Monday, April 6, 2009

Close to Nature

(Click on the title above to get the original article)

Here's a lovely article by the Hindustan times and carried on msn.com on how Youreka can help you get closer to nature, and in fact how well it does so!:




Spend your vacations close to nature

For all those who are yet to decide about how they would spend the summer holidays, don’t despair, for there are activities and workshops galore that are just about to begin. And there's more stuff that you can do this summer. Read on to find out!

With school summer vacations just round the corner, it’s once again time for students to gear up for a trip to the cooler climes of hill stations, or to join any among a plethora of hobby classes — swimming, pottery, clay modeling, painting, art and craft — that are on offer. While the mercury rises menacingly, there is also the choice of staying glued to the television sets and computers, enjoying computer games, watching movies or simply surfing the Internet.

And last, but not the least, there is also the opportunity to catch up with one’s friends and relatives spread across the country or to have some of them visit you.

For all those who are as yet undecided about how they would spend the summer holidays, don’t despair, for there are activities and workshops galore that are just about to begin.

A firm, iDiscoveri, conducts the Youreka Summer Programme, an eight-day adventure-based learning experience for kids in the 9-15 age-group.

These are conducted at three campuses in the north Sitlakhet (near Ranikhet, at an altitude of 7,000 feet), Tirthan (on the banks of the river Tirthan, bordering the Great Himalayan National Park), Tons (on the banks of the River Tons, at an altitude of 4,200 feet, and at two campuses in the South, namely, Coorg (Honey Valley Estate in the Western Ghats has coffee, cardamom and pepper plantations) and Yercaud (at an altitude of 5,100 feet, amidst coffee plantation and orange trees).

The programme fees ranges from Rs 9,500 to Rs 11,500 (excluding travel charges), depending on the activities selected. The programmes are divided into three broad age groups -- 9 to 11 years, 12 to 14 years and 14 to 15 years.

"There are seven major activities to select from — rock climbing, ropes course, wilderness, backpacking, outdoor survival, white water rafting, mountain biking and riverside backpacking. These activities are aimed at acquiring new skills, character building and introducing an element of stretch to facilitate learning outside the comfort zone. The programme aims at instilling confidence through adventure activities, developing relationships and numerous 'I did it' moments," said Yogesh Chopra, of Youreka.

Referring to apprehensions in the parents’ mind about aspects such as food and other comforts, as well as about the security of their children, Chopra added: "Our campuses are eco/child friendly and have been designed to ensure safety, security, hygiene, etc. of the children. The leader to child ratio is 1:5 and we also have specially assigned woman leaders."

"We provide all the equipment for adventure sports as well as supervision of instructors qualified from Himalayan Institute of Mountaineering, Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, National Outdoor Leadership School and access to medical facilities at the nearest hospital," said Shinde.

Addressing parents, promoters of these programmes claim that apart from recreational value, adventure activities are also a great learning experience for children.

"Keeping in mind the change in social and psychological behaviour of present-day kids, our activities are planned in such a manner that they enhance the spirit of camaraderie and leadership skills in an individual. With such an exposure for children, their overall grooming and development as an individual only progresses in the right direction, towards making them healthy social individuals," Shinde added.

With so much adventure and excitement in the offing, can children resist the temptation of sampling what’s on offer? Instead of getting impatient, they can just hit the terrain running. For more information on the subject, just visit http://synapses.in/footsteps.html and http://www.youreka.in. Get going buddies.

© Copyright 2008 HT Media Ltd. All rights reserved.

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