The Esha Summer Project 2022 was a happy one in the sense that after 2 years, we reintroduced field work.
For the last few years, the project management was being done by students. This year, I decided to do the project management myself to interact with the summer volunteers and to understand their working and communication style better, so we may train our next year's PMO volunteers better.
Here are the observations:
1. Since this project was going to be managed by a single PM, we decided to cap capacity at 15-20 volunteers only.
2. We decided that a virtual orientation with all volunteers to help them understand the ethos of Esha was mandatory. If a volunteer does not attend the orientation, they cannot continue in the program.
3. Like every year, the form had to be closed within 2-3 days. We got 45 applications within 4 days. We usually keep a buffer for about 40% dropout ratio, because students tend to underestimate the professionalism required for this work. Some children were underage. We informed them and looked forward to having them in the program once they were older.
4. The biggest dropout rate was in the orientation itself. Only 26 children attended the orientation. We held 2 sessions so children could attend at their convenience, and then one more at the request of some parents.
5. Of the 26 who attended, we gave them assignments as per their choice. The website team had some discussions, but never really delivered anything. Quite a few students started work but did not submit by the deadline date. No reminders were sent, and they were removed from the program. Which was, I think, a good practice, because we never heard from these children again, so a reminder would have been a waste of time for both.
6. A total of 10 volunteers completed the program and got their certificates. Of these, 3 were selected for the Certificate of Commendation.
7. We conducted 3 blind walks, recorded 6 audio files, and made an awareness video about Discovering Hands - a special employment and health initiative by blind women. But the bulk of the work was done in research - we collected responses from 700 people through the summer program, which is very impressive. The next stage is report writing and making that report universally available. The audio files have now been uploaded to the online library.
Overall, it was a satisfying experience and we had some lessons.
Some of the students who dropped out told us that they had applied to more than one summer program and just prioritised their time. i.e., if they got an assignment with a better known NGO, or one that interested them more, they went for it.
The children who did volunteer with us said that their experience was positive and they enjoyed the experience.
Next year, I think we should have a more structured feedback mechanism so that we are able to proactively improve the program for the volunteers of the future.
These are the videos created as part of Summer Program 2022:
Discovering Hands - Breast Cancer Detection without radiation - YouTube
Esha Sensitisation: Blind Walks of 2022 - YouTube
