High commendation by social enterprises for interns from UPES

UPES students participate in a six-week social internship ‘Srijan’, working with non-profits to support the disadvantaged. Their dedication has garnered praise from the activists who mentored them during the internship 

Given the economic, social, and emotional challenges the world is going through, there is an urgent need to prioritise the vulnerable and disadvantaged sections of society. The onus to lead this change lies on social engineers as well as leaders of tomorrow.

It is, therefore, imperative for students to develop an understanding and a will to resolve pressing social issues that affect humankind. UPES School for Life, through its six-week-long social internship ‘Srijan’, intends to nurture empathetic problem-solving ability in the students.  

During the social internships, students put their heart and soul in serving the society. Their commitment has garnered admiration from the organisations they worked for.

“It was wonderful to work with such hardworking, determined, and dedicated students,” says Alok Dixit, founder, Chhanv Foundation, a non-profit working for the rehabilitation of acid attack survivors. “They got an opportunity to learn from different domains of our organisation, and with that learning, they contributed to the campaign, fundraising, public relations, and social media marketing. The students left no stone unturned to achieve the targets. During the pandemic, they became a great helping hand for our organisation,” he says.

Anna Charly J, Director of Volunteer Programs and Individual Giving, Habitat for Humanity, thanked the students for performing their social responsibilities.
“We used to say there is time for everything, and this is the time when we all need to collectively use our skills and knowledge to support the community where millions are affected by Covid-19, both directly and indirectly. I thank all the students for joining our effort to ‘Road to Recovery 2.0’. Together, we can serve people in need and transform their lives.’’ Habitat for Humanity builds homes and provides housing-related services to low-income families across India.

Devendra Kumar Gupta, founder and CEO of Ladli Foundation Trust, known for working towards gender sensitisation at the grassroots level, was impressed by students’ passion while performing their duties. “Many universities are instructing their students about doing an internship in a social sector, and students do them in an unorganised manner only to get a certificate. But I am glad to see how UPES enables its students to engage responsibly. I congratulate the university for the ‘Srijan’ internship program.”

Commending UPES’ thought leadership, Arun Gupta, President of Pinkishe Foundation, an NGO working towards menstrual hygiene management and literacy, says, “I salute the vision of your management. The ‘Srijan’ initiative is a fantastic step and the way it has been rolled out is inspiring.”

Prasiddhi Singh, President of Prasiddhi Forest Foundation, also appreciated the university’s move towards developing socially responsible students. “This internship will certainly inculcate social responsibility along with good leadership skills in students and enhance the practice of social development in the community. I personally feel other schools and colleges should also benchmark this initiative and bring about a positive change in our society.”

For Nilay Jayswal, founder of Zuv Foundation, a platform that connects caregivers with survivors of abuse, it has been a collaborative experience. He says, “From learning the value of social impact to actually making one with book donation campaigns and helping economically weaker children to access free education, and formulating their own dream social enterprise, the students have added immense value to the organization. We look forward to hosting more students from UPES, scaling up the pace of learning and generating social impact.”

Elca Grobler, the founder of My Choices Foundation (MCF) that works towards the prevention of human trafficking, praised UPES’ effort in making the young generation socially aware through their participation in addressing India’s prevalent issues with high impact organisations. “This is a step towards creating a positive impact in under-served and unserved sections of the society while building an accountable and socially responsible community of youth volunteers. This collaboration has led to some great learnings for us, and we hope we were able to provide deeper insights for the students to help build their future. It is an honour for us to be a part of an inspiring journey. MCF stands by your endeavour and hopes for a continued engagement and partnership,” she says.