Abha Gadgil and Pranav Tanna of Grade 11, CMRNPS interned at Avasar Foundation as a part of WEP 2019.
From being independent and self-aware the internship has given Abha a new perspective to life. In this blog, she shares her experience of working in an NGO.
The concept of an ‘internship’ had always fascinated me and when I received an opportunity through school I didn’t think twice before applying. I wanted to experience working life and learn. I was an intern at the Avasar Foundation which is an NGO that is involved in the higher education of underprivileged girls in Bangalore. This foundation provides scholarship for college going girls coming from low-income families. Our job at Avasar was to enter the data of the selected girls into their company records. I chose this particular company because I believe that girls of any part of the society have a right to be educated and this NGO gave me a chance to play a role in helping the cause.
I expected to learn more about the workings of NGOs in general and certainly know and understand more about such organizations. The internship was a data entry job on software called Salesforce. This was the first time, I had come across this software and it was an interesting and new experience to learn to operate the software. The organization also asked us to make brochures and certificates through Microsoft Publishers which again was a new and fun experience for me.
We were a small group of Eight interns and worked in pairs. This gave us a chance to make new friends. Our mentor was Ms. Satya Lakshmi and she was absolutely amazing. She helped us without hesitation throughout the internship. She was patient with us and helped us solve even the smallest of matters. The most memorable moment in the internship was when I was using Microsoft Publisher to make their brochure. This was memorable because I’d never actually used this particular software, but I was able to figure my way around without external help and I felt a sense of accomplishment. It gave me self-confidence.
My overall experience was terrific and educating. It gave me a sense of awareness. As mentioned earlier, this nonprofit organization provides scholarship for college to underprivileged girls, it also conducts employability training as well as has free preschools for children from low-income families. For, the scholarship, a test is conducted to gain eligibility for the scholarship. Our job was to enter the candidate’s information from the tests written by the candidate on the system for future use. There were around three hundred applications.
The office of Avasar is located at kadugodi, Whitefield which is around 15 km from my house. So, it was quite a journey to and fro. I used public transportation for traveling there and I gained a lot of experience in that field as well. If I had to describe my internship in one word it would be ‘enlightening’. It certainly taught me so much about NGOs and the hardships of people. It gave me a whole new perspective on life. This internship gave me a lot to think about how the people around us struggle to gain a place in this world and how blessed individuals can reach out and do their best to help these people rise to their potential.
I was very inspired by the staff at the Avasar Foundation and hope that one day I too will help the underprivileged with the best of my abilities. I would like to thank CMR and Ekya schools for giving me this opportunity. It was certainly a life-changing experience and it will play a definite role in the person, I will grow up to be.
Here is a write up by Pranav Tanna on her experience at Avasar Foundation:
Working at Avasar foundation was a good learning experience. This work exposure program gave me a glimpse of how the outside world actually is. It taught me how to deal with work problems. Satya ma’am introduced us to our work and what we were supposed to do. I worked in a very pleasant place and a very friendly atmosphere. There were 6 monitors and 12 of us. There were 2 people in each group. My teammate and I worked in accordance with and completed the given work before the deadline. We learned more about a website called Salesforce.
We learned about a new app called “CAMSCANNER” which is used to scan documents. We were supposed to feed the data regarding 500 scholarship applicants with the help of my teammates. My work exposure program lasted from 15th April to 24th April, entering the data of approximately 150 applicants and also entering the data of additional one group which had encountered a few errors. I and my teammates finished the allotted work across a span of approximately 12 days. We worked for about 3 to 4 hours every day. This was a job that involved teamwork and coordination. This was a typing job and I also drastically increased my typing speed. This was a once in a lifetime experience which will be remembered for the rest of my life. The only flaw in this place was that there wasn’t an air conditioner. It was Summer then and, to focus and concentrate we needed some cold air to make up for the heat outside. The warm climate tired us and we were at the pinnacle of our working capabilities.
The main reason I applied for this internship at Avasar Foundation was to increase my typing speed. This skill would be very helpful in my life. And also, this benefitted a non-governmental and a non-profit organization which supports education for underprivileged girls. I am very grateful to this work exposure program for giving me this opportunity to experience the outside world. I feel this is the perfect way to spend my summer improving myself and learning how to work efficiently. I would, therefore, be looking forward to more internships and such opportunities.
