Join us as a chaperone for our summer camp

We are looking for chaperones aged 25–40 for our summer camps this year. Perhaps you could be one of them. I believe it will be a very rewarding experience. I’ll explain in a bit.

But first, if you wish to be a chaperone, you must be a resident of either Mumbai or Bangalore (or willing to travel from either of these cities). You help safely bring our summer camp participants from Bangalore / Mumbai airports to Dehradun airport. Afterwards, you accompany them on the summer camp, help the Indiahikes team facilitate the programme, and bring the children back to Mumbai/Bangalore.

Indiahikes will bear the cost of the entire programme, including your airfare. 

Now, let me tell you why this will be very rewarding

We started trekking summer camps for children in the Himalayas only last year. It was a carefully designed programme to inculcate a sense of adventure, teach children camping skills, and help them form a deep connection with nature.

In these nine days, we wanted them to pick up soft skills like taking responsibility, teamwork, and empathy.

Of course, the trek in itself would give them a sense of confidence, resilience, and the ability to withstand hardship.

The summer camp was an unprecedented experience. Each of the 300 children who came for the programme was deeply impacted. The parents wrote to us in disbelief. They could not imagine that their children would be impacted so much.

"Huge love and hugs to the CEO Arjun sir and Sandhya mam for forming such a great organisation..... You are not only organising treks but you are changing lives of we adults and our kids ❤️❤️❤️❤️ Indeed....as the motto of India Hikes says "Everyone must Trek" 100%with you on this, 🙏🙏" said Rashmi Sarkar, Mother of Neev Sarkar, Age 12, Dayara Bugyal Summer camp.

"The summer trekking program by Indiahikes is an amazingly great initiative to help children understand and appreciate nature better through experiential learning. We are regular trekkers with the Indiahikes and absolutely admire and appreciate the commitment of Indiahikes. Our daughter enjoyed the whole trekking to Deoriatal Chandrashila specifically curated for the children. The process starting from the registration with regular communication and group discussion for first time parents, updates during the actual trekking period and till the time we picked up daughter back at the airport was very smooth. And of course the biggest takeaway from the whole experience was to observe actual difference in the child itself. Thank you Indiahikes. You absolutely rock," said Padmini Nanjundaswamy, Mother of Aditi Gopal, Age 12, Deoriatal Chandrashila Summer Camp.

Moreover, our team members, leaders, and even volunteers who went for the programme were deeply impacted.

“I wanted to learn leadership skills and I wanted to learn how to lead teams in the outdoors. When I got to know that I had to handle 30 children, I was nervous. But as trek went by, the children brought out a completely different side of me. They have so much to say, they have no filters, they say what they mean. It brought out a completely different personality in me. I really enjoyed being with them throughout the summer camp," says Netra Sadhale, who was part of our last year's summer camp.

This year, we have increased our strength to 540 children. Unfortunately, despite the high demand, we cannot take more children for this programme. Already, most of the slots for the summer camp have been filled.

If you decide to be a chaperone in this programme, you will not only be helping us, but you will also find it an extremely rewarding experience.

Your responsibilities as a chaperone: 

• Bring children from Bangalore / Mumbai to Dehradun airport, ensuring their safety and comfort. (Note: The Indiahikes team will not be accompanying you during this leg of the travel. You are solely responsible for the children’s until the Dehradun airport)
• Conduct regular head counts of the children in the airport, on the flight, and Dehradun when exiting the airport. The children will be between 10 to 14 years old.
• Join the Indiahikes team at Dehradun airport and travel to Rishikesh with the children.
• Help the Indiahikes team settle the children at the Rishikesh accommodation. Participate in the pre-trek briefing and monitoring of the children.
• Accompany the children during the road travel to the basecamp of the summer camp. Ensuring their safety, meals and stoppages are conducted in time.
• At the programme, take on the responsibilities of monitoring the children and facilitating their experiences along with Indiahikes team members.
• Throughout the trek, you are a caring guide and warden to the children. 

How Indiahikes will take care of you:

• We will book your flight ticket from Mumbai/Bangalore to Dehradun airport and back 
• We will take care of your complete transit costs from Dehradun airport to Rishikesh, to the base camp, and back to the Dehradun airport.
• We will take care of all your meals and accommodations once you land in Dehradun. 
• We will sponsor your trek throughout, ensuring that you and the children have a wonderful time in the mountains. 

The programme is designed based on the curriculum of our experiential learning programmes. Our experiential learning programmes for schools and educational institutions are widely acclaimed in the country.

This is why chaperones will also be awarded a volunteer certificate for the experiential learning programme.

Eligibility criteria to be a chaperone: 

• You must be between 25-40 years of age 
• You must have trekked with Indiahikes
• You must meet our fitness criteria
• You must have prior work experience (in any field)
• Women will be given greater preference

Location: We are particularly looking for people in Mumbai and Bangalore. Parents will be dropping off their children at these airports. 

Please note: Even though the programme is a volunteer experience and Indiahikes will bear all your expenses, any last-minute dropout of chaperones is a significant setback to the programme.

Therefore, to confirm your chaperoning, you must pay a refundable deposit of Rs 10,000. This will be refunded within 7 days after you return from the trek. If you cannot make it to the programme, this deposit will not be refunded.

If you think this is something you want to take up, please fill out this application form immediately. 

There will be an interview process, after which we will let you know if you have been shortlisted within 48 hours. 

We are looking for around 20 chaperones. We will close registrations on February 3rd.

You may have further questions about how many children you’ll be handling, which trek you may go on, etc. We have answered all the FAQs below. 

Please reply within 72 hours if you’d like to apply as a chaperone. We will take it forward from there.

Regards

Swathi 

Questions you may have:

1. How many children will I be handling? 
   You could be handling anything between 20-30 children at the airport. We will share a list of all the children with you so you can keep a headcount. At the airport, you will also be assisted by airline staff members. 
   
   
2. Can I select the trek I want to go on? 
   Yes and No. You can share your preference, but we need to see which of our slopes needs more.
   
   
3. What is the selection process?
   Once you fill out the form, if you’re shortlisted, we will get back to you within 48 hours and schedule an interview. This interview is to get to know you better and understand your background. It will help us understand whether you’re the right candidate for this.
   
   
4. When will I get a confirmation? 
   You will get a confirmation within 72 hours after your interview.
   
   
5. Should I book my flight, or will Indiahikes book my flight for me? 
   Indiahikes will take care of booking your flight.