Summer 2023 will be in-person!  Global and Public Health (non-ILR) students should contact Catherine Wambura (cdw92@cornell.edu) for information about applying to the SVYM India Global Service Learning Program.  

Apply by November 12 for the 2023 Summer Experience!

Want to learn more?

• Watch this video on the 2022 India Program where students share their experiences. 
• Read this an article highlighting the lasting impacts that Alena Madar '21 from cohort of Summer 2019 made in India.

Note that students taking part in the program are required to take ILRIC 4260 (graded, 2 credits) in Ives Hall. Once admitted into the program, the student will be added to the course (students may not self-enroll). In addition to the Wed course, a 1-credit KANAD 1100 Kannada Language course (details will be provided). Kannada is the official language of Karnataka State, where SVYM is located. 

Since 2011, the ILR School has partnered with the Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM) in Karnataka state, India to develop the India SVYM GSL Program. SVYM is a community development, non-religious, non-political organization working for the benefit of indigenous and rural people in southern India through effective education, accessible healthcare and sustainable empowerment initiatives, including a Master's degree in Developmental Studies offered through a local university as well as housing a grassroots policy research institute (GRAAM) in collaboration with the Cornell Institute of Public Affairs.

In 2015, SVYM was named the #1 NGO in India. 

Together with Cornell Global Health students, ILR students will participate in 2 weeks of courses at the Vivekananda Institute of Indian Studies (VIIS) to prepare for work in their service-learning placements. For more information about the courses of study, visit the Courses page. 

Students will then participate in a 6-week service learning projects in SVYM project sites that are both interesting to the students and beneficial for the organization. For more information about the service-learning component of the program, visit the Service-Learning page.   

Global Health students apply using the Apply link below; ILR students should apply to the ILR India Global Service Learning Program.

Photo below of the 2022 students visiting a Primary Heath Care Clinic in the city of Mysore.