Many institutes encourage students to engage in community service and volunteering. However, there are very few structured programs which can enable students and connect them to social organizations/ NGOs. There is a need for structured modularized programs to engage in community service aligned to one’s cause, location and availability.
The Certificate Program in Community Service (CPCS) has been crafted to address this need, offering a structured program that combines knowledge modules with practical on-field volunteering at our partner social organizations.
This is a structured program designed with insights and partnerships from our last six years of work in the student volunteering space.
- Orientation to prepare you with the right attitude, skills and knowledge to do effective community service and volunteering.
- Masterclass to get sensitized on the cause that you will be working on and to understand the organizations working for the cause.
- Connection with the partner communities/ social organizations/ NGOs where you will be doing community service.
- Detailed guidelines and instructions for the service to make it effective for the target groups.
- Certificate of community service after completion of the service.
The program is designed as a hybrid program with orientation and master class being facilitated virtually and the community service being on-field with our partner organizations.
The total program duration is 30 hours, with 6 hours of virtual sessions and 24 hours of community service on field, spread over 4 weeks. This can be customized as per the requirements and availability of the volunteers.
Community service opportunities are offered in five causes: Education, Children, Environment, Elderly Care and Animal Welfare.
The program modules are outlined below:
Module 1: Orientation – 2 hours – Virtual
- Connect with self, society and surrounding.
- Understand sustainable development and SDGs.
- Reflection to discover the cause you connect to.
Module 2: Activity to connect with the cause – 4 hours – On-field
- On-field activity in an assigned NGO/community to experience working for the cause and connect with the community.
Module 3: Masterclass – 4 hours – Virtual
- Cause specific master class covering sensitization about of the cause, government interventions related to the cause, organizations working for the cause.
Module 4: Community service – 5 hours every week for 4 weeks – On-field
- Volunteer at the assigned partner NGO/ community
- Share the experience and learning.
You have a choice to choose from five different causes and different kinds of activities as part of your community service. There are three streams of service for each of the five causes.
Cause: Education
Stream 1: Creation of educational content (worksheets, charts, games) and distribution in schools and shelter homes.
Stream 2: Spoken English programs at shelter homes and schools.
Stream 3: Career orientation at schools and shelter homes.
Cause: Environment
Stream 1: Participation and organizing plogging events.
Stream 2: Creating awareness about sustainability practices among general public.
Stream 3: Participation in food distribution drives to reduce food waste.
Cause: Children
Stream 1: Story reading/ telling sessions at shelter homes.
Stream 2: Organizing games/ quiz/ engagement activities for children.
Stream 3: Organizing competitions for children.
Cause: Elderly Care
Stream 1: REVIVE project – helping elders revive their hobbies – singing, writing, sketching, painting, etc. Documenting knowledge bites from elders.
Stream 2: Organizing cognitive games and activities for elders at elderly care homes.
Stream 3: Assisting elders in elderly care homes in day to day activities such as organizing their room, walking, enabling them to be digitally active.
Cause: Animal Welfare
Stream 1: Join animal feeding groups to feed the stray dogs.
Stream 2: Visiting animal shelters and assisting in day-to-day activities such as keeping animals and shelters clean, feeding, taking care of animals.
Stream 3: Creating awareness about animal welfare and rescue among general public.
We charge a nominal fee for the orientation and masterclass. Guaranteed community/ NGO connect is offered as a complement post the masterclass.
1. Why are you charging for the community service? Are we not helping by doing community service?
The nominal charges are for the orientation and masterclass to appreciate the expertise and efforts of the facilitators and to sustain our operations by covering administrative costs of the partnership development and coordination.
2. Is it mandatory to do orientation and masterclass before getting connected to community/ NGO?
Yes. It is important that the community service is approached with the right attitude and knowledge about the cause. Orientation and master class ensure this.
3. What kind of community service or volunteering will we be assigned?
You have a choice to choose from different causes and different kinds of activities as part of your community service. There are three streams of service for each of the five causes. See Causes tab for more details on these.
4. I want to do something related to what I am studying (Engineering, Marketing, Finance, etc). What opportunities do you have?
In our experience, skill-based work like this requires subject matter expertise and exposure and a better understanding of the communities and social organizations. This certificate program provides foundation of four weeks for you to take up such skill based work later once you have the experience. You can continue your work with the organization further as an intern on mutual agreement with the organization.
5. Is there any location constraint for enrolling into this program?
No. Orientation and masterclass are facilitated virtually, and you can attend from anywhere. Partner connect is available across India based on your location.