On NGO Challenges and Volunteering In India

I’ve been interning with this really earnest NGO called VIDYA (don't judge them by their website; it's poorly designed and inadequate). It started out by focusing on providing education to underprivileged children, but over the years it has expanded its activities to include courses on life skills, vocational skills, setting up a production centre and engaging in microfinance. My work is mainly focused on their microfinance activities (more on that in a later post).

Recently, I was speaking to a part-time volunteer here, an American NRI who has taken a sabbatical from work to volunteer with various NGOs and I became aware of how different the social service scene is in these two countries.

From what I understand, school kids in America are introduced to volunteering at a fairly young age. There is ready infrastructure for those who want to engage in social service, both within America and abroad, such as through organized programmes like Peace Corps. Volunteer experience is an important component of one’s college application. The flip side is of course that there are many kids who participate in various volunteer activities not because they care but because it will help them get into a good college.

Nevertheless, the point I’m trying to make is that social service organizations and NGOs find it much easier to access skilled workers in the US than their counterparts in India, which is unfortunate. Most Indian NGOs are typically held together by a bunch of few passionate, committed people who do all the work and end up spreading themselves too thin. Administrative and funding issues end up taking so much time that they aren’t able to take as many initiatives or refine their functioning as much as they would like to.

I got my internship through this excellent NGO called Joining Hands, which connects people who want to volunteer with NGOs that could use their skills. But one Joining Hands is not enough. There are similar organizations in other cities but a unified central agency is missing. Of course, colleges have the National Service Scheme and I’m sure it does good work but considering the number of students it has access to, it would be fair to say that its achievements have been much below par.

I believe that this lack of social service infrastructure is one of the reasons why philanthropy is seen as something that rich people and a few not-so-rich sensitive people do. Unless someone has worked as a volunteer at least once, it becomes easy to ignore the difference that even a small amount like 50 bucks can make. Giving is not a way of life here, it’s a luxury.

Some people say that most NGOs don’t do good work but even if that’s true, the lack of skilled volunteers/workers is probably mainly to blame for this. Even a net-savvy teenager can make a stellar contribution to an organisation’s fund raising by setting up a cause on Facebook, uploading videos on YouTube or creating a snazzy newsletter. But that teenager needs to first realize his/her potential to contribute, the difference that potential can make and then be put in touch with a relevant organization. This would also make NGOs more accountable because the good ones would gain visibility through word-of-mouth spread of volunteer experiences.

I always wanted to volunteer with an NGO but I was “too busy” all through school and college. It wasn’t until the first year of my M.A. that I signed up to give tuitions to a boy at an orphanage and since I’ve realized that you can make all the excuses you want for not being able to volunteer, but if its important enough to you, you will find the time.