Symbiosis College

Report on Internship over the summer in an NGO.

A report showing the working of the NGO and my experiences there,

Pranav Garg 7/1/2012

Summer Assignment Mid-Term Report On Student Internship Programme In an NGO A Ray of Hope (AROH) At NOIDA Between th April 2011 to th may 2012 Towards Partial Fulfillment of Bachelors in Business Administration (Full Time) Under Guidance Of
Dr. Neelam Gupta, Founder President and CEO, AROH

And Dr.Anupama Suresh, Director, Symbiosis Centre for Management Studies (UG)

June 2012

Introduction
As a student of the BBA Programme in the SCM (UG) at Pune, one is required to undergo training during the End Term Breaks with any one Organization from the Business or the Social Enterprises/Organizations in the nature of NGOs. AROH is an NGO based at Noida working for socially useful interventions. I started training in this NGO on the th of April as a trainee and continued to work till the th of May. During the first few days of my training I was subjected to certain classroom lectures about the formal and informal organizations and an in-depth study of the way NGOs work. As a part of my Internship, I was given the task to conduct a sample survey in select localities earlier covered by the Vikas Bharti NGO under the SJSRY, to assess and evaluate the retention and result of the benefits from the programme after a decade since implementation. The objective of the exercise was to find out suitability and effectiveness of methods and strategies used and improve the same for replication and further usage and implementation in other programmes . The exercise planned for me was devised in a manner to help me in the process to train myself to master my management skills through observation of processes, study of methods and strategies.(Copy of the Query Format is annexed at Annexure 1) During my internship I spent time in interacting with the NGOs Director, team members, making an observation trip to some of the project area slums and reading through project reports and documents. A brief extract of the Profile of the Vikas Bharti NGO is reproduced here towards presenting relevant information against essential query format developed by the Institute.

Contents
Name of the NGO along with the contact person and contact details ................... 6 About the ngos establishment .............................................................................. 7 Number of people involved at the various managerial levels .............................. 10 Number of inmates/members .................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Activities undertaken by the NGO ........................................................................ 11 Sources of funds generated ................................................................................. 17 Monitoring of the sources and allocation of funds generated ............................. 18 Your contribution as an intern to the NGO .......................................................... 19 Any extra ordinary initiatives undertaken ............................................................ 22

Name of the NGO along with the contact person and contact details
Name: AROH Foundation Address: F-52 Sector 8, Noida, U.P 201303 Area of work: Underprivileged youth and women Contact Person: Dr. Neelam Gupta Contact Details: Land Line No - 0120-3088070-079 Website - www.aroh.in E-mail - arohfoundation@gmail.com

Preface
As we walk down the path of technological advancement with the world being just a click away, there are millions of people who seem untouched by the progress. They have seen it all harsh beatings, burns, sexual harassment, ignorance and the list goes endless. Being young entrepreneurs, its our responsibility to uplift these groups so that they can walk along with us in our path to prosperity. Awakening to the needs of the hour, our institution asked us to work with an NGO thereby helping us to understand and re-build a society with just and equality. Well renowned for its motto If you want happiness for a lifetime - help the next generation. AROH(A Ray Of Hope) is a regional NGO operating in the city of Noida and adjoining districts and villages. The NGO is trying to bring about a change in the current social scenario by trying to uplift the poor and weaker section of the society by way of spreading education and awareness regarding different stigmas of the society. It provides schooling to poor and under privileged children and also actively takes part in all the Government projects for the development of the society. I worked in this NGO for one month where I was made to spread awareness regarding the importance of education in the current world scenario. I tried to club in the wholesome experience in this project in the framework as stated by the institution.

Acknowledgement
Before I proceed with the project, I take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt gratitude towards Dr Anupama Suresh Rawat, Director of Symbiosis Centre for Management Studies (Under-Graduate) for helping us transcend the scarred society thereby making the world a better place to live in.

I thank Dr. Yogesh Pisolkar (Project Coordinator) for giving me the opportunity to work in this enlightening project.

I also extend my heartfelt gratitude towards Dr. Neelam Gupta, Founder President and CEO, AROH to give me an opportunity to work in his NGO and it was a very pleasant learning experience for me under her guidance.

I am extremely grateful to my other fellow interns for their sincere contribution in all the work assigned to us.

About the ngos establishment

AROH Foundation was founded in the year 2000 as an organisation with a focus on research on the socioeconomic issues and challenges of the Indian Society. With its rich resource material, it has branched out into performing various developmental activities that include the provision of education, health, sanitation and largely livelihood empowerment programmes addressing rural and slum-based youth & women in marginalised socioeconomic conditions. AROH, over the past 12 years, has demonstrated a replicable vocational and life skills training and economic empowerment model for adolescents and youth for livelihood promotion and empowerment through its various programs. The organisation has gained a wealth of knowledge and experience by way of working with the government, corporate and the civil society organizations to improve the lives and conditions of marginalised youth and women in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan.

Number of people involved at the various managerial levels Like every big organization, the NGO has three very broad managerial levels. TOP LEVEL: consists of higher level managers like board of directors etc MIDDLE LEVEL: consists of middle level managers like sales manager LOWER LEVEL : consistes of workers, employees The top most position is of the president and she is the one who is the highest point of authority in the NGO. There is a team that works in the back end and is responsible for things like the website, electronic media, print media etc. For each different project, there is a different team of people. On a deeper level, in each different city for a single project, there are again different teams of people.
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Every persons job is linked to the other and the chain follows right from the top to the so called bottom. The reason I call it so called is that the job of even the person at the bottom isnt any less important than the people on the top.

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Activities undertaken by the NGO

The NGO has various projects running at the moment. These are: Padho Aur Badho

AROH Non-Formal Education (NFE) center program is a preparatory school for learning academics skills and acquiring life skills. The aim of AROH is to rehabilitate the disadvantaged and restore his/her childhood by bringing him/her into the mainstream of socio- economic life. The majority of children who attend AROH community NFE's are those fighting their daily battle for survival as child laborers, street children and/or victims of extreme poverty. These children are the \"poorest of the poor\", the 'unreachable' who have been denied education and their right to a childhood largely because of poverty. AROH NFE model is extremely relevant to the context of children belonging to different socio-cultural environment, and it has several distinctive features that have contributed in making it standout.

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The conceptualization of the 'AROH' NFE model is influenced by two basic principles, 'right and needs of children are synonymous' and 'a child should not be viewed in isolation, but in the context of family to which it belong and in the larger context of the community. Though in last four decades, there has been considerable quantitative expansion of educational opportunities at all levels through massive increase outreach, as well as the coverage of the lower level institutions acting as feeders for higher levels. But despite all such policies and the efforts made, about 80 to 100 million children still remain out-of-school system. The formal education system does not reach out to these children and there appears no mechanism to get these children into the primary school net. Bringing these children to school and ensuring that they complete primary education remains a challenge in itself to all stakeholders.

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GARIMA
AROH Foundation has bagged the prestigious project for economic project for economic empowerment of unemployed youth in the remote areas and villages of Chandigarh by WAPCOS, a Public Sector Enterprise as a part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative. AROH Foundation has been chosen as the project implementation agency for this project. The project gains in status as it is being taken up under aegis of Ministry of Water Resources and Hon'ble Minister Shri Pawan Bansal is himself taking keen interest in the project, Chandigarh being his constituency. About GARIMA! GARIMA Project is sponsored by WAPCOS Limited, a \"MINI RATNA\" Public Sector Enterprise under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Water Resources. WAPCOS provides consultancy services in all facets of Water Resources, Power and Infrastructure sectors in India and across the globe.

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WAPCOS Ltd. has chosen to mesh their social commitment into business vision. The Company has been working, on a wide range of CSR programmes from education to livelihoods for underprivileged communities. The company believes that economic empowerment of individuals transforms them into powerful agents of social change.

UDAAN
UDAAN Project is a Barclays-AROH initiative, sponsored by Barclays Shared Services Pvt. Ltd. (BSS), a world leader in financial services. AROH Foundation has been implementing UDAAN project in which we offer short term training courses of 3-4 months duration, in which the trainees are prepared for jobs in consultation with industry experts and professionals. UDAAN vision implies that education and training not only aim at employability and income generation, but also at building individuals and communities capacities for sustainable and dignified livelihoods. UDAAN enables the trainees to face the world confidently as they are also imparted communication skills, soft skills and life skills which include positive thinking, team building, decision-making, goal setting, gender issues and time/money management.

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Brief Project Background The overarching goal of the project is to reduce the poverty. In order for achieving that goal the program has designed its objectives to improve skills, enhanced economic and employment opportunities and to ensure increased access to job employability and social services of rural communities. UDAAN specially designed skills training programme for the underprivileged women and youth from the poor and backward communities. UDAAN provides the selected candidates with an opportunity to: 1.Learn a market or job oriented skill from qualified instructors and obtain the Course Certificate. 2.Find a job or start own micro enterprise and enhance his/her income and status.

Aim To create vocational opportunities to the disadvantaged community in the Mamura village of Noida by developing their skills, training and placement services in consonance with the markets needs and demands and prepare them to face the new economic challenges.

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Sources of funds generated

At AROH Foundation, they have a two pronged approach where Research, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation go hand in hand with Grassroots Intervention for Community Empowerment. We bring in support from Government Organisations, International Development Organisations and Multilaterals, Research Institutions to work with Corporates, PSUs, International Agencies, NGOs and Volunteers to work together in order to bring out what we strive for, a sustainable society.

As the above flowchart shows, the inputs are received via government organizations, international development organizations and research institutions.

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Apart from that funds are also received from the various sponsors associated with the NGO.

Monitoring of the sources and allocation of funds generated

First of all a memorandum of understanding is signed between the NGO and the donor. After this the donor sanctions a sum of money to the NGO, it becomes a partner/sponsor for the NGO. After this, the NGO takes responsibility of taking care that the donor has full information where the funds are being utilized and how it is helping in the project. This is presented to them whenever the donor requires ( agreed mutually). A periodic report is generated and shared with the partner.

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Your contribution as an intern to the NGO

In my period as an intern at AROH Foundation, I was supposed to visit various centres where all the activities took place and prepare a report on my observations on how people feel about having work. In slums and villages, there are people who are desperate to work but never get the chance to. It was my job to go to the slums and find out exactly how they feel. I was extremely surprised at how enthusiastic people in slums were to learn. Something that is taken for granted in cities is something that is lacking so badly in slums. Things that we dont realize we have are the things that they are most desperate to get. Nothing more education! I had gone to a slum where teachers had gathered and the following are some quotes and instances I could pick up from there. These are specific to that village but the trend is general in all villages.
1. In recitals, Ladies were so involved that they were actually shedding tears to it. This was a very moving sight. 2. Living in villages as we all know can get tough even for someone who has spent their lives there. Sources of entertainment are few and far between. There was a group of girls, who just wanted to go to a marriage simply because they wanted to dance and have fun. 3. A student said to his teacher and I quote Mujhe khaana nahi chahiye, padhai de do. Students get mid-day meals in government schools, and the condition of which is well known to us. By this statement, he meant that he wouldnt mind if food is not given to him in school, provided it is replaced

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by teaching. This just shows the sheer eagerness of the student to learn. It shows how a little kid wants to learn more than he wants to eat. Certainly encouraging for anyone seeing this.

4. In town schools, children feel relieved when they have no homework. But that was certainly not the case in this slum. Students would pick up stray scraps of paper just so that they could write down stuff from class to take back home and attempt on their own. All this in an undiminished desire to learn. 5. Their eagerness had no bounds. There were little children asking their teachers if they could study pre or post school hours just so that they could learn more.

6. From the teachers point of view, its a whole new perspective. They feel that being teachers they get more respect from their family members and even their in laws. It increases their own confidence and gives them something to be happy about in life. 7. One of the teachers said and I quote Sab log mujhe Madam ji, Madam ji karke bulate hain. Teachers take pride in what they are doing and feel that they get respect from students in return. It gives them a sense of good self esteem. 8. Teachers become an important part of the society. Everyone gets to know them and then whenever in need they have lots of people who are willing to help in every way possible. As one of the teachers said and I quote Bahut kaam aasaan ho jaate hain

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9. When I go to school, the principal gets tea/coffee/cold drink for me., so its a matter of high honor for me. This is what one of the teachers said. They feel important as they are respected wherever they go. 10. I feel good that I dont simply sit at home, be a housewife. This is another quote from the teacher. Again, it just gives them a feeling that they are active members in the society and not just sitting at home doing nothing. 11. I work, get some money home, help my husband and shape a better future for my children. This was agreed by many teachers. The income they get from teaching students aids their own family and supplements their husbands income. All this just means a better future for their own children.

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Any extra ordinary initiatives undertaken

Went from society to society spreading awareness about AROH and trying to get permission to organize a camp. One of my jobs as an intern at AROH was to organize collection campaigns in Noida and Delhi. These collection campaigns are held to collect second hand books. We went from society to society in search of people willing to set up collection campaigns in their colony. We had to take the number of residential welfare association in that area and convince them about what AROH is all about and why do we want to organize a collection campaigns in your society. Majority of the people were unwilling to cooperate and give a green signal to the collection campaign but some who did give a good response were very helpful as well.

Helped in organizing and setting up collection campaigns in various parts of Delhi. When we had got the permission to set up the collection campaign, there was a lot of work to be done, like there were official papers to sign and formalities to be fulfilled. We were supposed to go from house to house, spreading awareness about AROH and requesting

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people to take out time to come and donate as many goods as possible. During the collection campaign we were supposed to collect books from the people and helping them understand how they are helping the society and the poor. Collection campaigns were a very major area to spread awareness about the problems in India and how everybodys small effort can make a difference.

My job initially was to just go with the group and observe what happens in every village and create a report on this. This seemed quite trivial. I decided to make an effort to talk to various people and find out what they feel. As in the above section, I spoke to women, children and generally with other people from not only that slum but many others just to find out their living and how it has changed with more facilities to learn and get educated. This has helped me gain awareness of parts of our own country that sometimes we arent even aware of and also it helped me develop good communication and talking skills.

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My Experience
During the period of my internship at AROH, I actually understood that poverty and illiteracy are the real stigmas of the society and are very prevalent in the city. As I did my internship from a local NGO I could relate it only at a regional level of Noida and Delhi but the scenario all over the country is more or less the same. More than 35% of the child population of the city doesnt have access to basic education as the number of educational institutes in the city are very limited and most of them are privately owned which the poor section of the society cant afford, and the ones owned by the Government like KendriyaVidyalaya, BalVidyaMandir , etc. are not in a good working condition and getting admission there is a very difficult task. This is the main reason why the condition of the poor section of the society is getting deteriorated day by day and that of the rich section is getting better. What the city needs right now is that more and more people should take up the initiative to bring about a change in the current social scenario. More and

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more social entrepreneurs , non-profit organisation and non-government organizations should crop up in the city for the upliftment of the poor section. And education is the basic remedy to almost all the problems of all the sections of the society. Its high time now and scenario has to change or else the a large section of society will never be able to come up.

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