RURAL INTERNSHIPS

Have you ever...

Felt the need for a space where you can be yourself?

Pushed yourself to the limit, to discover just what youcan do?

Explored the junction where you meet yourself and the world around you – not in black and white, but in the colours of ideas, actions and real-life interconnections that exist? 

Wanted to see village life at close quarters and wondered what people do there; what is their daily schedule like?


If your response to even one of these statements is positive, click here to read what previous years rural interns have to say about this experience!


What you read are some the experiences of volunteers who went for the Rural Internship Programme as part of the SMILE process in May and June 2009. SMILE (Students’ Mobilisation Initiative for Learning through Exposure) creates opportunities for young people to engage with society in meaningful ways.

Rural Internships are the backbone of the SMILE process, where young people gain opportunities to volunteer at a rural NGO and gain firsthand experience of ground realities. Through exposure and participation in community work, volunteers get to learn about issues that affect the development of our country today.

The Rural Internship Programme is held in two batches every year in the months of May and June, The programme is typically divided into four parts:

• Orientation Camp, where the volunteers reflect on, understand and get ready for the journey ahead;
• Rural placements, where the volunteers are placed with specific grassroots organizations or movements for a fixed period. Here they interact with different communities and get a deeper understanding of the issues that confront the local people and organizations.
• Feedback camp, where, after returning from the placements, volunteers share their learning, and find ways of working more on the issues they have experienced. Each volunteer also has to submit a detailed report on their experiences and learnings during the internship.
• Action project, where volunteers actually ‘do’ something concrete to impact the social issue they have chosen to work on. For example, volunteers may do a fundraiser, enact a play, organize a film festival or run a campaign to build awareness and support for a social issue.

For more details about the Rural Internship process, please download the interest form , fill it and send it to jaipur@pravah.org.

For further information please contact 0141-4030356