About the Organization

Chaitanya, a Sanskrit word meaning a life full of zest and zeal, has been active since 1993 and is a leader of the Microfinance Self-Help group movement which develops capabilities of poor rural women to build sustainable community savings/loans through microfinance self help groups and disrupt the vicious cycles of poverty. The organization not only strives to achieve economic empowerment among women but also to shift the power dynamics in rural india by bringing groups of women together to foster collective empowerment and ensure that women have access to and control over financial as well as other resources. Chaitanya's mission is to promote social justice and equal opportunity for the socio-economic development of women and children,by providing trainings on legal literacy, health and other issues which address the needs and rights of women. Currently, Chaitanya's work with the community is focused on four core sectors: water and sanitation, reproductive and child health, livelihood/improved agricultural practices, and legal literacy.

Chaitanya is also engaged in capacity building and recently created the Women's Training and Resource Center which is a hub of knowledge that develops and produces resource material that facilitates the training process and compliments the fieldwork. Thorough research and documentation on and of the process serves as a guide for future work.

Through Chaitanya, women have led various developmental activities in and around their villages. From carrying out anti-liquor movements to constructing roads and seeking accountability from different departments, women are making a difference. Today, women actively question, analyze and contribute towards not only their own futures but those of the following generations.

Chaitanya has international and domestic partners supporting its projects, including UNICEF, OXFAM,and the India Development and Relief Fund. Chaitanya has a wide variety of projects focusing on women's empowerment and development. They work with 142 self-help groups and 52 villages of two blocks of Pune District.

Job Description

Interns can work on a wide variety of projects and will accompany Chaitanya workers to villages. Some projects could possibly include:

• Conducting evaluations of currently existing programs
• Interviewing self-help group participants and writing case studies
• Conducting field work directly in rural Indian villages as well as in tribal indigenious communities
• Cultivated and forming new self-help groups and helping to train women on the process of microfinance and self-help groups and build upon the capacities of these groups
• Spending time in rural villages observing the dynamics and intricacies of the self help groups
• Writing grants and documenting information for donors
• Developing and improving financial literacy curriculum/information
• Conducting research about the outcomes of self-help groups and empowerment of women in rural India
• Working with trained village level advocates (Jankars)
• Expanding the agricultural livelihood program promoting sustainable farming and increased crop production

# of Positions per term

2

Start Dates

any

Duration of Internship

10-14 weeks

Academic Background

Any

Skills/Experience

Any

Language Ability

English. Some Marathi or Hindi helpful. All field work will be conducted in the local language, so interns need to be comfortable working with interpreters.

Other Requirements

Total costs vary depending on how long you plan to be abroad, where you will be living, your personal spending habits, and current exchange rates. The following estimates will give you a ballpark figure for this internship. Get help with the math from our handy Cost Calculator.
ALL ESTIMATES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

IE₃ Program Fee

The IE₃ program fee is $3450 for the first term for both in-state and out-of-state students and $1000 for each additional term, regardless of credit earned. You do not pay tuition for the term(s) you are abroad. Visit your University's IE₃ page for details, costs for additional terms, and campus administrative fees.

Estimated One-Time Expenses

Expense Type	Price
Host Site Fees	$2600 for 10 weeks*
International Travel	1500-2000
Visa Fees	150
Recommended Immunizations	300-500

*See Additional Cost Information below.

Estimated Monthly Expenses

Expense Type	Price/month
Housing	included
Food	50
Local Transportation	100
Recreation	50
Personal Expenses	75

Compensation

None.

Additional Expense Information

The internship with Chaitanya is coordinated by the India Study Abroad Center. The costs for 10 weeks of internship are $2600, which includes the accomodation, meals, airport pickup, orientation, and weekly check-ins by an ISAC coordinator.

*The host site program fee is paid to ISAC by IE₃ on your behalf, then billed to you with the regular IE₃ program bill. The ISAC fee includes local arrangements, housing, most meals, use of a cell phone, transportation from the Mumbai airport and ongoing support by a local coordinator. The fee depends on the length of the internship and your location (possible placements in Mumbai are more expensive than the rural locations):

10 weeks: $2900, extra weeks are $250-$300 per week, depending on location other lengths are possible - ask the IE₃ regional director for more information if you are considering a different length. These fees represent a discount of the regular ISAC fees.

Housing at Chaitanya is on the Chaitanya campus in a rural location.

Chaitanya Official Website

Field Notes Postings:

Field Notes Postings:

Embracing Ambivalence by Katharina Werner: University of Montana student and IE3 Scholarship recipient interning with Chiatanya in rural India. (September 29, 2011)

Namaskar India by Katharina Werner: University of Montana student and IE₃ Scholarship Recipient (July 7, 2011)

Announcing Summer 2011 IE3 Scholarship Recipients!(May 25, 2011)