“Before coming to Udayan Care, I had these mixed feelings of being excited and scared at the same time. I thought that since I was going to a foreign land everything will seem new to me and there may be times when I’m unable to understand the differences. This was my fear, getting lost in a new country with new people whose language and culture I did not understand.

But the day I stepped into Udayan Care, I knew things will not be that bad. I felt the need to reach out to all those eager faces and wished to know every child. Looking at their anxious and excited faces, I thought I wasn’t alone in my quest for knowledge.

While my stay at Udayan Care, I developed a programme for foreign volunteers to help people like me get an idea about everything needed to join an assignment at Udayan Care. This manual, I thought, would answer most questions that foreign volunteers might have.

I also did a research on ‘Children’s feelings about volunteers’. I wanted to do this because I thought it was important to get to know what the children think about the volunteer programs that are planned. I used to prepare simple questionnaires for the children, the answers to which I used as the base of my research. I learnt a lot about the children’s lives through these question and answer sessions. I listened to the children tell me about their experiences, feelings and wishes.

Today, when I’m back home, I sit and often think of my experience with Udayan Care, my experience of learning, of sharing and making friends with children from a new land. And I know I would have missed out on this experience of life in this part of the world, if I hadn’t joined this mission.”

"When I joined Udayan Care I realized how many things need to be worked on to help and support an NGO. I saw that Udayan Care functioned in so many different ways to change so many different lives. I saw every detail and the transparency with which work was done.
In the two months I worked with Udayan Care, I grew as a person. I realized the importance of being organized. I, with the help of Mr. Subhash Sahni, Former Director of Philips-Morres, designed and developed an HR manual for Udayan Care. I also did a research on HR practices in NGOs across Delhi.

It was one learning experience I will not forget. We worked as a team, knowing that whatever each of us does helps make the organization stronger. And we needed that reassurance to help make the lives of the Udayan Care children better.”