those earning to help with the service as we are a non-profit.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  Parking spaces are available for different kinds of vehicles and for large vehicles as well.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  We have pets on our campuses and are able to host those who travel with pets.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  5 hours a day and you can be more involved. You need to be self-motivated.

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