Service learning experience
Upon arrival to India, staff from our partner organization Maitri Pune will introduce students to the variety of service learning projects that are available. In the first week and a half, students will learn about the work Maitri does based in the city of Pune, giving them the experience of learning about NGO work in an urban setting, and identifying specific social issues in the city. Then, students will take a week-long trip to a village in the Melghat region, where they will experience NGO work in a rural setting. After this exposure to different types of initiatives and important local social issues, students will then decide on the particular project they would like to be involved with for the remainder of their stay, for the vital service learning component of their summer experience.
ACM students Alexa Wilcox and Dan Read featured in the Indian Express newspaper on June 28, 2010
The urban-based projects in Pune will typically be connected with work Maitri is doing, and students can be involved with these ongoing Maitri projects in a variety of ways. The Maitri projects in the Melghat region offer a distinctive opportunity for students to be involved with rural development, working in small villages with extremely limited resources, and immersing themselves in a unique, rural environment. In all projects, there will be daily and weekly structured reflection and analysis about their experience, and each student will have a mentor who will assist and guide them for the duration of their project.
Maitri Pune
Maitri is a forum of volunteers and citizens primarily based in Pune, India who works or want to work in order to make lives better. Maitri provides mobilizational and organizational back up for citizen’s initiatives. It has the spirit of togetherness, the passion for humanity and the drive for the betterment of human lives. Maitri volunteers are engaged in solving complex issues like removal of malnutrition in Melghat region (Melghat Mitra), providing reliable information about HIV and AIDS to doctors and general public (Mukta Helpline), responding to emergencies anywhere in India and many more.Where there is need or emergency, Maitri reaches there to rescue, relieve, and then for rehabilitation. Gujarat Earthquake, Tsunami in Tamilnadu, Floods in Konkan and now in Bihar are recent disasters when Maitri, through its donors with the help of volunteers, have contributed for betterment of people. Maitri started its activities in 1997 and is registered under Public Trust Act in 1999. The trust acts as a custodian and umbrella support for all these groups in terms of raising and management of funds, training, building awareness in citizens, administration, and general management of the resources. But the real drive and force of Maitri is its volunteers who provide the distinct character to the organization.
Maitri has developed a well-established practice of sustained reflection and analysis about volunteer work for development and about the volunteering experience, which has earned it extensive praise, and which will be an integral component of the ACM India Summer Program. Maitri also has an established history of partnership with Colorado College, a member of the ACM consortium.