Saathi Outbound
Saathi’s trekking guides run adventure camps with a range of exciting activities aimed at creating a deep, textured connection between the eco-traveler, the corporate, the urbanite and the rural community in the mountains bordering Mumbai. Whether they take you rappelling in the mountains or on a silent midnight walk through a field, travelers will find themselves embraced by the raw forces of nature that Saathi has learnt to harness and present in a way that is easily accessible to the average traveler, breaking down the urbanite’s fear of leaving behind creature comforts, while making them question their own roles as individual care-takers of the environment. Saathi will lodge you in ...
About You
Contact Information
Title
Mr.
First name
Altaf
Last name
Shaikh
Your job title
Trustee/Founder Member
Name of your organization
Saathi
Organization type
NGO
Annual budget/currency
Annual Budget/Currency
Mailing address
Room no.14, Agripada Municipal School, Agripada, Mumbai Central (East), Mumbai
Telephone number
(022)23009117
Postal/Zip Code
400011
Country
India
Website
Email address
Alternative email address
Your idea
This will be the address used to plot your entry on the map.
Street Address
Agripada, Mumbai Central (East)
City
Mumbai
State/Province
Maharashtra
Postal/Zip Code
400011
Country
India
Geotourism Challenge Addressed by Entrant
Quality of tourist experience and educational benefit to tourists , Quality of benefit to residents for the destination , Quality of stewardship of the destination.
Organization size
Small (1 to 100 employees)
Indicate sector in which you principally work
Community Organization
Year innovation began
2004
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Indicate sector in which you principally work
Living culture, Nature, Indigenous people, Adventure, Education, General tourism, General destination stewardship/management.
Name Your Project
Saathi Outbound
Describe Your Idea
Saathi’s trekking guides run adventure camps with a range of exciting activities aimed at creating a deep, textured connection between the eco-traveler, the corporate, the urbanite and the rural community in the mountains bordering Mumbai. Whether they take you rappelling in the mountains or on a silent midnight walk through a field, travelers will find themselves embraced by the raw forces of nature that Saathi has learnt to harness and present in a way that is easily accessible to the average traveler, breaking down the urbanite’s fear of leaving behind creature comforts, while making them question their own roles as individual care-takers of the environment. Saathi will lodge you in ...
Innovation
What is the goal of your innovation? Please describe in one sentence the kind of impact, change, or reform your approach is intended to achieve.
Empowering youth living on the streets through outdoor adventure activities by training them to become trekking guides and harnessing positive forces of tourism by re energizing rural communities.
Please write an overview of your project. Include how your approach supports or embodies geotourism or destination stewardship. This text will appear when people scroll over the icon for your entry on the map located on the competition homepage.
Saathi’s trekking guides run adventure camps with a range of exciting activities aimed at creating a deep, textured connection between the eco-traveler, the corporate, the urbanite and the rural community in the mountains bordering Mumbai. Whether they take you rappelling in the mountains or on a silent midnight walk through a field, travelers will find themselves embraced by the raw forces of nature that Saathi has learnt to harness and present in a way that is easily accessible to the average traveler, breaking down the urbanite’s fear of leaving behind creature comforts, while making them question their own roles as individual care-takers of the environment. Saathi will lodge you in the extended terrace of a local home before you trek uphill, you will eat local food and you will be guided by someone who had once looked to others for guidance, someone who will now steer you through the rural countryside with confidence, having earned their certification at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. These youth then mentor other younger members at internal Saathi camps, and school them in the art of serving as stewards of the earth.
Explain in detail why your approach is innovative
Saathi is an NGO working with adolescent youth living on the streets for whom no support organizations existed. Social stigmas and stereotypes surrounding these youth serve as daunting roadblocks for even the most motivated of the youth. Their experience of meeting and interacting with various groups of campers helps in reintegrating them with society and paves a way for their return as stronger members who have more to offer. Besides this, the shift from being at the unsuited receiving end to being fore runners, guides and caretakers of their natural environment is proof of their potential.
For Saathi youth, an outbound activity is more than just making sure a participant makes it to the fort atop a hill. Somewhere, the youth have realized that their efforts should be directed towards ensuring that campers relish the journey as much as the destination. Therefore, a fort is not just a stone structure to marvel at, but the upward trek is also meant to be savored. They know from experience that no emotion is unworthy of insight – joy, fear, helplessness, achievement.
We set up camp on the outskirts of villages, allowing for heavy interaction with the locals. The simplicity of the local lifestyle is the luxury that we want campers to take delight in. We also help sensitize local village folk to the idea that development has to be tempered by consideration for the environment.
Impact
Describe the degree of success you have had to date. How do you measure, both quantitatively and qualitatively, the impact on sustainability or enhancement of local culture, environment, heritage, or aesthetics? How has it transformed or contributed to the power of place or demonstrated the sustainability of tourism? How does your approach minimize negative impacts?
During our treks, we build a rapport with villages along the way. They often eagerly engage, coming forward with useful information about the terrain, its history, flora and fauna that we are likely to encounter. Additionally, the villagers increasingly engage with the visiting campers, allowing both sides to explore two very different ways of life.
As the frequency of our stops at the Kondu house in the Kondana village of Karjat increased, the owner began to consider renovating the structure to a more modern one, his preferred building material being concrete, which was viewed as progressive. We pointed out that the existing structure comprising of a roof thatched with coconut palms and dried cow dung floor that remained cool in summer was what was unique about the village architecture. Mr. Kondu decided not to replace his traditional style home with a concrete structure and is willing to explore other alternatives.
In the 5 years that we have been setting up our base camp in villages, more short term employment has been generated for the locals in the form of lodging services, porters, cooks and so on.
We are sensitive to the helping hands of women from villages who find themselves immersed in many a chore during our stay. This has led us to become acutely involved in the construction of a bore well in Kondana where women walked long distances to fetch water from the river.
In what ways are local residents actively involved in your work, including participation and community input? How has the community responded to or benefited from your approach?
We arrange tents on the outskirts of the village and the camping group takes their meals prepared by the village families, eating traditional and locally available food. They are happy to involve our participants in everyday tasks and chores. This experience is possible only because the locals are ready to welcome us and be an integral part of our experience. We heavily rely on their knowledge of the environment and its inhabitant’s .Our relationship with the locals has come in handy in the past when we have received important information regarding safety of certain routes, road blockages and benefited from their resourcefulness. In this way, we see villagers not only endorsing our style of camps, but becoming enthusiastic of being a part of the effort.
How does your program promote traveler enthusiasm, satisfaction, and engagement with the locale?
Meeting and staying with local village families during trips opens up new vistas of understanding of the local culture and history, passionately delivered by the very people who live it. Tourists, travelers and camp participants are welcome into the kitchen where they can learn traditional cooking. This allows for a deeper connection between our local host families and our guests. Our effort is twofold: Encouraging the villagers to share their distinct lifestyle with travelers and urging travelers to respond by accepting graciously all that is offered, be it a locally prepared sweetmeat or a story of an ancient legend or hero. For us, the feel of homes, not just houses, is an integral part of camper experience.
Describe how your work helps travelers and local residents better understand the value of the area's cultural and natural heritage, and educates them on local environmental issues.
In addition to learning the basics of mountaineering, the participating youth learn of the fragility of the environment and potential impact of some adventure activities so as to ensure these future outdoor professionals recognize the responsibility of environmental conservation. They become familiar with local flora and fauna. This knowledge in turn is passed on to clients and locals. For example, the Buddhist caves at Karjat were marginally maintained until we were able to make the villagers at the closest village aware of their historical significance and how they form an important part of the area’s heritage. Also, while traveling with groups, our trainers set an example of becoming responsible for environmental conservation by collecting plastic and other non-bio degradable waste which can later be disposed off appropriately.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
How is your initiative currently financed? If available, provide information on your finances and organization that could help others. Please list: Annual budget, annual revenue generated, size of part-time, full-time and volunteer staff.
Saathi’s Outbound Group is currently funded through donations and professional fees for organizing the camp. Donations go towards training Saathi youth and conducting experiential learning camps for the development sector. One part of this is income for the treks and camps.
Annual Outgoings for 2008 –2009 including salaries, equipment purchase, etc was INR15,00,000. We are expecting this figure to rise in the year 2009-2010 and are hoping to break even in the next couple of years.
There are currently 12 youth available on a full time basis as support persons at camps and 3 facilitators/trainers. A few more youth from Saathi will also be heading to Nehru Institute of Mountaineering for training in the near future.
Is your initiative financially and organizationally sustainable? If not, what is required to make it so? Is there a potential demand for your innovation?
The Outbound initiative is financially sustainable if we are able to build a large enough client base to meet all our expenses. We still have a long way to go in terms of branding, marketing and reaching out to potential clients. We know from examining the local industry landscape that the potential for significant expansion is very ripe. Other outdoor professional outfits and companies which helped us to design our initial training programs are likewise encouraging us to pursue our business development, recognizing the special features of our technical teams, and the fact that there is plenty of business to go around to the various strong vendors in the industry.
In regards to organizational sustainability, as a vocational training program, the Outbound program carries a special value in that it teaches employable, livable wage skills while also contributing significantly to the rehabilitation and development of the trainees.
What are the main barriers you encounter in managing, implementing, or replicating your innovation? What barriers keep your program from having greater impact?
The perception of street youth and whether they are ‘employable’ is a big barrier that we have to surmount. Another key barrier is the limited client base we currently have due to our lack of expertise in branding and marketing
Factors outside our control are a concern in regards to land development. While we work closely with villagers, the areas we trek and use for adventure activities are sometimes outside the villagers’ sphere of control. With the increasing popularity of the areas in which we lead camps, there is a genuine risk of cheap, concrete, generic structures coming up as developers try to capitalize on the burgeoning tourist industry. This not only would mar the landscape and experience we are trying to bring through the Nature immersion, it also threatens to undercut our efforts with the villagers to remain “green” and true to their architectural heritage.
Finally, while an appreciation of maintaining the local heritage and pristine open areas carries an intrinsic value for the villagers, there needs to be a development of an income stream to hold their interest long term and leverage their efforts. Development of villagers’ business skills, awareness of customer service, and sensitization of the tourists to “buy locally” rather than packing ‘ready to eat’ meals are needed for long term sustainability beyond our own modest efforts.
What is your plan to expand or further develop your approach? Please indicate where/how you would like to grow or enhance your innovation, or have others do so.
We are in the process of finding new destinations, investing in more sophisticated camping equipment, announcing outdoor treks and camps to widen our client base, training youth in soft skills. We want to reach out to people that love the outdoors, but especially to those for whom the idea of an outbound trip seems inconvenient, out of monetary limits or futile.
We would like to keep first time trekkers coming back by creating camp modules where an appreciation for the outdoors can be gradually built up. We aim to do this by attempting to strike a balance between their comfort/security needs and the reality of outdoor life.
More organizations working with youth could use this as a vocational training module either through implementing the model in their own organizations or through referral to our established program.
The Story
Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers' marketing material.
Altaf Shaikh resides in Mumbai, India, where he has been an active and hands-on social activist for 23 years, In 1996, he was one of the Founders of the development organization, SaathiAltaf earned his credentials as a professional facilitator with the Indian Society for Applied Behavioral Sciences.
After several years of using camps with youth formerly living on the streets at Saathi, Altaf along with a core team of veteran outdoor professionals, developed a vocational training program to equip these youth with the skills and expertise needed to become outdoor professionals themselves. He is also using the Outbound model for therapeutic purposes. Altaf has been facilitating group dynamics with several organizations for over 5 years.
What is the origin of your innovation? Tell the Changemakers and media communities what prompted you to start this initiative.
No sooner did Saathi begin its work with youth from the streets than we realized that in the absence or lack of a formal education background, vocational style of training would be required to ensure a degree of economic independence. We began by exploring training in tailoring, printing, auto mechanics, electric works, etc, but soon discovered these professions were unable to cater to the need for freedom that was typical of the age group we worked with. In our search to find a vocation that would be better suited to their life experiences, we began to consider the prospect of an outdoor adventure training. After conducting a few camps internally to get the youth acquainted to natural surroundings, our conviction grew stronger. We proceeded to deliver basic training in mountaineering, the results of which revealed that working in the outdoors fulfilled certain needs of the youth such as that of freedom from rigid schedules and repetitive tasks. Since most of them had originally come from villages, the terrain was not alien to them, and security/comfort came from a sense of familiarity. Also, being able to work with ones hands and conditioning one’s physical threshold was associated with confidence which would bring greater satisfaction than a desk job. Finally, lessons of survival learnt on the streets add on to their newly learnt skills for persisting in the wilderness. It was from these discoveries that the Saathi Outbound group came into existence.
Describe some unique tourist experiences that your approach provides. Be specific; give illustrative examples.
1) On several occasions, physically challenged youth have left behind stories of dedication and strong will. When a youth from Saathi, who had lost a hand earlier in life showed interest in attending a valley crossing and rappelling camp, we spent most of our time wondering how he would manage these activities. When the time came to rappel down the mountain side he used his good hand as a break, leaving him no option to hold on for balance. What began as a test of his capability ended up being a test of our belief in our travelers.
2) On a team bonding camp, one middle management group exclaimed that their early feelings of anxiousness from being in a natural environment, had changed to a sense of peace and relaxation that came from being away from the constant stress and pressure of the metropolitan city of Mumbai.
3) Saathi youth come from different religions and from different regions across India. One of them laughs as he tells about how each one sings songs in their mother tongues, and even if the rest of the group does not understand, they still enjoy it. ‘Unity in Diversity’ becomes the binding factor for members of the Saathi Outbound group, which has been picked up on various occasions by our participants.
4) A foreign tourist that we were hosting was eager to speak with a group of children returning from school. We communicated on his behalf, and they opened their text books to show him what they learn and he was surprised to see that not only were they learning in the English medium but the poems were the ones he learnt as a student!!
What types of partnerships or professional development would be most beneficial in spreading your innovation?
It would help to link up with vacation/travel groups that will give us leads to potential clients and Marketing/Brand development companies to help us develop branding material and expand our client reach.
Professional Development/Tourists management: Advanced customer service – moving from a small outbound program with a predominantly local clientele to bringing the nuances of an ‘outdoor concierge’ would help further our ability to cater to the international client group
Youth assisting in camps hope to expand their experience to other adventure sports such as mountain biking, white water rafting, Para gliding, and scuba diving. Some have expressed that courses in advanced rescue techniques and soft skills (will enable them to move into a facilitator’s role). We would like to partner with other outbound groups in order to explore other regions across the country.
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 | 210 weeks ago Scott Rains said: Mr Shaikh, I read in your entry that, "1) On several occasions, physically challenged youth have left behind stories of dedication ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 212 weeks ago Ruth D'Costa submitted this idea. |
