Internship Experience @ Rural Litigation & Entitlement Kendra (RLEK), Dehradun: Interact with New People

Your Name, College, Year of Study, Email ID

Niharika Singh

Name of Organisation, Location city, Team Strength

Rural Litigation & Entitlement Kendra (RLEK), Team strength: 20-25

Application Process

Mail your C.V. with cover letter at rlek.org@gmail.com

Bonafide certificate from your college is a must.

Duration of internship and timings

19th December, 2013 – 19th January, 2014

First impression, first day formalities, infrastructure

On the first day of my internship, I met Arun sir who gave me a form to fill and asked me to submit the bonafide certificate, 2 passport size photographs and a photocopy of the Identity proof.

He then, gave me some books to read, on RLEK and the work done by it in last four decades. This book was given to every intern on their first day.Interns were expected to read the book and return it to him on the last day.

Main tasks

As the organization aims at educating illiterate people of villages, so one of the major task entrusted to the interns was translating materials from English to Hindi to facilitate communication between the organization and the illiterate populace when the workshops were held.

Also, you can expect clerical work like entering data of the Feedback forms related to the conduct of Teacher Training Program by the center in an Excel Worksheet. Every intern is expected to give a ppt presentation on the topic allotted.

On my last day, I was asked to give a presentation on ‘women empowerment’ in front of all the interns and the staff. Some field work is also entrusted to the interns. We were taken to villages and dwellings of Van-Gujjars, an indigenous nomadic community, to conduct a survey for a future project.

Work environment and people

The people of RLEK are hardcore workaholics but at the same time they are ready to help the students, especially who are not the residents of Dehradun.

Even though most of the people were friendly but there were few senior members who were quiet rude and found excuses to scold the interns.

Best things

The best thing about this internship is you get to interact with new people, make new friends and visit a place like Dehradun.

Bad things

The worst thing about RLEK was the food given to the interns, who opted for the accommodation provided by the NGO. Also, if you wish to go out after 5 PM, you need to take permission from the internship co-ordinator. They are very strict about taking a day off from work.

Stipend

No stipend

Biggest Lessons

Never opt for the accommodation provided by the NGO, especially if you are willing to explore Dehradun.