Volunteering at P.E.T.E
Introduction
Welcome to PETE, a small NGO supporting women, children and the community of the Kathputli Colony in Delhi and mountain village of Tehri Garhwal in Uttrakhand. We thank you for your interest.
in volunteering to help us succeed in our many important projects. This document is designed to tell you who we are, what we do and how you can help us by volunteering your time. Our contact details are found at the bottom of this document so please contact us if you have any questions or would like more information.
We look forward to meeting and working with you in the future!
Volunteer activities
We have many exciting and important volunteer activities that you can take part in depending on your skills, interest and time. Below are some of the common activities our volunteers have been involved in:
Assisting on Slum Walks
You will attend and participate on Slum Walks by interacting with the guests and locals, describing
PETE’s ongoing and future projects in the slums
Promotion of Slum Walks in Delhi
Spend some time speaking to travellers about Slum Walks, sharing your enthusiasm for the NGO and providing information about the projects PETE works on
Office administration
Some of your time will be spent assisting staff in the PETE office with administration duties producing fundraising and awareness materials. If you have a creative streak you can assist us by updating / creating new fundraising and awareness materials such as posters and flyers.
Photography and video
If you have a talent for photography or video production we would welcome you to utilise these skills by capturing new material and producing short films about PETE.
Social media and website updates
Help us keep our Facebook page and website updated with PETE news and activities
Teaching in our schools
- Teach English and Art to the children in our school in the Delhi slums
- Teach Beauty, Stitching, Knitting and Embroidery in our Women’s Vocational School in the Delhi slums
Decoration of school buildings
Help us decorate our schools and make them exciting and fun environments for the Students
Play with the kids in our Kindergarten
Spend some time getting to know and playing with the kids in our Kindergarten in the Delhi slums
Volunteer accommodation
You are free to arrange your own accommodation as a volunteer but we do offer accommodation options for volunteers in Delhi. We understand that everyone’s economic situation is different and so we try to work with our volunteer’s budget to offer accommodation that they can afford.
If you are interested in volunteering and would like to know more about the costs of accommodation please contact us. When discussing accommodation costs please do remember that if staying at our flat in Delhi, 80% of the proceeds from your accommodation go directly to benefit the projects we run.
If you will be staying in Delhi and are a part of a large group, we do have very good relationships with reasonably priced local hostels and hotels and can arrange accommodation with one of these for you.
Delhi
We have a small flat that doubles as our office. It is centrally located between the city centre and our school projects in the slums (Walking distance from the Patel Nagar Metro station, 8 minutes to city centre by metro and only 5 minute auto-rickshaw ride to the slum where our schools are located).
The flat has a bathroom, stove top, and wifi. Depending on the number of volunteers we have with us at the time of your visit, should you select this option please understand that you may be sharing the room with others.
Cost of volunteering
Volunteering with PETE is for free. If you want to it’s always good to do some fundraising before or during your stay with us, but it’s not mandatory. If you want to make a donation, we always have a list of things we need, so we can figure something out once you have arrived at our place.
You may also find travel tips, information on Visas (if travelling from UK) vaccinations required and information in reference to the type of clothing that you should bring for comfort and protection on the following page: http://www.peteindia.co.uk/volunteer/4583114167
Calon - U.K
Ju Jue - France
Lucie - France
Eric Weber - Austria
Eric volunteered for 1 month and a half on the Delhi slum project and half time in Nirvan commune project (uttrakhand) in the mountains.Then he left with co-founder Shiva on his Royal Enfield 500 cc to north in the mountains manali-leh-sonmarg-srinagar-punjab-delhi for 14 days. In his words it was a dream come true and memories will be there till end of his life.
Photo courstesy- Devin Doyle, a fellow biker from New York who we met on the way.
Shiva and the NGO team are stellar people. I have been here almost two weeks and it feels like you are part of the family. They looked after me when I was not well and helped me to recover. I am really impressed with the fab work of the NGO in the slums. The schools are buzzing with amazing cheerful kids whose love and energy is so contagious and the girls at the vocational school are just so great! Spending time in the slums connecting to people who just open their homes, heart and soul goes beyond words... It is really touching and gives a beautiful perspective on the essence of life. I look forward to see this NGO grow and contribute to more projects (currently working on some ideas). I also hope to make it to the mountains and check out the project there.
I really feel that this experience contributed to my personal growth and that I have new special friends;) thank you everyone there!!!
He volunteered with our Nirvan project for two weeks. He made furniture for the school and he also worked with the kindergarten children,
He volunteered with us for two weeks. He was here to do research on artist living in the slum for an article which was published in many different recognized papers..
She came with her husband and volunteered with us for a week. She accompanied our guide and visitor for slum walk and she also worked with our primary school children.
John Jacob Burkhardt - America
He volunteered with us for a week. He worked with our primary school kids teaching English. He came with his wife whose photo is posted above.
Jess - 2014 - U.K
She is a nurse who volunteered with us for two weeks. She gave health classes to
women in the slum and she also donated some medicine. She also worked with our kindergarten.
Paul Nahr - 2014 - Austria
Paul volunteered with us for 10 days looking after administrative work, accompanying guests on walks and explaining to them about PETE projects. He volunteered with the kindergarten and the vocational school in the Delhi slums
He came to us after volunteering at Auroville for a month.
Laura Charlton - England - 2014
Laura Volunteered with us for 3 weeks. She taught kindergarten students English and gave them classes about manners. She also looked after administrative work and accompanied guests to explain PETE projects to them. She had one week of travelling with our sister company, www.kidsofshivacharitabletours.com, which supports our projects using profits made by doing tours. She traveled to Rishikesh, the Nirvan Commune, Agra and Vrindravan.
Valentina - Italy - 2014
Valentina volunteered with us for 2 weeks, looking after the walks we organise and letting the guests know about our projects and how we support them through slum walks. She also looked after our administrative work and at the kindergarten in the slums.
Daniel - Germany - 2014
Daniel volunteered with us for 2 weeks. He looked after administrative work for our organisation and went for slum walks with guests explaining about PETE projects.
Marusa Golob - Slovenia - 2013/2014
Marusa volunteered with us in Delhi and at our mountain project for 1 and a half months.
She took initiative arranging collections of things needed for the kindergarten and vocational school (carpets, blankets and toys), and took the vocational, kindergarten, and primary school students to picnic at different monuments.
Marusa also helped with making furniture for our Nirvan Commune project and designing rooms at the Nirvan Commune for upcoming yoga and meditation students in 2014.
Vincent And Mayo - France - 2013
Vincent and Mayo volunteered with us for three weeks at our mountain project.
They built a solar cooker and furniture for our Nirvan Commune rural school, and attended (and danced at!) local village weddings ;)
Ines Rodriguez - Spain - 2013
Ines came to us on a recommendation from her university, for our Delhi and rural mountain projects. She stayed with us for 5 days, and traveled to Agra, Jaipur, Rishikesh, with our sister company, www.kidsofshivacharitabletours.com, which supports our projects with profits made from our tours offered in North India.
Isa Roldan - Spain - 2013
Isa came to us on a recommendation from her university, for our Delhi and rural mountain projects. She stayed with us for 5 days, and traveled to Agra, Jaipur, Rishikesh, with our sister company, www.kidsofshivacharitabletours.com, which supports our projects with profits made from our tours offered in North India.
Jordan James - America - 2013
I volunteered with Pete in Delhi for 2 months. I helped PETE projects by assisting in slum walks, city tour and foodies walks and looking after administrative work and replying to mail. I also volunteered with Nirvan Commune project in the mountains for one week and helped in making furniture for the upcoming Nirvan rural kindergarten, English and Computer School.
Right now I am travelling by bike to Spain from India and looking forward to being an ambassador for PETE in Barcelona when I finish my journey.
Katja - Netherlands - 2013
Katja volunteered with us making a documentary on our projects. She was staying in Delhi for many months doing an internship with a fashion institute.
We are soon going to publish her documentary on our website.
Gergio - Italy - 2013
Gergio stayed with us for one month, looking after administrative work. Painting our vocational school, making notice boards, designing the PETE office and volunteering with our Nirvan vocational school in Delhi. She spent her last few days at our Nirvan Commune in the mountains doing painting work.
Maura - Italy - 2013
Maura stayed with us for one month looking after administrative work, painting our vocational school, making notice boards, designing the PETE office and volunteering with our Nirvan vocational school in Delhi. She spent her last few days at our Nirvan Commune in the mountains doing painting work.
I am artist and run a studio in California, my passion for music made me travel to India as India is known for its traditional music. I was invited to India for making a documentary for charity work in health. During my travel to Delhi I heard about the PETE project in the slums and volunteered for 4 days to make a documentary on Slum Walks by PETE along with Hiroshima University students from Japan.
Molly Jane Lewis - England - 2013
I spent 5 days with PETE making a documentary about their projects In the slums in Delhi. I am still traveling at the moment in Asia, and soon in March 2014 submit my final video to Peteindia.org. Best of luck!
I volunteered here for 4 weeks and had such a fun and rewarding time. Shiva (the co- founder) is a really friendly and accommodating guy. We worked on many different things over this time and I was able to attend many Slum Walks and got to play with the great kids at the schools.
If you are looking for a really worthwhile and fun volunteer opportunity in Delhi then definitely do this. You can also volunteer at their project in the Uttrakhand mountains where they have amazing views and peaceful environment.
Thank you Shiva for a truly great experience and ordering Dominos Pizza for me! :)
My 10 days with Pete Project were my first days in India and my first days in
Delhi. It was a time with a lot of fun, unexpected experiences and time
which I will never forget. Shiva is someone who cares for you and for
your further plans. Also when you are continuing your trip he will offer
his help to you. The NGO is a good place for getting to know India from a different view. I got offered a place to sleep and we went out for food every day to the inside places.
Thank you for everything!
Daniel - Switzerland - 2013
I stayed with this project for my last week in India. I helped promote the project by doing some info papers, taking and uploading pictures to
the internet, keeping the book of expenses etc. I visited the newly opened
slum school and got a good insight at the impact from the project. The
people in the slum especially the children are very warm and welcoming.
It was an awesome experience to help and be part of this project, I wish I could have stayed longer.
Carmei Emily Wright Malaysia 2012 -
Carmei taught in Osaka, Japan, in a primary school for several years and decided to volunteer with us during her travel to Asia.
I helped Pete with the website, brochures, language content and awareness about PETE projects.
I met Shiva in Pushkar while traveling and decided to volunteer with PETE while coming back to Delhi. I took pics for the flyers and website of Pete. I voluntereed again on my next time to India and volunteered along with Carmei.
It was nice experience for me to work from Pete pickup point for slum walks where I had the opportunity to meet many travelers.