The world is more connected than ever, yet the gaps between people keep growing. A humanitarian trip is one small way to close them: you give your time to a community that can use it, and you come home understanding the world a little better.
Volunteering India works with local schools, shelters, women’s centers and a hospital in Delhi and Jaipur. Our projects are run by local staff, and volunteers support what they already do rather than replace it. Here are six of the most rewarding ways to spend a humanitarian trip in India in 2026.
Teach in schools in Jaipur
In the poorer neighborhoods and villages around Jaipur, many children start school late or leave early to earn money. Our partner schools keep them learning. As a teaching volunteer you assist the local teacher with English, math or sports for middle-school children, and bring games and songs that make lessons stick.
Teaching volunteers do more than help with lessons. Working side by side with teachers and students from another culture builds understanding in both directions. If you would rather teach small groups with a community project, see our slum schools program.
Support children with special needs in Delhi
This project brings together three centers in Delhi: a special education center, a skill development center for young people and a school for autistic children, most of them from families on low incomes. Volunteers help teachers with daily routines, join vocational sessions such as baking, tailoring and computer work, and give children the one-to-one attention a busy center rarely has time for.
Experience in special education helps but is not required. Therapy stays with qualified staff; if you are a trained occupational therapist or physiotherapist, tell us and we will discuss how you can help.
Work with women and girls in Delhi
The women’s centers we partner with are in some of Delhi’s poorest neighborhoods. Local NGOs run them to give women and teenage girls what many missed out on: reading and writing, spoken English, computer skills and trades such as sewing, embroidery and beauty work that can bring in an income. Most volunteers teach spoken English and lead discussion groups that help young women speak up. There is a women and girls’ program in Jaipur too.
Take a medical internship in Delhi
For students of medicine, nursing, dentistry and physiotherapy, and pre-med students. You join a private hospital in Delhi and shadow doctors and nurses as they see patients, run their wards and carry out procedures, rotating through the departments you choose. The internship is observation-based: how hands-on you get depends on your training and your supervisor.
Help rescued elephants near Agra
For people who want to do something for animals. On our childcare and elephant program, you spend a week at children’s projects in Delhi, then three days at a rescue center for elephants near Agra, working alongside the keepers: preparing food, building and repairing enrichment, gardening and helping in the visitor center. Trained keepers and vets look after the elephants, and there is no riding or performing. The trip ends with sightseeing in Agra and Jaipur.
Reach out to street children in Delhi
Many children in Delhi still spend their days working or begging instead of going to school. The shelter homes and non-formal education centers we work with give them meals, a safe place to be and a way back into learning. Volunteers help the staff with informal lessons, design games and activities, and support the care teams at the centers. Staff stay responsible for the children, and you are never left in sole charge.
Traveling responsibly
A good humanitarian trip leaves the community better off and treats the people you meet with respect. We place volunteers only where local staff ask for help, we don’t place volunteers in orphanages, and everyone working with children or vulnerable adults shows a clean background check. Read where your money goes.
A humanitarian trip with Volunteering India lets you meet people from across the world, push your limits, settle into a new culture and travel while you contribute. Ready? See our programs and dates and prices, or email info@volunteeringindia.com.