Foreign Volunteering
Youthreach has always welcomed foreign volunteers to contribute their time for community engagement programmes. The main objective for these visits is to get an insight into the lives of under privileged children and youth in India, to understand their critical needs and thereby spread awareness as well as fundraise for them.

Last year more than 30 foreign volunteers from different countries across the globe volunteered with Youthreach and its partner NGOs. Tofunmi from the United States of America helped to design and structure the mentorship programme at Youthreach, Leslie from Dorchester took the children at Samparpan School to a new world of learning through creative art, Brandy Espinola, Holly Cuozzo, Kahil Kettering and Benjamin Alexandro from the Maryland University America volunteered with the Wild Life Trust of India for a project on the environment, Amanda McCullough,Brianna January, Jillian Luchner, Zerina Borhan, Angela Bies, Arley Donovan students from Maryland University conducted an impact assessment study for the community development programme at Roorkee and Dan Noyes with his team from Vesper Atelier created a sculpture of a mother and child at the Vidya school Gurgaon.

Feedback from Foreign Volunteers
Lesley says, “I would like to thank Youthreach so much for enabling Henry, Lizzie and me to volunteer at the Samarpan School. We absolutely loved it and our experience was everything we could have hoped for. Everybody we met was so warm, friendly and welcoming. We learnt so much about all the wonderful things that happen at the school and found it all very inspiring. We feel very privileged to have spent time at the school and would really like to do it again next year!” Dan Noyes from Vesper Atelier, Minneapolis along with his 8 member team volunteered at Vidya School Gurgaon to create a metal sculpture on the Vidya Logo of mother and child. During the 2 day workshop, the team engaged with class X students over the concept of depicting the logo through the medium of sound and translated all the ideas into creation of the sculpture. The sculpture represented the concept of flight of dreams and the essence of the Vidya logo. It was a novel experience for the students as they learnt about the process of welding a sculpture under expert guidance of the Vesper Atelier team which they loved. Many thanks to Tara Dev for facilitating this volunteering opportunity and to Vidya school for their support.

Dan Noyes from Vesper Atelier, Minneapolis along with his 8 member team volunteered at Vidya School Gurgaon to create a metal sculpture on the Vidya Logo of mother and child. During the 2 day workshop, the team engaged with class X students over the concept of depicting the logo through the medium of sound and translated all the ideas into creation of the sculpture. The sculpture represented the concept of flight of dreams and the essence of the Vidya logo. It was a novel experience for the students as they learnt about the process of welding a sculpture under expert guidance of the Vesper Atelier team which they loved.
Dan Noyes says, “The children seemed to enjoy our process and outcome. We are truly changed because of them. Youthreach’s facilitation and engagement with our process leaves us with the affirmation to be at your service. India, it’s people, the children and all of you have taught us to be better humans. Our lives are changed. Thank you for that opportunity.”

Oluwatofunmi says, “I volunteered at the Youthreach office in Delhi and what an experience it was! I am very grateful for this opportunity because it allowed me to get a closer glimpse at the inner workings of an NGO in Delhi, while also allowing me to contribute to the formulation of one of its initiatives. Not only was this experience both educational and enjoyable, it was quite memorable due to my interactions and work with the Youthreach staff. There aren’t enough words to express the pleasure that I felt working at Youthreach and I wouldn’t hesitate to work with them again in the future. So, I say thank you to the Youthreach team: Ritika, Diskha, Abhinav, Swati, Medha, Rakesh, Gurjeet, Jitendra, Prem, and Siyaram. You all have truly made my time at Youthreach and I can’t thank you enough for welcoming me into the Youthreach family.”

Alia Berry, an inspired volunteer from Canada, studying at Mcgill Montreal, visited India this summer to volunteer with Youthreach. Alia is seen conversing with the children and youth at Udayam Prayas, an NGO based in Delhi to learn more about their lives and make case studies for ‘Youth For Sport’ an initiative by Youthreach.
Aliya says, “I would like to thank Youthreach for giving me an opportunity to volunteer for its ‘Youth for Sport’ programme. I really enjoyed my time and felt that I got to see a side of India that I thought I knew, but with Youthreach’s help I was able to see it from an entirely new perspective. Interacting with the children of the sports programme has probably been the best part of my year so far. Everyone at Youthreach is truly dedicated and I have no doubt that the sports programme that they have initiated will prosper. Thank you again for being so welcoming and accommodating.”

About National Volunteers
To further the initiative of establishing a volunteer ethos in India, Youthreach has created a volunteer sign up form on its website for people (age 18 to 50 years) from civil society to connect with grassroots organisations. The time and skill and resources of the volunteer are then matched with the needs of our partner NGOs. In our bid to encourage the spirit of volunteerism, we are glad to report that Youthreach had the opportunity to place more than 200 volunteers with our partner NGOs who work with under privileged children, youth, women and the environment in the last couple of years.

Feed back from NGOs
Vidya and Child
“Vidya & Child is delighted to get so many skilled volunteers from ‘Youthreach’ over last few years. The volunteers ‘Youthreach’ provides are always skilled and dedicated. Some volunteers proved to be an innovative resource for the organisation and specially for the children they worked with directly. We appreciate ‘Youthreach’ immensely for advancing the spirit of volunteerism among youngsters and help grass root level organisations to understand and utilize the power of young enthusiasts. We happily look forward to volunteers from Youthreach in the future.”

Jamghat
For Jamghat, Youthreach has been a tremendous friend since last eight years. It has been one supporter which has contributed in unique ways. In our commitment to working with street children to mainstream them with all opportunities to grow and live a decent life, recognition by an organization like Youthreach has brought us more trust worthiness and acceptance.

One of the key supports extended by Youthreach to Jamghat has been in the direction of attracting and putting in place some of the most dedicated and committed volunteers to work for our children. Such passionate volunteers form the basis of our work. And Youthreach’s commitment in working as a key link for the organizations like us, working for the society and the civil society members willing to contribute has always reflected in their interventions. Regular help with donations – monetary and in-kind from various friends with the help of Youthreach has also deeply contributed in our journey.

Ms. Ritika, Tulika, Preeti, Abhinav and many other team members from Youthreach have shown great personal concern and respect for the work that we do. It has been a source of constant encouragement and support. We thank Youthreach for all its encouragement and help and hope this support would continue so that we are able to continue our work of changing some forgotten lives.

Mobile Creches
Mobile Creches is a non-governmental organization advocating for the rights of the marginalized young child and enabling the environment for holistic development of children. Volunteer benefits an organization by contributing into the opportunity to pursue an interest and consequently gain new information, develop new skills or enhance existing. There is varied scope available for the volunteers. Youthreach is being associated with Mobile Creches from past few years and has set up a partnership with the Mobile Creches to send their volunteers to our daycare centres around Delhi NCR. We take support of volunteers in day to day administrative work, in teaching, counseling, tutoring, mentoring, coaching, companionship and providing support to the teachers at the daycare centers. Mobile Creches helps the volunteers to continue develop their knowledge and gaining considerable expertise. Volunteering is GOOD for you and GREAT for us! We always welcome a helping hand and put our heads together for a mutually sustaining experience.

Feedbacks from Volunteers

Arpita says
“I, would like to thank Youthreach for giving me such a wonderful opportunity to volunteer at Samuel Foundation. In the four months period of my volunteering experience I got an opportunity to learn and understand the functionality of the different departments of the NGO. During this period I taught the

Students worked in the administration department and also helped in PR/fundraising. I plan to choose social work as a career for which I needed experience, Samuel Foundation has given me that experience.”

Tejas says
I had an amazing time volunteering at Youthreach and Mobile Creches. My favorite moments were definitely making the kids smile every day. I enjoy every activity I did there from teaching art and craft work which made me alive my childhood days again. I felt very appreciated and supported throughout my time during the volunteering period, volunteers were treated like staff and given the opportunity to share their skills knowledge in the activity that most interested them. My volunteering experience exceeded my expectation and I am glad that I got the opportunity to spend quality time there.