Indicorps

I completed the Indicorps Fellowship by volunteering with a small, grassroots NGO in a remote, mountain-top, tribal village in Tamil Nadu. I assisted the NGO with implementing their first nutrition interventions in the community including introducing a new, locally sustainable technology wherein 2 clay pots, some sand, and water could be used to create a rural refrigerator. As much as I worked to create a sustainable impact on the lives of the villagers, the greatest impact was on me and how I learned to be a better leader and person. This is why I continue to be involved with mentoring current fellows.

Indicorps provided me an opportunity to challenge myself in a way that I have never before. It was an opportunity to take leadership roles in situations that are not available in our home environments. And also making life-long friendship with like-minded friends. I continue to reach back to my experiences with Indicorps as I pursue graduate work in an unrelated field. Not only did I learn more about India, but I also learned more about what I am capable of and what I can accomplish no matter how difficult the task appears to be.

I was involved with Indicorps in the context of their fellowship program, during which I lived in rural India and worked with a local non-profit. I did not know really what to expect from this experience, and to be honest, I did not fully appreciate how special this organization is until I returned from to the States and spoke with a friend who had recently done Peace Corps. My friend's experience was disjointed, disorganized, and there was little support during the time in the host community. In contrast, Indicorps was supportive and inspiring in a non-smothering way that really allowed me to move ahead and out of my comfort zone while feeling like I had a safety net if I ever really need to bail. You won't find another group of folks so passionate about Change and Empowerment and Good and Respect and Honesty as the Indicorps staff (and this includes all the fellows I met and worked with as well). This experience shaped the rest of my life and I am on a completely different career path than before because of my work in India with Indicorps.

Indicorps is an amazing organization! I had the honor of being an Indicorps Fellow from January 2008 to 2009. During that time, I was volunteering with an rural education organization in Gujarat, India. Indicorps supported me while facing hurdles in the field. They also had a very large network of ambitious and successful individuals. This network was especially useful for me because it helped me to get advice from people that had faced similar challenges in the field as me. I also greatly appreciate the investment that Indicorps makes in it's members and fellows. Indicorps' staff pushed me to breakthrough self-imposed barriers and to confront challenges that I never thought I would be able to.

I was a fellow with Indicorps a few years back. I find myself often utilizing lessons learned then in both professional and personal pursuits today. Much of my extremely positive experience with Indicorps stems from the strong support provided by staff and an incredibly motivated group of peers working throughout India that were serious about critical reflection in their work.

Indicorps provides opportunities for young Indians from all around the world to experience service first hand in a vigorous one or two year fellowship based on a community's needs. Indicorps trains and supports their fellows throughout the duration of their project and emphasizes that the individual push themselves in comfort zones, beliefs, routines, and culture to fully immerse within a community and truly be a change-maker. In addition to the fellowship, Indicorps is invovled within the local community in Ahmedabad, Gujarat with their local youth volunteer group, Volunteer Ahmedabad, an informal school for street children, and encouraging youth based Frisbee teams. Indicorps is extremely well connected within the non-profit and non-governmetal organizations network but stands out by being started by the Indian diaspora with a strong emphasis on serving a community and being initiators of change. Being a part of Indicorps is truly experiencing "Serivce for the Soul".

I was an Indicorps Fellow in 2005-6. I had a tremendous experience. Indicorps facilitated my work with a local grassroots NGO in Delhi, India. I lived and worked as a type of barefoot-paralegal in a slum community, with no prior formal legal training. I attribute much of my success in that volunteer work to Indicorps unique and holistic approach to service.

I had a great experience with this non profit. It was a great way to engage with India, grow as a leader, and serve in community development in India.

Indicorps is an organization with a strong central ethic. Its mission is simple: empower young people of Indian descent to commit to themselves and to their communities so that they can create change for themselves and in their communities. Indicorps has built a strong network of NGOs, support staff, and programming to implement this mission.

Indicorps is a unique organization for the positive change it effects by pairing highly-qualified and ambitious Non-Resident Indians (people of Indian descent living abroad) with established and effective NGOs in India for one- or two-year service projects. It is very often life-changing for the fellows, and the organizations themselves benefit greatly from the expertise and outside perspective. Indicorps runs an intensive program and is true to its ideals of service.