Camp Diaries-Help 15000 children find their passion

If you wish to volunteer with us as well, sign up at - Campdiaries.org OR

The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled. - Plutarch

During the 2016 Dussehra break, there were various camps being conducted in Hyderabad city organized by the Government which, barely 2-3 students from each government school could attend.

Milind Chandwani’s students dreamt of being in those camps and be able to develop their extra-curricular skills, to grow as individuals. Their teacher and mentor Milind Chandwani, with the support of a few volunteers, then decided, "If these children can't go to the camps, then why not bring the camps to them?".
This was the initiation of Camp Diaries(Jan 2017), which by the end of 2017  had already created its impact in four cities (Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Chennai) supporting over 3000 children.

Now, in our relentless attempt to bring the best to as many children possible across various cities, we are eyeing for a nation-wide expansion in the coming academic years.

We have a team of over 1000 passionate volunteers from across different walks of life, united with love and commitment towards serving our children with passion. We all truly believe that holistic education is what our children deserve and they hold the power to go places they wish to!

What is Camp Diaries?

Camp Diaries is a platform that identifies and nurtures hidden talents and interests of children and makes them proficient enough to pursue their passions on their own. We believe that each child deserves to write their own story and follow their passion. As we believe, a wholesome approach to education is required to open up different dimensions of their creativity.
What do we do?
We organize camps for children in government and low-income private schools and teach different activities like Music, Dance, Public Speaking, Drama, Science Experiments, Computers(basic coding), Brain Games, Art and Craft, etc.

Through these activities, we aim to provide the children with knowledge and skills of the activities they choose and also, provide them with a platform to showcase their talents.

Our Model:
The camps are conducted for 5 weekends in each school i.e. 10 days. (9am to 3pm each day)
Day 1 – The child is exposed to all the 8 activities
Day 2 onwards – The child starts mastering any 3 activities of his/her choice
Last weekend – The child starts becoming an independent learner in the 3 activities that he/she chooses.
After support – We select exceptional children from each activity and nurture their talents professionally.

Our Impact:
We have impacted around 4000 children from 20+ Government/Low-income private schools since January 2017. As we are now expanding nation-wide, we aspire to collectively impact more than 15000 children across 15+ cities by the end of this year.

CCD: Children’s Camp Diaries – By the children, for the children.

Milind’s students from GHS Bandimet, Begumpet felt bad that other children from their community were not getting the same opportunity as them.
12 of these children after mastering their individual activities, started their own Camp Diaries for other underprivileged children (some of whom did not go to school) in their community.
They’ve conducted 8 camps so far, impacting over 400 children.
They also did a showcase on August 15th, 2018

Camps at MNJ Cancer Hospital, Hyderabad:

 As a part of Camp Diaries Journey, we used to visit MNJ Cancer Hospital every alternate weekend for three months. The experience was very enriching. Our volunteers went there to teach activities but came back learning lessons for life.

Why do we need funds?
Funds and resources are essential for us to be able to support our camps and reach a large number of students across the nation, and do justice to the learning.

The funds raised will be used for arranging:
- Resources like Guitar sets, Art and Craft Kits, Speakers, Math Games and Puzzles etc which are not just used for teaching the activities, but also are left at the schools for the children to practise.
- Logistics of our camps. (Venue and transportation for showcase, resources etc)
- Volunteer Engagement.
 
Per city initial set-up cost:
 

1	Guitars (8)	20000
2	Speakers + Mic	10000
3	Art and craft resources	15000
4	Brain Games Kits	10000
5	Science Experiment Kits	10000
6	Miscellaneous Resources	10000
7	Showcase	25000
	NET TOTAL	100000 – 1 lakh rupees

*We borrow the laptops from our volunteers for the computer coding activity.

"Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much." – Helen Keller