The Transformation Project ('TTP') is meant for participants who wish to pursue a volunteering project, an internship or a gap year in India. True to its name, TTP focuses only on those projects that can bring a transformation, not just some cursory enhancements, in your inner potential.
In case of volunteering, IFT offers the School Turnaround Project, a rare opportunity to work with like-minded people towards transforming the entire eco-system of a distressed school. This project allows you to go beyond the typical volunteering engagements that are usually focused on teaching English to the underprivileged kids or other such cursory contributions. At IFT, we drive you to challenge yourself and enable you to undergo an unimaginably inspiring assignment of changing a few dozen lives for real.
Rather than offering you a standard, off-the-shelf corporate assignment, we enable you to pursue a custom-made internship project that is designed only for you and that can bring a landmark change in your learning horizons. Similarly, our Gap Year program – Year of Transformation - provides you a uniquely designed itinerary comprising of experiences that will challenge you beyond your capacities academically, professionally and personally.
Keep reading and discover a whole new world of transformative experiences that can be truly consequential to your future success.
The School Turnaround Project ('STP') is a joint initiative between India For Transformation and Eagles' Cocoon – a pioneering social enterprise that has brought in a major change in the teaching standards of schools in both rural and urban India. Continue reading below how STP aims to revolutionize the standards of volunteering experiences in India.
The problem that INSPIRED THE CREATION OF STP
Thousands of volunteers visit India with the hope of doing something extraordinary. They hope that what they do will have an instrumental impact on the lives of those affected by their work.
However, the vast majority of these volunteers leave India after teaching some English, assisting in the daily chores in an orphanage, spending time with the underprivileged, or donating money. On the surface, it does sound like the best case scenario for all: the volunteers learnt something and had a great time; the audience relished the compassion of its foreign visitors, and the volunteering program operator earned a livelihood. The question is: Is this best win-win we could have had?
The majority of volunteering experiences focus on young kids who are studying in at-risk schools/orphanages. Forty percent of these schools and orphanages don't sustain beyond three years of operations. Those who do survive continue to harbor kids without having the means to keep them well-nourished or train them to live a life of dignity. Thousands of volunteers come and go, but their effort is in vain when the students age out and find themselves in worse off circumstances.
Certainly, the current scenario is far from its best: Those who HAVE the potential to transform lives, and in the process, rediscover themselves only end up settling for much less.
THE SOLUTION: SCHOOL TURNAROUND PROJECT
IFT and Eagles' Cocoon came together with the objective of creating a volunteering-cum-internship program that has the potential to unlock the long-term potential of both the volunteers and the audience they serve.
As part of the initiative, you will participate in a uniquely designed internship program with Eagles' Cocoon focused on turning around an orphanage-cum-school that faces an immediate sustainability crisis. Depending on your past experiences, you will assume the role of a Sole Director / Co-Director of the institution and work towards bringing a holistic transformation with your skills and passion.
That's not all, you will be part of a diverse team as well as have your own team. You will also be provided extensive mentoring support from turnaround experts, possibly some funds, and, most importantly, the decision making authority to leave a lasting impact on the institution and its students.
THE PROJECT EXPERIENCE: IDEATION TO IMPLEMENTATION
Your project experience will be divided into three phases, each having its own charm and set of challenges:
Briefing Phase| In this phase, you will meet your Project Mentors – IFT's sector experts who have brought about changes to people's lives through a unique mix of community empowerment, education, and entrepreneurship. Since bringing a lasting change is a big mandate, they will play a crucial role in helping you get started with the project. As part of this briefing, you will brainstorm with your mentors about some of the biggest questions: Why does this institution face a potential foreclosure? What can save the future of the kids studying here? What challenges might we face in driving this turnaround in an Indian context?
Ideation Phase| After briefing, you will work closely with your fellow team mates, mentors and the institution staff in ideating a comprehensive plan that will include various initiatives that you feel most comfortable spearheading. These might include establishing new classrooms, building a library, reducing absenteeism through incentives, training the staff, connecting the school with volunteers, or increasing the student base. With only a few weeks or months at hand, this stage will truly challenge your decision making skills and your natural ability to create solutions in an uncertain environment.
Implementation Phase| Your plan will certainly be ambitious, and you will find the remaining time too less to achieve all that you wish to. Yet, in this emotionally intense phase, you will see how your compassion and the collective efforts of your extended team will make this seemingly impossible timeline fall in place. Unexpectedly, these few weeks will soon seem enough to rebuild the future of the school, and those of its current and future students.
THE PROJECT DATES & LOCATIONS
The School Turnaround Project is carried out at four different intervals during the year – Spring, Summer, Fall and winter. The tenure of the program can be decided by each participant and may range from a minimum of two weeks to several months.
| Program Timing | Start Month | Program Location |
|---|---|---|
| Spring Cohort | March | Delhi / NCR |
| Summer Cohort | May | Himachal Pradesh |
| Fall Cohort | September | Delhi / NCR |
| Winter Cohort | December | Delhi / NCR |
For those joining the summer cohort, the project will be based out of Himachal Pradesh, a state in North India famous for its Himalayan landscapes, ancient Buddhist monasteries and the home-away-from-home of the Dalai Lama. For those joining the other cohorts, the project location will be Delhi, India's national capital that bridges two different sides of India: the old India represented by the ruins of Mughal Forts, medieval bazaars and labyrinthine markets scattered between office blocks and expressways and the new cosmopolitan India that has become a melting pot of western and Indian culture.
To know about the program fee and screening process, please proceed to the registration section.
IFT's internship projects provide you with a rare opportunity to conceptualize and execute a transformative project in the field of your own choice. These projects can help you leverage India as a platform to go deeper in your interest area and enable you to experience what it feels to do something landmark, that too in an Indian context.
To achieve this, we will link you with a reputed organization in India engaged in transformative work in the field of your choice and help you create an impactful engagement with them. These projects are not necessarily off-the-shelf in nature, i.e., these need not be any ongoing projects with the organization of your choice. Rather, you will have the option of creating a project of your own choice along with your project mentors. The final location and the timeline of the program are finalized on mutual agreement between the intern and the concerned organization.
Here is a list of sample projects to help you envisage the type of project you can explore with IFT:
| Participant background | Interest | Project Brief | Role undertaken |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social Sector | To contribute to the betterment of underprivileged women | An iconic UN funded microfinance project focused on providing livelihood to over 500+ disabled women from one of the most poverty stricken districts in Kolkota | To showcase the project to global audiences and pursue collaborations with diverse global entities including distributors, funding agencies, and other relevant institutional partners |
| Art & Music | Fusion of western and eastern music / Singing | An art initiative to commercialize and market a rare Sufi music form from East India | To work closely with select musicians towards creating, recording, digitizing and promoting a unique fusion of Sufi and western classical music at a global level |
| MBA | To assist a corporate organization in one's chosen area | An opportunity to assist a family owned restaurant chain to corporatize itself | To develop a detailed road map towards corporatizing various aspects of the business including food production, branding and franchising. |
| Fashion Design | To work in and understand the Indian apparel industry | An opportunity to set up the exports division for a start up hand-painted apparel brand | To identify avenues for exports globally and draft a roll out plan to successfully launch the brand globally. |
| Medicine | To learn the traditional medicine methods of India | An opportunity to work with a renowned traditional medicine organization in India | To visit traditional medicine centers and study the treatment techniques and options in the desired form of traditional medicine |
To know about the program fee and screening process, please proceed to the registration section.
India is home to several ancient cultures and traditions, festivals and art forms, intriguing religions, and over 200 languages and dialects. India offers numerous opportunities from learning standpoint - rich culture and ethnicity that can provide enough food for thought for anthropology enthusiasts; a thriving film industry for media students; countless art and music forms for art students; a surprisingly old and history spanning 8000 years for history enthusiasts; a booming economy for management students and numerous social and healthcare challenges for passionate humanitarians to address. The list goes on.
IFT's Year of Transformation is a unique offering that allows participants to conceptualize and execute a Gap Year in one's area of choice. Rather than opting for any standardized options, you have the choice to work with IFT team in building a portfolio of activities including:
Backed by IFT's expertise in custom made travel programs, you will be able to design a schedule that challenges you both professionally and personally and is made only for you. To know about the program fee and screening process, please proceed to the registration section.
Unlike typical volunteer, internship and gap year programs, each of our programs is designed with the end objective of bringing a major change in you, as well as the audience you will be serving. This is why, we accept candidates to our programs on Invite Only basis, so that the invited candidates are able to well manage the rigor of the program. As part of the registration process, we arrange for a Video/Audio Discussion with one of the TTP mentors, wherein we could know your background and you could also know the program deeper to be able to make a better decision.
Please review the necessary details mentioned below and register for a personal discussion, should you wish to apply for one or more of our programs.
Step 1: Review the program fee
Our primary objective is to allow individuals to undergo a journey of transformation, and alongside, help change lives. That is why, we have divided the program fee into two parts – fixed and optional, such that there are no bindings on a participant to choose for IFT's own options in the area of accommodation, travel and food. The final fee for the program will vary depending on the tenure of the program as well as your choice of services as described below.
| Program Type | Fixed Fee | What does the fee pay for? |
|---|---|---|
| School Turnaround Project | $500 | Project identification/placement cost, compensation for experienced mentors and supporters, orientation, travel costs to inspect programs and in-country 24/7 support |
| Internship Program | $800 | Organization identification/placement cost, compensation for experienced project mentors and supporters, travel costs to inspect programs and in-country 24/7 support |
| Gap Year Program | $1200 | In-built cost of organizing a volunteering or an internship program of your preference; identification and finalization of other activities for the Gap Year |
| Period of Stay | Optional Fee | What does the fee pay for? |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Week | $800 | Airport pick-up and drop, inter-city travel in case of outside Delhi volunteering / internship locations, safe, comfortable and air-conditioned accommodation on twin-sharing basis and meals during the program period |
| 2 Weeks | $1100 | |
| 3 Weeks | $1400 | |
| Additional week | $250* |
| Immersion Trip | Optional Fee | What does the fee pay for? |
|---|---|---|
| 5000 Years in Five days | $1000 (Inclusive of all trip expenses) |
An exhilarating India immersion trip where participants get to live and experience India's journey of transformation spanning 5000 years while visiting four key cities, each having its own significance in India' story of evolution:
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Step 2: Register for an audio/video discussion