The Great Indian Treasure Hunt is an 3-month program for Indian youth aged 18 to 28, intending to allow our youngsters to explore the world of social change, environmental solutions, and team experiences. The program is designed in a way to offer a life-changing experience for young people; that will help you to gain knowledge beyond their reality, to live resourcefully, to take risks, to work in diverse teams, and to improve self-confidence, tolerance and social skills, and be part of change.

This is an opportunity to engage with social and developmental issues, to effectively contribute in local communities and at the same time develop personal skills.

• Diversity – working in a diverse team with participants from all over India. This allows people with different perspectives to learn more about each other, the challenges of the community, and the world around them.

• Personal development – The programme places a high priority on the personal development of all the participants. Khoj staff members and mentors will assist participants in learning from the difficulties and experiences they encounter while on placement.

• Project Impact – In addition to personal growth Khoj also intends to create a noticeable development impact in rural communities. Participants are assigned to organizations that value their participation where they will engage with various community activities and becoming an integral part of the community.

• Supported learning – All phases of the journey—including training, guidance, and mentoring—support to promote participant learning.

By the end of program we aim to create innovators, social change makers, leaders, entrepreneurial minds, and professional team players—all in all, youngsters who do not fear failures and thus dare to take risks in their lives.

Yes. The trainings are spaces to prepare for the program, get to know your team and they also provide a great opportunity to develop skills of design and facilitating sessions, exploring social issues etc. The Great Indian Treasure Hunt is an intense experience which will stretch you to your limits. You will be outside your ‘comfort zone’ for the duration of the three months, as the only support you will have during the program will be your team mates and the mentors of the program. This requires a period of adjustment on your part to develop coping strategies, to reflect, learn and move forward. Hence you will be required to attend all trainings and orientation before and after the program to make this journey as smooth as possible.

As part of a team of you will be staying in a rural host organization/community in India. You will have to immerse yourself in the program and learn as much as from the community in the months of the program. As a lot of time and resources are spent in organizing the program, participants are not allowed to travel outside of their host community. Also, there is a certain code of conduct and safety and security hazards that need to be taken care of before participants can come to any decision regarding travelling in the community. The consent of Mentor is mandatory for before coming to any such decision. However, in the event of a medical emergency or death in the immediate family, we do allow participants to leave the program.

Participants get to live within the premises of the host organization in the rural communities. This is a great opportunity to live and learn from another culture. You will also be living with counterparts from your own team; they will be from different parts of India. The stay will be basic, safe accommodation with other team members. Host organization also get financially remunerated enough to cover costs like food, lodging and electricity, So that they do not have to bear the cost of hosting participants.

Not to worry! It's all part of the learning process, and we'll just keep working on it together. Participants in the past have come from all over the country and have not always been fluent in Hindi or English. You will be responsible for your own learning, so you will need to ask questions, be open about your struggles on the programme, particularly with language, and assist others in making the most of this challenge. As a team, you will be expected to innovate in order to overcome language and dialect barriers. Carry dictionaries or phrasebooks with you; they can come in handy!

The program aims to to give young people an exposure to the world of social change, environmental solutions, and team experiences. Participants placements are designed on the basis of the needs as well as existing projects in the host organizations. We like to give people as many choices about a placement but as a participant, you may or may not get a placement which interests you, matches your skill sets or are passionate about. Below are some examples of placements that past participants have been involved in:

• Assisting local organization in the process of setting up library in communities.

• Developing and running modules for different age groups in the rural community where access to quality education is limited.

• Creating youth and child groups in villages by building capacity of local youth and children to become peer leaders.

• Organizing awareness raising events and campaigns around health and relevant Government schemes.

• Researching and documenting impact of Government rural schemes, for local organizations to take forward.

• Supporting staff at local organization with building skills in social media and IT.

• Engaging in permaculture and organic farming.

• Supporting the local artisans in creating new designs in fabrics and clothing and develop marketing tools and linkages in the cities and internationally.

Documenting case studies and make recommendations for the organizations leadership development programs and strategies.

Each team will be accompanied by one Mentor, from Khoj. The mentor will live in the host organization with the team. Mentor will also ensure that all participants receive medical attention if necessary. Mentor would also be the most important support to the participants in terms of their learning journeys and the projects. Khoj mentors play a key role in supporting their diverse teams of young people to give their best and gain as much as they can while on placement. However, s/he cannot guarantee that your experience will be 100% perfect. The responsibility for the success of the program and your experience lies primarily with you, the participants.

The whole program will be divided into six elements that are taken from the Indian and Chinese cosmic elements: Sky, Water, Fire, Metal, Earth, Air. Throughout the journey, participants will also experience an inner journey through five zones of emotion: comfort, fear, curiosity, learning and growth

• Sky: The Distant Vision

This will be a 4 day preparatory phase where participants will take time to know each other and set clear objectives and goals that they would like to achieve by the end of their adventurous learning journey. During this phase, participants will also set protocols for managing conflicts, and a code of conduct will be created, which has to be followed by each team member throughout their journey

• Water: Setting the Flow

This will be the phase where things start moving. Each of the teams will be placed in four diverse geographies of India. Participants will engage for three weeks with four different social initiatives working in the area of environmental and wildlife protection to bring back natural diversity

• Fire: Energy into Action

In this phase, the participants will learn more about the social issues that exist in the rural as well as the urban parts of our country. They will work closely with organizations that address the social issues in these areas for three weeks. During this phase, each team will implement a community action projects based on a needs analysis. For example, building a low-cost community library or building a hut for a poor family using second-hand, environmentally friendly materials.

• Metal: Moulding Your Individual Personality

After an intensive 6 weeks of action comes a reflective phase of one week where all the participants meet to celebrate their journey. They will share their learnings, experiences and challenges, and create strategies for the rest of the journey.

• Earth: Nurturing Growth

In this phase, participants will get an opportunity to learn organizational skills through a three-week internship program with different social and corporate organizations.

• Air: Feel the Shift

All participants meet again to get debriefed about their learning. Here, all the participants presents their learning, achievements and challenges to a jury All the participants of the Great Indian Treasure Hunt must complete an Action at Home project within six months of returning from the program. Action at Home project which is a self-directed project that benefits others and aims to bring about positive social change in their own communities.

The host organisation is in charge of coordinating the program on the ground. The host organizations chosen for the program are long-standing community-based organizations that have long worked on issues of development and social inclusion in their respective communities. Participants will gain credibility as a result of their affiliation with these selected host organizations. They assist the program by arranging for accommodations and project plans. They will be our primary source of community information. The members of the host organization will be the most helpful and inspiring in leading and managing the projects.

The program involves a process of documentation which is layered within different components and structures of the program. Participants are recommended to record their learning journeys, and are required to make weekly reports of the projects. There are other reporting necessities that you would be told in the beginning/during your placement. Other than the truth that it is a great skill to have, documentation helps in analyzing and evaluation of the impact of the program. As a part of this process, participants would be expected to write reports at different points in the program.

The Great Indian Treasure Hunt is a 24*7 experiential learning journey. There are no holidays as such structured in the program. However, when on placement, one day of every week will be a ‘Self Care day’ where participants are supposed to spend it with themselves. (This may sound a little funny right now, but testimonials from earlier participants would tell you how sought after it was!) The self-care days are a good time to spend with yourself and reflect on the weekly learnings.

The first action would be a verbal warning. If breached again, you will get a written warning. In case, the code of conduct is breached again, the participants will be expelled from the program.

Participants must carry an original identity proof and some copies of it. They must also get at least two passport size photos with themselves.

Yes you can take your gadgets with you in the placement; however its responsibility lies with you. The electricity supply in community is erratic but sufficient to keep your phones and other gadgets working. Laptops may be useful for the reporting and documentation purposes in the program.

In terms of clothing it would be useful to go with community dressing which means wearing traditional Indian clothing. This would assist the acceptance of the participants in the otherwise new community. Also, since the program is running in different geographies and the we will experience a mix weather. So carry do warm cloths like sweater, hoodies for cold. Not using it will be considered as the breach of code of conduct.

No. Going out alone in the community, especially after sunset, can lead to dangerous ramifications; such a risk must be avoided at best. Non observance of it will be considered as the breach of code of conduct. Mentor holds the authority to take disciplinary action for the breach of code of conduct in such cases.

No. The Great Indian Treasure Hunt is a completely dry program. Smoking and drinking is strictly prohibited throughout the program. The program holds no moral judgements against drinking and smoking but the community does. It is important that the participants do not re-affirm the beliefs that community may have of the youngsters from the outside, which not only makes any work difficult in the field, but tarnishes the image of the host organization, of Khoj in the community. Any violations may lead disciplinary actions as severe as expulsion from the program.

As it has been iterated before, the experience is about complete immersion. A participant should not invite their friends or family while on the placement or seek out to meet them during that period as it affects the atmosphere created and functioning of the program. In case, it is urgency, the participants might seek Mentor.

In such situations discuss it with your Mentor.

In such cases, participants must immediately bring it to the notice of Mentor.

In case of any sexual harassment, immediately ring your Mentor.

The Great Indian Treasure Hunt is an experiential learning program that aims to empower young Indians aged 18 to 28 to explore the world of social change, environmental solutions, and teamwork. The program is designed to offer a unique and immersive experience that combines adventure, learning, and personal growth.

The program is available in 1-month, 3-month, and 8-month editions and is open to applicants from across India. Currently, the applications are open for the 3 month editions starting in mid February 2023. Each year, 12 to 16 participants are selected through a rigorous application and interview process. The selected participants will travel in teams of four, each team comprising of participants with diverse skill sets, to different geographies of India, engaging with various environmental and social organizations.

The program is divided into six different phases: Sky, Water, Fire, Metal, Earth, and Air. Each phase focuses on a specific outcome, with a focus on learning and individual growth. The participants will be challenged to work together, learn new skills and knowledge, and apply them in real-world situations, as they work towards achieving their goals. Overall, The Great Indian Treasure Hunt is an opportunity for young Indians to gain hands-on experience, develop new skills, and make a positive impact on the world.

The change we envision through the great Indian treasure hunt

In India, children are overprotected and prevented from experiencing a free and adventurous childhood, and young persons are not encouraged to ask questions, have opinions, or go beyond the walls of certainty. Anybody breaking out is branded as a “rebel”. We are all born curious. But the system through which our children are raised kills that curiosity. Our “dreams” are aligned with societal norms. This makes the children give up their dreams and passions. Expectations from their family leave the youngsters with the fear of failure, fear to take risks or to try something unconventional.

Through the Great Indian Treasure Hunt we want to encourage more young people to gain knowledge beyond their reality, to live resourcefully, to take risks, to work in diverse teams, and to improve self-confidence, tolerance, and social skills, and be part of the change.

The Great Indian Treasure Hunt is more than just a program, it's a movement that aims to change the way young Indians are raised and educated. The program is designed to empower young people to break out of the constraints of societal norms and expectations, and to embrace their curiosity, passions, and dreams.

The program is a response to the overprotective and restrictive environment that many young Indians are raised in, which stifles their curiosity, creativity, and confidence. The Great Indian Treasure Hunt is designed to help young people overcome these limitations, by encouraging them to gain knowledge beyond their reality, to live resourcefully, to take risks, to work in diverse teams, and to improve their self-confidence, tolerance, and social skills.

Through the program, the organizers aim to create a community of young people who are not afraid to ask questions, to have opinions, and to go beyond the walls of certainty. They want to inspire young people to be part of the change they want to see in the world, and to use their skills, knowledge, and experiences to make a positive impact on their communities and on the environment.