SSMI is an NGO and school, which is very close to my mother’s and my heart. As a college student I have been volunteering at the school to teach English to children of grade 6. I loved every minute of it. SSMI is one of the happiest places, I have ever seen. From it’s employees, and the caretakers to the students who study there, all have bright cheerful welcoming faces. The teachers are extremely helpful and kind, and are working for a cause from all their heart. The NGO, also has special workshops for women to make them self sufficient. I would love to work there more, and contribute as much as I can.

Ryan participated in SSMI’s internship program in Fall 2014, while completing their Bachelor of Social Sciences at the University of Ottawa. Ryan’s internship primarily focused on building an understanding of India’s social services sector, and the vital role NGOs play in program development and service delivery. Throughout their time at SSMI, Ryan had the opportunity to collaborate with a majority of SSMI’s departments, including the Education, Health, ICDS and Textile Production. Ryan’s primary projects focused on supporting a life-skills development program for under privileged youth, drafting several program proposals and conducting a field study on the implementation of the Mid Day Meal Scheme in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh.

From the first moment I started as a volunteer at the school, I felt welcome. My work was to plan and run workshops with the school children who had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). For instance, I prepared some games and activities to do with children in order to assess their emotional expression, social skills, self-confidence, concentration, creativity. The aim of that was to evaluate each child and observe how they interacted with others.

At first, the children felt shy and somewhat introverted. But as the days went on, they started loosening up and participating more actively. I really loved to notice that my work with them was useful and also to see that other children of the school showed interest in participating in my workshops.

My friends and I also played cricket with the children and the school employees. It was very funny because at the same time I was learned and enjoyed a different culture from ours, we laughed a lot together.

It was without doubt, a unique and wonderful experience, and I would recommend it to anyone.

I was an intern in SSMI (Swami Sivananda Memorial Institute) on the summer of 2015. We went four friends of university to develop our practices. We wanted to make something different, something that could help people in other parts of the world and why not, have a special experience. So we packed our packages and ended up in this institution. We chose SSMI as we wanted to collaborate with a local NGO, instead of an international one as these NGOs need more help.

Once in SSMI, we had a great experience. Although we were far from home, we felt as home. We got the opportunity to help in various projects: marketing and social media and textile department. We got to see all the beautiful and different projects that the institute has such as the school, textile production, healthcare or the kitchens. Professionals work hard and their projects are successful. My experience was great, I learned a lot not only in the institution but in India, as it is a very special country. I recommend this experience."

I have worked in Swami Sivananda Memorial Institute for 6 weeks in July and August 2014. I have discovered an amazing team and a lot of projects full of promises. SSMI is like a big family, every morning each employee arrives at work with the smile on their face and the willingness to give their energy to the ones in need.

The projects are numerous, with for instance food programs but also education, a textile brand and health care. Among each project the philosophy is the same: do the best to help people to accomplish their potential with dignity.

It was a great experience which has changed my vision of social work forever. I have realized that the number of people in need in India is unnumbered and it is heart warming to see that some people are willing to make things change.

I discovered SSMI six years ago. I was a student attending Toulouse Business School in France. I had a case study to fulfil on ‘how to develop business for an existing organization’. A Friend of mine told me about SSMI because he volunteered there. This is how my story with SSMI started. I went there on 2014 to evaluate how it could be possible to launch a textile goodies business with a new vision : a sustainable and responsible sourcing for firms. This had major advantages for SSMI : enabling them to rely less on private donators, ensure stable incomes and develop their professional skills. This is how Hindbag was created. We learn a lot everyday by developing new Products for clients that are more and more demanding. My challenge is to help SSMI recruit as many women as we can to increase our impact on the NGO actions. I come visit SSMI every year and it is always such a pleasure to Meet all of them. We are more than business Partners, We Trust that We can change how NGO are perceived by showing that people in need can bring Real value thanks to Education and Care. Our partnership became even closer last year. We developed a specific collection of bags and launched a crowd-funding campaign to finance a new kindergarten class for SSMI school!