School’s out, the days are long and you finally have time for the trip you keep talking about. Plenty of people spend the summer on a beach somewhere. Others want to come home with something more: new skills, new friends and the feeling that their weeks away made a difference to someone.
India is made for that kind of summer. In a few weeks you can work alongside local staff at a children’s project, learn a little Hindi, eat better than you have all year and still have weekends free for the Taj Mahal, the forts of Jaipur or the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Every program below includes your accommodation, meals, airport pickup and a local team on call day and night, and you can join from one week.
Here are our top five summer volunteering programs in India for 2027.
1. Street children program, New Delhi
Our most popular program, and a good fit for students on a summer break. You join a shelter home or a non-formal education center in Delhi and spend your days running games, lessons in English and numbers, art and sport sessions for children who have spent more time working than learning. Staff run the centers; you bring energy, ideas and one-to-one attention.
Project days run Monday to Friday, about 10am to 4pm, so evenings are free for Delhi’s markets and food, and weekends are free for travel. You live with other volunteers at our base in South Delhi, close to the Metro. Stay from one week to 18 weeks.
2. Two-week mini break in Delhi and Agra
Short on time? This two-week program is planned from start to finish. You spend eight days with children at shelter homes and day-care centers in Delhi, see Qutub Minar, Humayun’s Tomb and India Gate on a guided tour, and take a day trip to the Taj Mahal in Agra. There is a free Sunday in the middle to explore on your own.
It suits first-time visitors, students and anyone who wants the decisions made for them. You arrive on a Sunday and leave on the second Saturday.
3. Childcare and elephant rescue: Delhi, Agra and Jaipur
Fifteen days across three cities. The first week is spent at children’s projects in Delhi. Then an air-conditioned train takes you to Agra for the Taj Mahal and three days at a rescue center for elephants, where you help the keepers prepare food, build enrichment and look after the grounds. The trip ends among the palaces and forts of Jaipur.
The elephants are rescued animals cared for by trained keepers and vets. There is no riding and no performing, at the center or anywhere else on the trip. Trains, guides and sightseeing are arranged for you.
4. Teaching in Jaipur
Jaipur, the Pink City, is Rajasthan’s capital and one of India’s most beautiful places to spend a summer. You join a government, NGO or community school as an assistant to the local teacher, working with middle-school children on English, math or sports. School runs from about 8am to 1pm, so afternoons are free for the bazaars, Hawa Mahal and Amber Fort.
You choose between our volunteer house in north Jaipur and a local host family, with three home-cooked meals a day either way. No teaching qualification is needed, but you should be 18 or over with intermediate English.
5. Medical internship in Delhi
Summer is the busiest season for pre-med and health students, and for good reason. You join a private hospital in Delhi, shadow doctors and nurses through the departments you choose, from emergency and internal medicine to surgery and pediatrics, and see how a busy Indian hospital runs. The internship is observation-based and starts from two weeks.
Volunteering in India in summer: what to know
- It gets hot. April to June is very hot in Delhi and Jaipur, often above 40°C, and July to September is the monsoon. Projects run all year; pack light cotton clothes, a hat and a refillable bottle, and take it easy in the afternoons.
- Some hours change. A few projects, such as our slum schools in Jaipur, move their sessions to the cooler mornings in the hottest months.
- Book early. The earlier you book, the more choice of start dates you have. Your booking deposit holds your place, and you pay the rest 45 days before you start.
- Combine programs. Many volunteers start with the Hindi & culture week, or split their summer between Delhi and Jaipur. Tell us your plan when you apply and we line up the dates.
Read our guide to summer volunteering in India for more, see dates and prices, or email us at info@volunteeringindia.com. Summer comes around fast, so start planning now.