How to become volunteer?
Dr. V’s spirit lives on in the many volunteers who have given their time, talent, and humanity to help achieve our vision of eliminating needless blindness.
If you would like to volunteer with Aravind Eye Care Services in India or Aravind Eye Foundation in New York City, please complete our Volunteer Application Form and submit it online with a copy of your resume attached. We might not have work for you right away, but we’ll be able to contact you when the right project comes up.
Volunteer Stories
FAQ'S
Aravind welcomes all kinds of volunteers, but we particularly need expertise in technical writing (both medical and information systems) to help document our methods and best practices, information architecture and user interface design that will make our work accessible to other hospitals, NGOs, teaching facilities, and government agencies via the Internet, social media for marketing and fundraising
The length of an assignment varies depending on the project — we have volunteers who come for a month, and we have volunteers have worked with us for 30 years. It takes some time to get used to working with a new organization and (if you’re coming from outside Tamil Nadu) to living in a new environment. A month is usually the minimum we would recommend for the work to be meaningful for you and for Aravind. Some projects can be completed remotely via the Internet.
Fill out the application form on line, and attach a copy of your CV. Don’t forget to tell us how you heard about Aravind. We will contact you when we have the right position.
It varies from country to country; please visit your local consul office or their website to make sure that you have the proper visas and other travel documents. If you are traveling from the US, once your volunteer position has been secured, you can contact info@aravindeyefoundation.org, and they can advise you, too.
Aravind does not pay for travel, however, once you are here, you will stay in the Aravind guest house with other volunteers and visiting staff. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served at the guest house; the meals are typical south Indian cuisine. The New York office of Aravind Eye Foundation does not pay for travel or accommodation.
For more information on local customs, appropriate dress, and things to do and see in Madurai, please visit Vanakaam, which means “Welcome” in Tamil.