Overview of the Project
If you are an animal lover, looking for a unique and never like before experience volunteering for animals, the 'Elephant Project' is the right project for you. Think about bathing the gigantic land mammals; wouldn't it be something outside normal? Love these gentle beasts, and be friends; you will never be forgotten as elephants are proven to have a long lasting memory power. Don't just wait; get your flights to India booked right away. You are always welcome to this land of colors.
The project is based on the Amber region of Jaipur city of Rajasthan state. Also known as the 'Pink City', Jaipur's project site has 52 elephants and 25 mahout families. The elephants are brought from the southern part of India. Mahouts, who take care of the elephants, are appointed and salaried by the elephant owners. They live on the project with their families and they are responsible for keeping the elephant healthy and fit for rides to the 'Amber Fort', one of the world heritage sites in Jaipur. The elephants are taken for a bath in the nearby ponds, early in the morning and the elephants are decorated with colors, getting them ready for rides. They come back to the project after the ride, and rest. The mahouts feed them and are pampered with massages on their heads, foot trimmings, etc. It is a wonderful schedule that you will be a part of.
- Program:Volunteer in India
- Projects: Elephant project
- Start Dates:1st and 3rd Mondays of each month
- Location: Delhi, Jaipur
- Departure and End Point: New Delhi, India (Indira Gandhi International Airport)
- Language Need:English, basic to intermediate fluency
- Accommodation and meals:onsite accommodation, host family and Indian meals three times daily
- Activities: Provide love, care, education and free time activities to orphans & support orphanage operations
- Working Hours:25-35 hours per week
Volunteer Responsibilities
Volunteers will lend a helping hand to the family of the mahout, and will also help the mahout in taking care of elephants. The volunteers will be responsible for the following activities, after joining the project:
For Elephants
- Interact with the mahout families to know more about their daily lifestyle and activities
- Visit the entire village to get a basic understanding about the project area.
- Helping the mahouts bathe the elephants.
- Feeding sugarcanes to the elephants.
- Making chapatti for the elephants
- Elephant foot trimming (under the assignment of the mahout)
- Oil massaging the elephants' head
- Cleaning the elephant enclosures and shelter areas
- Taking the elephants for walks and to drink water
- Helping the mahout in decorating the Elephants before going for a ride
For mahouts families (Optional)
- Teaching the children of mahouts families
- Art & craft with the children
- Making the women aware about hygiene & importance of education
Food and accommodation
The arrangements for accommodation for volunteers are made in private apartments or houses. Usually, accommodations are arranged at localities that are easily accessible and approachable for the volunteers, where transportation facilities are abundantly available or at walking distance. It is also ensured that local fruits and vegetable market, gum, spa, gardens and salons are within easy reach. The accommodation features are as follows:
- Service apartment with all the basic amenities like Mattresses, Almirah, Kitchen etc.
- Triple sharing
- Common washroom
- Smoking area
- Recreation room (TV, DVDs etc.)
- House supervisor
- Purified water (RO Purifier)
- Neat & clean house
- Hygienic kitchen
- Travel desk (For weekend excursions)
Host family ($50/week extra)
The option of staying with the host family is also made open for volunteers; given that $50 extra/week will be charged. Host families are carefully supervised and are authentic. They are usually middle upper class families with their own businesses and services. The features of a host family stay are as follows:
- Authentic Indian host families
- Homely environment
- Neat & clean & hygienic
- An insight view of authentic Indian customs & religion
- Opportunity to see & be a part of Indian festivals (During the project time)
- Attend family functions to get to know the beliefs & traditions (Like marriages)
- Memorable experience enriched with culture
Food
Normally, authentic Indian meals cooked by Indian chefs will be served with less oil and spices, considering the western food habits. The following meal menu will be followed during the program: Breakfast Beverages: Tea or Coffee The following are the breakfast options:
- Vegetable sandwiches
- Poha (puffed rice)
- Fried rice
- Omelets (2 Eggs) with bread
- Fruit salad
- Noodles
- Toasts & biscuits
Lunch/Dinner
The following would be menu (Generally)
- Indian Chapattis (Wheat flour)
- Seasonal green vegetable (01)
- Dal fry (01) Pulses
- Seasonal fruits (03)
- Mixed Pickle
- Salad of seasonal vegetables (03)
Important things that Volunteers need to remember:
The code of conduct needs to be signed by all volunteers, before they join the project. The code of conduct consists of the important dos and don'ts that a volunteer needs to keep in mind. It basically consists of the following:
- What to wear in India & on the project site
- Cultural responsibility of an Individual
- No smoking on project
- Follow the guidelines of the Program manager
- House rules
- Curfew times for the volunteer house
- And other necessary information related with the benefit of the volunteer only
The code of conduct is designed with the sole purpose of making the volunteers aware and to avoid any unwanted, unfavorable situations. Global Crossroads gives utmost priority to the safety, wellbeing and satisfaction of the volunteers, and we ensure this with the following of the code of conduct. Failure to abide by the code of conduct can result in the cancellation of the volunteer's participation and may even lead to deportation of the volunteer back to their home country. We wish each of our volunteers, to get the best experience of their lifetime on our projects and wish them all, with happy and memorable volunteering.