All of us have skills that can be used to serve God & serve the poor. For those with engineering or architectural or other technical abilities, eMi² is a great way to do just that. Since 1982, EMI has been mobilizing design professionals like you to serve the world-wide Body of Christ. Maybe you never thought you could give in this way. We think you can & we work hard to make your efforts strategically beneficial for our client ministries. Let God impact your life as you step out to serve with eMi² in South Asia.

No. EMI & eMi² are non-profit organizations operating on a purely voluntary basis. Each intern & volunteer is asked to cover his or her own costs to participate, helping us to continue to provide non-profit design services to approved charities. Volunteers either pay their own way or raise financial support to cover their cost.

Each project has unique design needs, so email the project leader for the trip that interests you. Most trips have place for volunteers with only a little experience to assist or 'shadow' the primary designer. Some trips are more technical & need a volunteer with good experience in a certain niche, such as hospital design. For most trips, simple & basic skills in consulting architecture / engineering / surveying can be applied to meet the specific constraints or local restrictions on the project / construction environment. Anyone working professionally in these disciplines and who is willing to listen to our clients & let them lead will be able to succeed as a Project Volunteer. On all trips, eMi² project leaders or staff prioritize & guide the design so that it's the most fitting for that project's context.

Your total travel time will depend on where you live. From the team rendezvous city in India / South Asia & back, most project trips are 6-9 days – varying from project to project. To rest & readjust to life at home after the project trip, many international volunteers choose to take another 1-2 days off from work. We understand that each day away from family & your job is a sacrifice and as such, we attempt to make the most effective use of your time in-country. But sometimes a volunteer's value of time needs to be balanced with our client's value of time.

Many volunteers exhaust holiday to participate on the trip and have a pile of work waiting for them on their desk when they get back to work. Typically, our goal for each trip is for you to be finished with your project portion before you head home. Your strategic contribution is in person, during the trip. Volunteers are usually asked to complete a portion of the design report and/or write a short article about their experience with eMi². Post-trip involvement beyond this norm is for special scope projects and will be outlined by your project leader in advance.

Projects vary season to season. We try to give a good picture of what's ahead on the Current Forecast. Projects range from design of hospitals, schools, children's homes & training centres to renewal plans for existing campuses, remediation programs for wastewater systems & community development for flooding mitigation. The project trip consultation is focused on Conceptual Design, which is a useful tool for the client ministry & an excellent vehicle for strategic input from short-term volunteer design professionals at a broader, consultative level. Detailed Design, is carried out in-office after Conceptual Design for selected client ministries. Long-Term Volunteers have the unique opportunity to be involved on both levels of design.

Maintaining an EMI Passport is the first step in joining a project team. Send it to the project leader for a trip you are interested in, or if you want to commit to being a Project Volunteer on a trip with a TBD project leader. After that, you simply accept your project leader's invitation to commit to the project team. Trip preparations & logistics can begin after that point.

Your project leader will guide you and, in some cases, provide aides to help. See our Resources page for more trip related information. Updating or renewing your passport & obtaining the required visas are usual steps for international volunteers, and may be necessary for all volunteers depending on the project country in South Asia. To coordinate the whole team, your project leader will ordinarily make other arrangements for your trip, such as: international flights, in-country rail or air tickets, hotel accommodations, etc.

The EMI website contains more volunteer resources & information. Otherwise, just email your project leader if you have a specific question about your project trip or client.