Global Xchange is a 6 month long international volunteering exchange programme and is a Pravah, VSO and British Council partnership.
 
The vision of GX is to build mutual respect among young people and promote global active citizenship. Young global citizens are individuals who learn from the experience of others around the world, have an awareness of issues facing developed and developing regions and put that learning into action.
 
The programme will bring together 9 young people from the UK and 9 young people from India to spend 3 months in a community in the UK and 3 months in a rural community in India.
 
The volunteers will live in host homes in counterpart pairs, to ensure a rich experience of the community life, and understanding of the culture and lifestyle of the respective regions as well as an opportunity to deeply understand the issues concerning day to day life.  
 
One day in a week is reserved for the team to come together, share their varied experiences, and learn about the community- its culture, places and issues. The Xchange will pay for travel, accommodation, food, visas, medical costs, training and an allowance.
All the 9 selected Indian volunteers will be expected to take part in 3 training sessions:

1. Introductory Training Course (ITC): This will prepare you for the arrival of the overseas volunteers and will also look more specifically at preparing you for working in a cross-cultural environment.
2. In country Orientation: The ITC goes directly into the in-country orientation, which starts with the arrival of the overseas volunteers. The training then focuses on building supportive and trusting relationships. There are more opportunities for training, reflection and review throughout the programme during educational activity days, mid-phase reviews and de-briefs.
3. Returned Volunteer Workshop: 4 weeks after returning home, the Indian volunteers are invited to attend a returned participant workshop. Its purpose is to support returned volunteers in their 'life after GX’ by giving them the chance to reflect on their experiences and to help them focus on their future plans.

A LEARNING OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
 
GX offers an opportunity to learn by experience about the diversity of peoples lives within the global community, develop knowledge, skills and values. GX provides you an opportunity to engage with critical, social and developmental issues first hand and contribute in whichever way possible to the communities both in India and UK.
 

• Counterpart Pairs: Each volunteer has one counterpart from the exchange country with whom they live. They may also have another counterpart from the exchange country with whom they work.
• Host Homes- Each pair of volunteers will be staying with a family in the host community. Just as we look for diversity in our volunteers and communities, we also encourage variety in our host homes.
• Host communities- In both countries, the volunteers live and work in a community that is new to all of them. In India, the community will be a rural area in Jharkhand or Rajasthan.
• Volunteer placements- Volunteer placements are structured so that the volunteers are able to have maximum takeaways about the community and its issues and at the same time make a positive and practical contribution to community initiatives.
• Educational activity days (EADs) - Usually held once a week, EADs provide the volunteers with an opportunity to come together and engage in active learning about community development issues in each country. Each week, different counterpart pairs run the sessions.
• Community Activity Days (CADs): An opportunity for the GX team to engage a larger part of the community by organising action days which will benefit the community learning and welfare. The action days are based on the theme of the exchange, interactions with the community, as well as the funds raised by the team.  

For this programme the applicants must:

•  Be an Indian national
• Between the ages of 18 – 25 years
• Have working knowledge of Hindi and/ or English

Click here to download the application form in English.

Click here to download the application form in Hindi.

LAST DATE TO SUBMIT THE FORM IS 15th JUNE 2010.

Send in your completed applications to lokasish.saha@pravah.org or mail them to:
 
Lokasish Saha
Pravah
C-24B, Second Floor
Kalkaji, New Delhi-110019
 

Contact : Lokasish/Shubhi/Abhijit at 011- 26440619/ 26213918/ 26291354. and /or mail us at smile@younginfluencers.com
 
ABOUT VSO
 

VSO is an international development organization that promotes volunteering to fight global poverty and disadvantage. Volunteering is at the heart of VSO's contribution to development VSO places over 1500 – 2000 volunteers each year in around 35 countries.
 
ABOUT BRITISH COUNCIL
 
British Council is the United Kingdom's leading cultural relations organisation and India is our largest operation worldwide.In India, we operate as a division of the British High Commission and have offices in the four main metros as well as a network of nine libraries. Through our centres and programmes we promote the diversity and creativity of British society and culture. We do this by helping people to appreciate its vibrancy