Internship @ Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, Bangalore

Name of Organisation, Location, Team Strength

Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, Bangalore, Team- Bala Janaagraha, Strength- 7-10

Application Process

Email id- volunteer@janaagraha.org.

Email should be accompanied by profile and cover letter. Ensure the dates and duration of your internship are clearly mentioned. Minimum duration- 4 weeks.

Internship applications should be sent one month in advance.

Duration of internship and timings

One month, 9 AM-5 PM on Weekdays plus two Saturdays.

First impression, first day formalities, infrastructure

First day of joining was great. Our team manager, Mrs. Valli Narasimha briefed me and my co intern about the history of Janaagraha and the Bala Janaagraha program in great detail.

The program is aimed at raising civic awareness among students of Class 8 across various schools. We were told about their expectations from us and I was very excited about the tasks at hand.

Later the same day, I went to a school under the program to see how it all actually happens. That experience was wonderful, to see the kids actively participate and offer their innovative solutions to the civic problems their school locality faced.

Overall, a smooth induction into the team.

Main tasks

Main tasks included going to schools and teaching the Class 8 kids some civics (the types of governments, need to save resources, various civic agencies etc.), creating surveys to study the impact of the program, assisting in conducting the BalaJanaagraha City Civic fest etc.

Work environment and people

Work environment was really cool with smiles all around! All the team members were very warm and nice to us interns so we always felt more like friends.

We were strictly advised to not address our seniors as Sirs and Madams which was quite tough to follow. The regular ‘chai’ and biscuits while interning was always refreshing.

Best things

Learnt a LOT from the experience especially from my manager. Felt the need to be the change that I wanted to see.

Teaching kids and to see them understand and enjoy the classes was an experience to never forget.

Bad things

None at all.

Stipend

No Stipend

Biggest Lessons

An internship at an NGO like Janaagraha is a must to try and raise civic awareness among students as they are the future of India.

Also, mere complaining isn’t going to solve any problem.

We need to be a part of the solution as well. As the NGO slogan states, BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE.