As former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan put it, “If our hopes of building a better and safer world are to become more than wishful thinking, we will need the engagement of volunteers more than ever.”
Whether you are a backpacker, a solo traveler or a student still deciding what comes next, some things are worth doing sooner rather than later, and a volunteer trip to India is one of them. You support local projects that need extra hands, pick up new skills and make friends from all over the world. This year, do something good, add some happiness to someone else’s day and see how it changes yours.
Here are five of the most popular projects Volunteering India offers. Have a look and choose the one that suits you best.
1. Childcare in Jaipur
Spend your afternoons at a shelter home in Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, either a home for boys rescued from child labor or one for girls affected by HIV. The children live at the shelter and go to school, and when they come back in the afternoon, volunteers help with homework, practice English, run arts and crafts and play games. Regular faces matter to these children, so the longer you stay, the more you become part of their routine.
Mornings and weekends are free to explore the Pink City: Amber Fort, the City Palace and Hawa Mahal, with Rajput architecture quite unlike the Mughal monuments of Delhi and Agra. Volunteers on this program must be 18 or over.
2. Two-week mini break, Delhi and Agra
This short-term volunteering program is for people who are short on time but still want to travel and volunteer. Volunteering and sightseeing are planned for you and fit into two weeks.
You spend eight days with children at shelter homes and day-care centers in Delhi: informal classes in English and math through games and activities, songs and stories, crafts, helping the staff serve meals and brightening up the centers.
A guided tour takes you to Qutub Minar, the Lotus Temple, Humayun’s Tomb and India Gate, and on the first Saturday you go to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. On your free Sunday, take the Metro to Akshardham or shop at Janpath and Dilli Haat. You will be planning your next trip to India before you leave.
3. Childcare and elephant rescue, Delhi, Agra and Jaipur
Another short program, this time across three cities over 15 days. It is perfect if you want to work with children and help care for elephants.
You start with a week at children’s projects in Delhi, with a guided tour of the city’s monuments. Then you take the train to Agra, see the Taj Mahal, and spend three days at a rescue center for elephants. Trained keepers and vets look after the animals; volunteers help with the work around them: chopping fruit and preparing food, making enrichment, tending the gardens and walking alongside the elephants with their keepers. There is no riding and no performing, at the center or anywhere else on the trip.
The trip ends in Jaipur, with a tour of the City Palace and Jal Mahal, time in the bazaars and an early start for Hawa Mahal and Amber Fort.
4. Street children program, Delhi
Thousands of children in Delhi live on the streets, at railway stations or in slums, and many have never been to school regularly. Some have run away from home; others have lost their parents.
We work with local organizations that give these children shelter, food and education. As a volunteer, you spend time with the children at shelter homes and non-formal education centers and help the staff give each child more attention.
The focus is on basic education, so that the children can get into school and keep up once they are there. Creative, activity-based lessons help them learn faster, and now and then the staff take them on outings to the zoo or a museum, where volunteers can help. If you love being with children, this is the program for you.
5. Medical internship, Delhi
For pre-med students and students of medicine, nursing, dentistry or physiotherapy. Healthcare in India runs under very different pressures from home: busy wards, high patient numbers and doctors who see conditions you may only read about.
On our medical internship, you join a private hospital in Delhi and rotate through the departments you choose, such as emergency, internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery or obstetrics. Most of what you do is observation: you shadow doctors and nurses as they see patients, run ward rounds and carry out procedures, and help where your training and supervisor allow. Placements start from two weeks.
Think about what interests you most. Whichever you choose, a volunteer trip to India could be one of the best experiences of your life, so make 2026 the year you go.
For more information about volunteering in India, email info@volunteeringindia.com and our team will get back to you.