Our care projects are based in the bustling temple town of Madurai in Southern India. This is a challenging yet totally rewarding project and it will be hard not to fall in love with all the beautiful children!!

You'll work with a large institution based in Madurai that cares for and educates approximately 130 children ranging from 2 to 18. The children mainly suffer from Downs Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Microcephaly, Autism, Epilepsy, Deafness and some of the children are slow learners and dyslexic.

You'll help with arts & crafts, hand-eye co-ordination skills, yoga sessions, sewing and embroidery, music and dance classes, and lots, lots more!

About 100 of these students are provided with residential care; the others are brought to the school each day by their parents.

The children at the school speak very little English so at times you may find communication hard. However, they will be delighted to have you there and you'll certainly be popular throughout the whole school. You can also book onto one of our Tamil courses to give you some knowledge of phrases that you can use with the children - it'll also help you make the most of your time in India.

At the Centre you will probably be working in many different areas, so you should be flexible and adaptable. Some of the areas where you'll be able to assist include:

  • Helping with arts and crafts
  • Helping with their hand-eye co-ordination skills
  • Taking part (or watching!) the daily yoga sessions which help the children with their flexibility
  • Helping the children to sew and embroider
  • Getting involved with music and dance classes
  • Helping the children eat or go to the toilet
  • Helping the older children in the garden
  • Assisting in the physiotherapy department
  • Playing with the children; every day at 3pm is playtime and the children all bundle outside for half and hour of fun! Be prepared to be in great demand at this time!!

REQUIREMENTS:
You should have a special needs education background to do this project.

ACCOMMODATION:
You'll live in the volunteer house on Suva and you'll share a bedroom with around 4 other volunteers. Everything and everyone is very friendly! Wifi is available in the public areas.

FOOD: At the Centre you will be provided with three meals a day - breakfast, lunch and dinner during the week, and breakfast and dinner at weekends. Breakfast is Western style and lunch and dinner are typical Fijian style.

WHAT TO DO NEXT:
If you'd like more information about this or any of our projects, please email or call us! If you'd like to apply for this project, please complete the application form. As soon as we receive it, we'll liaise with you and then start making your travel adventure happen.