As humans, we do not remember historical dates or theory lessons – we remember stories. Project Kathakar (where ‘Kathakar’ means a storyteller) is a capacity and skill-building program rooted in the concept of tour guiding through storytelling.
With Sakha Consulting Wings as our resource partner, playing a key role in identifying candidates from Delhi, The Folk Tales has initiated Project Kathakar with the following goals.
Project Objectives
- Identify women from low-income and underserved neighbourhoods in Delhi and provide structured training to become certified tourist guides.
- Enable each participant to earn a sustainable monthly income of at least INR 20,000 through fair and transparent tour guiding opportunities.
- Strengthen overall personality development through English language learning, communication skills, and interpretation techniques rooted in local culture and heritage.
- Foster independent decision-making, confidence, and leadership so women can comfortably guide travellers from diverse cultural backgrounds and geographies.
Beneficiary Community
Project Kathakar works with women from underserved communities in Delhi facing limited access to formal employment, skills training, and safe work environments. The project is designed to be inclusive, flexible, and sensitive to their social realities, enabling them to participate in the tourism value chain on their own terms and with well-established payment policies.
Training Methodology
The training curriculum includes a wide range of topics, including but not limited to basic tourism concepts, sustainability, storytelling, body language, dialogue delivery, effective communication, planning and managing time, understanding the needs of each individual in a tour group, ensuring one’s own safety, steps to follow in case of emergency, and communication protocol.
- Step 1 – Classroom training with interactive activities, workshops, and gamification.
- Step 2 – On-field training with a focus on one destination at a time.
- Step 3 – Identify the strengths of each guide (eg, history, culture, food, etc.)
- Step 4 – Specialize in 1-2 experiences based on their strengths.
- Step 5 – Execute mock tours with our own team for practice.
- Step 6 – New trainees shadow and observe actual tours under experienced guides.
- Step 7 – Trainees start leading tours independently.
Project Outcomes
Within six months of starting the training for Project Kathakar, our specialist tour guides are actively leading tours of Delhi’s markets and monuments for international guests from regions like the US, UK, Australia, and Latin America.
- Women trained as local guides and storytellers are now leading tours in Delhi, contributing directly to their household incomes.
- Participants report increased confidence, improved communication skills, and greater mobility and decision-making power within their families and communities.
- Travellers experience more meaningful, people-centric tours that highlight lived experiences and local perspectives, deepening their understanding of Delhi beyond monuments.
Challenges
Current challenges of executing the Project Kathakar capacity-building program –
- Enrolling families in the possibility of women doing independent tours for inbound tourists.
- Overcoming their English-speaking barriers through constant training, as most of the candidates haven’t received an education in English-medium schools.
- Setting protocols and standards with respect to time management, professionalism, and dos and don’ts.
