CORD USA Winter Service Visits 2015
Age group: High School students, age 15 and above.
Service Visit 1: CORD Tamaraipakkam, Tamil Nadu: December 21st, 2015 – January 1st, 2016
Service Visit 2: CORD Latikata and Deuladiha, Odisha: December 21st, 2015 – January 1st, 2016
(See details in the FAQ)
Please read the FAQ below which will answer most of your questions, and watch this space for application forms. Please note that the Service visits through CORD USA are extremely popular and will get filled within two weeks, so if you are planning, I suggest you do not delay and apply at the earliest when it is available.
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. What is the service project?
An opportunity for the youth of Bala Vihar in United States to volunteer to serve at one of our CORD centers in India or Sri Lanka
2. How will my child benefit from this project?
Volunteering directly with the less privileged will provide the participant with a wonderful opportunity for inner growth and development
3. What is the duration of this project?
Approximately two weeks
4. What is the eligible age to participate?
Student volunteer must be 15 years of age and be in 10th grade or above at the time of the visit. Student must be currently enrolled in Balavihar program. Continuous enrollment for the past few years with good attendance is preferred.
5. What is the deadline for registration?
Last week of September, 2015
6. What will he/she be doing as part of this volunteer program?
The activities involve working with the various programs that CORD offers including field visits. These activities include but are not limited to interacting with Balavihar children, adolescent girls, differently abled and Mahila Mandal groups. Several days of physical labor such as village clean up, building toilets, digging azolla pits and compost pits is built into the activities. Students must be prepared to perform physical activities in warm sunny weather. Clothes and shoes will get dirty during the field activities. Hiking and walking are necessary parts of the field activity. Students as well as chaperones must have the physical ability to engage in these activities without assistance.
7. What is expected of the student?
After the list of the students is finalized, there will be several teleconferences leading up to the visit. Students are expected to participate in all the teleconferences. This trip is driven by the motivation and participation of the students. If a student misses three or more teleconferences, he or she will be unable to attend the service visit. Students must strictly adhere to the volunteer guidelines of the host facility and the instructions of the parent chaperones. Wearing simple Indian outfits during the service visit is mandatory and critical to the success of the program. No shorts please!
8. What are the Registration fees and the over all cost of the program?
a. Charge for the trip is $600(USD) per person (students and chaperones). Checks need to be made to CORD USA and mailed to “CORD USA, 2569 Wagon Train Lane Avenue, Diamond Bar, CA 91765”. The checks must reach the above address within five days of submitting the online registration. The charge of $600 will cover boarding, food and project transportation after the student/chaperone reaches the CORD center at the commencement of the trip. Airfare to India, transportation fare to the CORD facility at the beginning of the trip, and to get back from the CORD center at the end of the trip, other incidental expenses during the trip etc. are each individual’s responsibility. There is no other charge or fee for the service visit itself. Additional individual contributions to support local projects are welcome. No refunds are available once registration is confirmed. If a spot does not become available for a student due to lack of space or any other reason, the 600 dollar check with be voided/returned.
b. Students are required to pay $150 to the chaperones at the beginning of the preparation phase towards incidental expenses. The money will cover any expenses for a day off, or other incidental expenses that may arise. Remainder of the money will be handed to the student by the chaperone at the end of the trip in Indian currency.
c. Chaperones arrange the travel between the muster point and the CORD center and back to the muster point. Parents will be notified of the exact amount due once the arrangements/bookings are made and are required to make the payment to the chaperone ASAP (within a specified time).
d. From the past experience, airline tickets to India cost approximately $2000 per person during the time of service visit. Sometimes, it is necessary to find hotel accommodations for some students and chaperones on the night before travel from muster point or after returning from muster point. Approximate estimate of total cost is $3,000 – $3,500 per person.
9. How can I apply?
The application is not considered complete until the registration form is submitted online along with the release of liability form and receipt of the check ($600) within five days of registration. Both parents and students must sign the release of liability form. All components are necessary in order for the application to be considered complete. Once the completed application is received with all the components, the regional CORD USA coordinator will reach the student within two weeks after the registration deadline, over the phone, to discuss the visit, provide information and guidance as well as screen the student. Once all the registrations are reviewed, the list will be finalized.
10. Where do we send the release of liability form?
Release of liability form should be printed, signed by the student and both parents, scanned as a pdf file and submitted online. Without all the above signatures, application is deemed incomplete and will not be processed. Only pdf format can be uploaded.
11. What are the boarding arrangements for the boys and girls?
Girls and boys will be roomed separately. During the stay, mingling of boys and girls is expected to be conservative, according to the rural Indian norms. It is imperative that the students follow these instructions and any other instructions by the chaperones. The students will be directed to behave in a way that is more conservative than what they are accustomed to in USA. Those who violate the instructions will face disciplinary action.
12. Will my child as well other youth participants placed under the supervision of responsible adult(s) at all times?
Yes. Trained program managers will be arranging the day programs for the children and chaperones will accompany the children during the activities of service visit.
13. Will somebody from the local chapter(s) of Chinmaya Mission accompany my child to India and back?
All efforts will be made to facilitate group travel to India. However, it is the individual student’s responsibility to travel to India and back.
14. When will the parent chaperones accompany my child during the travel in India?
A suitable location and time will be chosen in India where all the students and chaperones must gather at the beginning of the trip and travel as a group to the CORD center. Similarly, a suitable time and location will be chosen at the end of the trip and students and chaperones travel back from the CORD center as a group, to this location by the predetermined time. Chaperones’ responsibility to accompany the students starts at the muster location, at the muster time for the beginning of the trip and ends at the muster location and muster time at the conclusion of the trip. Students and parents must make their own arrangements to bring the children to the muster location by the pre-specified muster time at the beginning of the trip and to pick them up at the end of the trip at the muster location and by the muster time. Chaperones are not responsible for the children prior to the muster time and muster location at the beginning of the trip or after the muster time and location at the end of the trip. We recommend that you do not book your international tickets until the muster times and sites have been communicated to you by CORD USA.
15. What are the locations and dates of the service visit this winter (2015)?
We have two service visits scheduled for winter 2015.
Service visit 1: CORD-Latikata and CORD-Deuladiha, Odisha. December 20th, Sunday is the travel date from muster location to the CORD center. Means of transportation to be determined later. Last day of activities: tentatively, January 1st, 2016. Muster location and transportation details to be determined later.
Service Visit 2: CORD-Tamaraipakkam, Tamil Nadu. December 20th, Sunday is the travel date from muster location (most likely Chennai airport) to Tamaraipakkam. Means of transportation to be determined. Last day of activities: most likely will wrap up by noon, January 1st, 2016 (Friday). Tentative plans to drop the students off at Chennai airport on the afternoon of January 1st, 2016. Transportation details to be determined later.
16. Are there similar programs in other CORD centers in India?
There have been similar programs at other CORD centers in the past. Plans are afoot to introduce these projects in future to CORD Sri Lanka as well.
17. What kinds of facilities are available in the student accommodations?
The accommodations are clean, comfortable and safe. Western toilets may be available. As the accommodations are in rural India, be prepared to encounter an occasional, spider, moth, mouse etc. The food provided is prepared with a lot of care, is vegetarian and healthy. Bottled or purified drinking water is provided to the students. During field visits, lunch is prepared at the center in the morning and is sent to the field.
18. What if my child gets sick during the visit?
As the service visit locations are remote villages, only the most basic primary health care can be provided during the visit. A local guardian needs to be available in India who is willing and able to pick up the child in case of any illness, which is beyond the capacity of the service center to handle. Chaperones and service center can only handle very minor illnesses. We would ask the students and chaperones to refrain from buying and consuming food and drinks outside the CORD facility in order to reduce the chances of getting sick.