Camping in India is in a nascent but growing phase. More and more youth want to try camping but are at a loss when it comes to good options. Many people run fly by night operations without safety protocols in place. Tour/Adventure operators hire empty fields from poor farmers, put up a few tents and fleece naïve city folk.
YMCA Camp Lakeside: The YMCA in Bombay opened a 40 acre campsite but in an unheard of area, far away from the nearest highway and unknown to the local population of Mumbai and Pune. Without a marketing budget, few people even knew the place existed. As a volunteer interested in community development and learning in the outdoors, I added the campsite to Google Maps, and over the years added photos of new activities, new groups, new experiences as the campsite developed its facilities. Schools began to notice as teachers looked for safe options for their children. Companies began to notice as the concept of outbound education grew. As they shared their photos and reviews, the campsite gained prominence and achieved eminence in the educational world.
By introducing a safe option to the next generation, so many children received the opportunity to experience outdoor camping with a youth organisation renowned the world over! The YMCA was able to use that income to create a Rural Development Programme, and now supports 4 village schools, runs medical camps for the poor, an ambulance service, and is opening a Community Development Centre focused on imparting trade skills to villagers to drive development in the entire region! Small steps can lead to big things with a bit of perseverance, some elbow grease and a whole lot of love!
