Summer Internship with Nirmaan Organization — Mehak from BITS Pilani
Wildcard entry for: – 19th August 2012
Name of the intern: – Mehak
Institute: – BITS Pilani
Organization interned with: – Nirmaan
An Eye Opening Experience: Nirmaan internship
Everyone is here for a cause. Keep fighting, struggling, and exploring till you find the cause of your existence :D. I fell in love with the most amazing sector of work i.e. social during my internship at Nirmaan, Hyderabad. Nirmaan is a non-profit organization; an idea initiated by a group of BITsians (2005) determined to work for the rise of a great nation.
Biggest challenge – I am a resident of Delhi and currently studying at BITS Pilani which is just 6 hours from my place. I have never gone to a place farther than Pilani. Traveling from Delhi to Hyderabad, 1,520 km away, and staying for two months was a bit frightening for me. When I got the offer of doing an internship at Nirmaan, Hyderabad; I jumped onto it without giving a single thought. My excitement to work in the development sector overcame the fear of a new city. I was surprised when my parents agreed in one go. But the main reason was that they were pretty sure that I would come back in 15 days (proved it wrong later).
Reason for applying for internship – A year back I was working at Nirmaan to create employment opportunities for the underprivileged section of society. I was totally confused with my role. I felt it’s a tough task to find markets for selling products made by our beneficiaries. We tried out various ways to find a potential market but didn’t succeed. I used to think a lot about the right way to find markets. During this confusion, a chance to intern with Nirmaan was given to me and I accepted it. The main motive of doing it was to get some clarity and explore more areas.
Basic Work – On 23rd May I started my internship. We were given an assignment to study education and employment facilities in a village and suggest possible solutions for improving them. In the beginning we used to read about different organizations and schemes for the weaker sections of society. After few days we started surveying villages in Shamirpet Mandal of Rangareddy district. Our aim was to select a village fulfilling our constraints, necessities, and utilizing our resources. After 15 days of hard work we selected a village based on our selection criteria. We also got in touch with Andhra Academy for Rural Development. The administrators were ready to help us in every possible way. They conducted a 3 day Bharat Nirman training program to bring social leaders from different communities on a common platform and spread awareness among them.
They explained the concept of strengthening our receiving mechanism, which is mentioned in brief below: Let’s say we THINK that a person requires mangoes and we start giving him that in ample amount. May be initially he’ll like but after some time he’ll just start throwing it away. That’s what we do for our target beneficiaries. We just think about their need without interacting with them properly and try to give solutions. After doing surveys in the village (Pothyapalli) selected by us, we held a Gram Sabha to interact with the Panchayat and people on a common platform. The project is now taken care of by Nirmaan BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus team. Apart from that I got to know about the working of Hyderabad VTC (Vocational Training Center), explored a bit about EHL (Education Help Line), and MVF (NGO working against child labor).
Doubts – In the course of internship, the continuous explorations forced me to think about various issues and they were addressed in the following way:
Q. There are so many organizations and schemes for the under privileged section of our society but still why do we have to start some nonprofit organization?
A. It’s correct that there are many institutes for the uplifting of weaker section of society but not all work accurately, efficiently, and honestly.
Q. What is the exact role of an NGO?
A. As I quoted above its goal is to bridge gap between government schemes and target beneficiaries. They have to ensure schemes’ effective implementation.
The major take aways :
1. Most of us feel that government is corrupt and we have to work independently but that’s not the case. If your cause and approach are correct, there are people in government sector who’ll be ready to help in every possible way. We just need to find them.
2. We don’t need language to connect with people, just a selfless cause. Language (Telugu) was the biggest barrier for me. The best part was the people for whom I worked got connected and can still recognize me. It took me 15 days to just pronounce the name of village correctly i.e. Pothayapalli
3. You don’t need money to do social work. You can raise it if your cause is genuine.
4. There ARE areas to explore. Don’t restrict yourself just to one area. Explore, explore, and explore. You’ll come to know about diversity during your exploration.
Love with the city: On a personal note, I felt lonely only a few times in the city. The major reason was the hospitality shown by the people living there. I used to work in a lively and cool environment where people were full of dedication and selfless work. Everyone used to motivate me a lot. Nirmaan, Hyderabad for me was ‘A home away from home’. I was the youngest kid in the family.
Basically it’s not about the place, it’s about the people. Now, I am 100% sure of working in development sector after completing my B. tech from BITS Pilani. Thanks to Nirmaan internship which has helped me in taking the decision.
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