Project Execution:

The purpose of the project was to establish and design a framework to create an internship program that could be run within CCDT. As elaborated by Prachi, CCDT has a lot of volunteers interested in working with them, even internationally. While they have worked with volunteers on an adhoc basis before, they were hoping to create a structured program that could be proposed to colleges and universities to invite student applicants for internships. As Prachi worked in a corporate herself before, she knew the potential value the corporate volunteers could bring in designing this kind of program. She mentions: “The things we do in a corporate and the things we do in the development sector need to be blended. For example, elements of empathy could be incorporated in companies, and efficiency and knowledge sharing needs to be inculcated in the development sector.”

 “Both of the volunteers did a little bit of study about CCDT before we connected, that’s a great approach,” Prachi praises the volunteers. She further appreciated the blend of the volunteer's background, Jatin being from marketing and tech, and Nirjhari from the HR department. Since they were young and had recently done training workshops, they had good insights into how to work with and treat volunteers and interns. This really helped in keeping the project on the right track as they could provide valuable inputs on how to structure and create an internship program for the NGO.

Nirjhari explains the importance of the project plan and tracker that was created “I love to bring in structure wherever possible. In the first meeting itself, I like to put forward a structured plan in place to ensure productivity. The rapport that we had really helped in delivering on the project. A lot of surprises got addressed beforehand itself.” Jatin was pleasantly surprised by the inputs they have received from CCDT: “We were guided really well. You need the entire team to execute the project. It was really surprising when we had the weekly meetings that all the senior management was there. And as we had a meeting every Saturday, it became a normal office routine. I didn't expect that the entire project flow would be so smooth”.

The volunteers started off with primary and secondary research amongst students - the target group, conducting about 15-20 in-depth interviews. Additionally, Prachi ensured they had enough chances to interact with a lot of people from CCDT itself and from other organizations in the development sector. This in-depth knowledge helped them to develop a program aligned with the needs of the organization as well as the future participants of the program. ‍

Challenges faced:

For Prachi, the whole concept of online volunteering was very new. Working with non-staff members, engaging professional volunteers who were not students, and especially for an online project. She initially struggled with meetings being over the weekend and engaging the volunteers online. However, as the project proceeded, the dedication and commitment of the volunteers towards the project helped her in overcoming the initial hurdles.

Similarly Nirjhari mentions: “We used to work on weekends, and that used to be difficult for me. I had to learn how to manage my time. At the end of the day, I did not want to compromise either personal time or the work I did for the NGO.” As she declares, the initial rapport they had built was the key to success. It held them responsible to each other, and brought them back together whenever there was a short disconnect.

“We were perfectly on track and then one day I realised I have Covid,” shares Jatin,“however, Prachi was very understanding and agreed to extend the project.” While Jatin temporarily put the work on hold, the interest and passion displayed by the NGO drove him to rejoin and resume the work as soon as he had recovered. “I saw it was important to them, so that kept driving me,” he adds.