Vidyanagar Nature Club

VNC , the place where i learned to love nature and animals.It is the place where I understood my life's aim.The placewhere I got so much love much more than I ever deserve.It is not just an organisation.. very few can understand. - Aniruddh Vasawa

I was the first international Snake Handling Volunteer for the Vidyanagar Nature Club (VNC), from July to early August 2009. There isn’t a better program when it comes to conservation, wildlife, and seeing the real India. With no prior experience, I was trained in appropriate relocation procedures for both venomous and non-venomous snakes. In addition, Vidyanagar is packed full of other animals - hundreds of species of birds (including peacocks, kingfishers, and cranes), as well as monkeys, camels, and even crocodiles. As India continues to develop, NGO’s like VNC are critical in fighting for sustainability, wildlife conservation, and against deforestation. I encourage anyone interested in India and the environment to volunteer with this program. - Vinny

For as long as the school system stays so limited in the teaching styles and methods it uses, the Nature Camps provide an invaluable chance for children to experience a far more holistic approach which benefits those less suited to the classroom system. On one camp I listened to a 12 year old who did not care for school, just football. He spoke for over an hour on his love for nature and his country and how he wanted to work for both and on many other things including religion and citizenship while his teachers looked on in surprise and wonder. This was a side to him that they had never seen before, never even suspected. One teacher commented that the schooling system didn’t allow them the chance to see their pupils in such a manner and to really see what children who were not academically minded were capable of. These camps should not be limited to only those whose parents can afford them and I support VNC wholeheartedly in wishing to fund places for children less fortunate. – Lucy Hawker, BTCV, UK