Solidarité - Organisation de Solidarité Internationale

Internships in India

SOLIDARITÉ offers internships in South India at the Indian Institute of Training on Post Development (ITTPD).
Every summer, the training institute welcomes around 15 interns for 15 days. The interns then chose one of our partners to guide them on their 2 to 6 months in field training course.

The ITTPD opened its doors in Chettikuppam in 2003. This training and information centre is not only for professionals but also for any one interested in alternative development (students, coordinators, social workers, members of international solidarity organisations, ...). It has a network of international searchers and social workers and is a resource center on post-development.

What is the purpose of a post development research center ?

It is widely agreed that the western development model has failed to meet the needs of the most impoverished. The gap between rich and poor countries has continued to widen.

In 1960, developed countries were 20 times richer than the developing countries, in 1982 they were 42 times richer and this tendency continues to grow.

Therefore the training center is the ideal place for students, searchers and social workers to meet around a common theme : What are the alternative actions to be undertaken for our socioeconomic environment ? Propose, analyze, adapt itself and act for the most deprived persons.

The aim is to sensitize men and women to other ways of considering the world, alternative ways of life and to rethink the notion of development.

The Indian Institute of Training on Post Development (IITPD) is situated in Chettikuppam (Marrakanam block) in the South of India on the east coast road between Madras and Pondicherry. The campus is in an exceptional situation. Surrounded by-fields of rice and coconut palms it overlooks a beach of the bay of Bengal. The buildings have large airy patios, they are built in traditional Indian fashion with walls of mud bricks.

Students share double bedrooms natural air conditioned The conference rooms, espace dining-room and kitchens are most convivial . Meals are made on the campus by the chefs, using local locally sourced ingredients (rice, millet, vegetables, cheese, fruits, etc.) and produce from the centre’s vegetable garden. Water, which is pumped from a well, is filtered.

Students participate in activities both inside and outside the centre including : vegetable gardening, espace making compost, ecological restoration work, growing medicinal plants, ayurveda, yoga and visits to Thanjavur, Pondicherry , Madurai , etc.

haut de page