Note that Bachelors’ students coming for the village internship have to also submit an authorisation form signed by parent/guardian in order to come to Kameswaram village. Lodging and boarding will be provided free of charge in village. If interested write an email to fintrust.india@gmail.com
A village internship with Friend In Need India Trust (FIN) in Kameswaram offers students a rare opportunity to experience the rhythms, realities, and richness of rural India while contributing to meaningful social impact. Interns live in the village with boarding and lodging provided by FIN, allowing them to immerse themselves fully in local life, engage closely with communities, and understand development challenges from the ground up. It is an experience that combines cultural discovery, hands-on learning, and real-world problem solving—perfect for students eager to learn beyond the classroom and make a tangible difference. We do not believe in a top-down approach to the internship, but one that ensures the intellectual and professional growth of the intern while making positive change happen. We are very open ended in terms of projects an intern may wish to work on as the process of economic development is complex and multidimensional. Your internship period can be between 4-10 weeks depending on your availability, with flexibility to alter it as per your requirements. In contrast to a typical desk job, where students are required to work on pre-determined tasks, in FIN we co-design the project with the students according to their interests and professional goals while meeting our needs. They will be mentored regularly by the FIN team and the founder of the organization Dr. Shyama V. Ramani, and given plenty of room to think on their own. Indeed, students will be given opportunities to create impact and will be evaluated accordingly. Our internship is also a self-exploration journey, which will offer students a chance to discover their interests, strengths, weaknesses and skills. We aim to improve the employability of our interns. Examples of Village Internship Projects- Field research
- Evaluation of FIN projects
- Contributions to mapping the village
- Identifying all the fossils, i.e. government projects/infrastructure that lies abandoned.
- Conducting a pond-cleanup
- Conducting a workshop for targeted stakeholders like shopkeepers on WASH issues
- Conducting training workshops in project management, time management, social justice, climate change, tolerance, democracy…..and other topics of social interest in village
- Creating entertaining science based material to trigger awareness and behavioural change and teaching them to targeted groups.
- Conducting workshops on composting and all aspects of waste management in village
- Writing and editing content for FIN social media and reports based on field observations
