EKAL Internship – Dec. 14, 2014 – Jan. 3, 2015

We invite applications for a three week volunteer internship opportunity with a holistic focus in Ekal villages in the Remote Rural and Tribal villages of India.   he three week trip will be in the villages near Rourkela, Orissa or Karanjo Jharkhund .

The mission of Ekal Vidyalaya is to bring about Holistic Development to villages using education as a primary vehicle. It is the largest, grassroots, non-government education movement in India reaching nearly 1.5 million children in over 54,000 very remote and rural villages in India and Nepal.  

Students will spend three weeks in the village learning about the Ekal schools through interaction with teachers, students and villagers. They will do a study on the health , hygiene ,of the students and villagers. They will focus on the   social, spiritual and cultural aspect impacting their health.They will also do a survey on the environmental conditions and sanitation.  Volunteers will identify three key issues to be addressed to improve the health of the villagers and the children and propose solutions based on their research and brainstorming with local field workers. The report of the finding will be submitted to Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA which could use the data in the future to understand the needs of the village.  The team will be under the direction of Dr. Hasmukh Shah, Executive VP of Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of USA. Dr. Shah recently retired from medical practice in Chicago to devote his energies to improving the lives of villagers.

Any student enrolled in an undergraduate program in a US university who has interest in volunteer work to help improve the lives of rural villagers in very underprivileged areas of India. Working knowledge of Hindi  

Understanding of the villages in a remote rural part of India

Public health data gathering methodology

Opportunity to interact with children and adults in very underprivileged areas 

Opportunity to contribute ideas towards the improvement of health and well-being of the villagers. 

Recommendation letters for medical school and other applications to higher education. 

What is the cost? 

Travel Costs To and From Rourkela India  
Local travel, Boarding ,Lodging – Approx - $200/ week
 

Student will need to arrive in Delhi on Dec 12  Dr. Haskmukh Shah and the Ekal team will meet the student at the Delhi Airport  He will then escort them to the Karanjo.  

Please send an email with a one-page resume and a one page essay on why you would like to participate. Send the email to Dr. Hasmukh Shah at hasujyoti@gmail.com Dr. Shah can answer questions as well. Please send the applications no later than October 24..  We will send the acceptance by Oct 30, 2014. Please look at http://ekal.org to learn more about Ekal Vidyalaya.