Internship Experience @ Chetanalaya, New Delhi

Name of Student, College, Semester

Hiteshi Kakkar, Fairfield Institute of Management and Technology, Kapashera, III Semester

Name of Organisation

Chetanalaya, Delhi.

Duration

1^st June – 30^th June 2016.

Application

The application procedure is very simple. You just need to mail your CV and cover letter at chetanalaya@gmail.com.

Accommodation

I live in Rajouri Garden only and used to commute by metro. The nearest metro station is RK Ashram Marg. You can take a rickshaw which will take u to the office within 5 mins. The office is at Bhai Vir Singh Marg in front of Saint Columbus school.

Details

My internship at Chetanalaya provided me an experience to be remembered. Chetanalaya is an NGO based in New Delhi which works in various fields of social work. I worked under Mr. Allan Anderson, Programme Head, with 15 more interns from different college and he further asked me to work with 181 Mahila Helpline Project which was an initiative by Delhi Commission for Women.

Our office timings were from 10 in the morning to 5 in the evening. But there were days when we had to stay at the head office. On the very first day of the internship, we were shown a documentary, which dealt with the NGOs history and its working.

On the very next day, I started working with Mahila Helpline Project. There are basically two counselors and one lady driver in the team and 10 to 15 interns. I was lucky that I got a chance to get directly involved in the project. Every day the counselor used to receive a call on 181 helpline number from different women who share their problems and the counselor tries and solve the problem. The counselor first job was to do counseling and if any immediate help was required then the counselor with the driver used to go and visit the complainant. Many times the counselor had to visit the complainant for counseling or registering the fire or providing shelter home to the victim or getting the MLC done. Sometimes the complainant was called to come to the office to resolve the dispute. The complainant was asked to even visit DCW for any further assistance or any free legal aid.

Best Thing about Internship

The counselors were very good. They have to submit a report after every visit or call they receive. So, they used to delegate their work and I was asked to write the reports. Even I got the chance to visit various police stations and shelter homes of women. The counselor always took me to every place wherever they go. Even we used to eat our lunch together and enjoy.

Bad Things about Internship

There were no bad things but sometimes the counselor used to go before your reporting time and usually the complaint which requires registering FIR or MLC used to take so long that you have to sit idle and you were asked to make ppts or research work. Mahila Helpline is a 24
*7, the counselor can receive a call anytime and they have to visit the complainant immediately.

Stipend

No stipend

Biggest Lessons

The biggest lesson was that you have to every day push yourself and come out of your comfort zone to help someone and listen to their complaints keeping aside your personal interest. I will advise that those students who were looking for a legal internship Chetanalaya are a place where as such no legal work will be provided. One has to do the basic work of an NGO.