The kanthari course differs from conventional leadership programs in several ways:

1. Each cohort is highly diverse. Participants are from different backgrounds, come with various different project ideas and expertise, hail from all around the world and some have a physical or sensory disability.
2. We accept beginners who have never worked in the social and/or environmental sector and those who have founded and run their venture already. We don’t differentiate between persons with higher education (those with PHDs or doctor titles) & school drop-outs. We are interested in a wide range of ages, from 22 years of age upward (with no upward age limit).
3. To tailor the course content adequately to each participant, we developed a hands-on curriculum, based on experiential learning. The curriculum is called: “a journey in 5 acts”. It has been tested and modified for over 15 years and with most of our alumni, we witnessed that the tools we provide are crucial in setting up and running a sustainable impactful venture.
4. The course is only effective if it is done in one go. There is no pick and choose because each session is interlinked and is built up on previous learnings. Only if all acts are successfully completed, you will graduate from the course.

kanthari offers a 12-month lasting course.

The course is split into an online and an on-campus part.

Every year, the course starts online in the beginning of April (6 weeks). This is a preparation that lays the foundation for the on-campus training.

Then, the on-campus part will start around the end of May (7 months).
Usually, this part ends around mid-December and you will return home.

After the on-campus part is over, you will start or continue your social/environmental venture on the ground. For 3 months you will be guided by a local mentor, a kanthari alumni who has already started an organisation. Once these 3 months are successfully completed, you will become an official kanthari graduate.

Every year kanthari receives hundreds of applications from around the world. However, to ensure high-quality training, kanthari accommodates a maximum of 25 participants per academic year who are chosen through a stringent six-step selection process.

Step 1: Application via online application form.

Step 2: Initial interview: Our intake team will interview you via a Zoom call to get a feel for your passion and clarity in regard to your chosen project.

You will also have an opportunity to ask any questions you may have about the program and application process, questions that are not already answered through the website content.

Step 3:  an essay write-up: you will write about your personal history, your challenges, how you have dealt with these, and your vision for social change. Also included is a small budget.

Step 4: Expert Interview:  This online interview will be conducted by an independent expert to determine your suitability for participating in this very intense course.

Step 5: Catalyst interview: This interview will be done with a group of catalysts who will mainly focus on your project idea.

Step 6: PEP program: a practical, assignment-based exercise that helps us gauge your timeliness, reading comprehension, attention to detail, ability to follow instructions, creative thinking, and communication skills among others.

If you are selected, there will be additional assignments to be completed before arrival in India.

– You will need to have an idea for a social and or environmental project/venture that will create a mindset change and/or a positive impact in your community, or you are running your venture already and you are at a point where you need new input and/or additional skills & tools.

– You will need to be 22 years of age or older (Please note: there is no upper age limit)

– Intermediary knowledge of English (reading, writing and speaking)

– Basic knowledge of using a computer

– You will need to be flexible, open to unlearn and relearn, creative, intrinsically driven, bring a high level of motivation, energy, and ownership

– For persons with physical or visual impairment: Independent mobility and daily living skills. By-standers for persons in wheelchairs can possibly be accepted if absolutely necessary, however the costs of their stay will not be covered by the scholarship.
– Blind and/or partially sighted persons need to have excellent mobility skills, being able to use the white cane, and independently use a computer with speech synthesizer or Braille display.

Applications for the kanthari course are welcome anytime. However, June to December would be the ideal time to apply for the upcoming course that starts in April of the following year. Applications that come in once the selection for the upcoming course is finalized will be considered for the next course.

Yes. Once you submit your application successfully you will get an automated confirmation email. If you have not received it, please check the application submission page once again and make sure that you clicked the ‘submit’ button. Also check your spam box, as it sometimes lands there. If you did not receive the confirmation email even after a day, please write to intake@kanthari.org.

There are 6 different rounds involved in the selection process. Therefore, the process will take between one to two months. Therefore, it is important that you apply as early as possible.

kanthari will prepare you to start your social project/initiative. A certificate of completion will be issued to participants who complete the full course successfully. Additionally, you will be able to do a state examination on social entrepreneurship. For this you receive a governmental certificate by Bharat Sevak Samaj (BSS).

There will be 2 participants to every room. Each room has 2 beds, a desk, 2 cupboards and two chairs. Each room has a large ceiling fan, its own balcony, a bathroom with a shower, sink and an eco-friendly “ecosan” toilet.

We like to promote cross-cultural communication as much as possible, which is why we will try to pair you up with someone from a different country or continent. We are also striving to make good matches by taking into account the personal interests mentioned in your essays.

Yes, however they will not share the same rooms.

kanthari is an a-religious institute that welcomes everyone with or without a certain religion. No religious symbols or activities can be presented inside the campus in a visible or audible way. There will be participants with different religions than your own. To avoid any possible tensions, we would ask you to practice your religion in private or in the specially designed area.

The only place of worship within walking distance of the campus is a Hindu temple. Churches, Synagogues and Mosques are not close at hand. They can only be reached by bus, taxi or rickshaw.

There are pedal boats and a place to swim (lake). You should bring your own sports clothes and footwear. A volley ball court, a table tennis table and gym equipment are also available. The use of the gym is only possible after having completed a safety introduction by qualified kanthari staff. Please note that the stay at the campus as well as swimming and use of all facilities is always at own risk.

We expect blind and partially sighted participants to come with good mobility skills, but of course we are certainly happy to show them around the campus and village surrounding.

Yes, to take notes and work on assignments, a laptop or notebook is a must. The minimum requirements for a laptop are: windows 10/11, i3 processor, 8 GB RAM.

Tablets or similar devices are not suitable because they will not support some of the software programs that we use here for the learning process.

If you are blind: a Braille note taker to take notes in sessions is very useful.

We wish to avoid commercial software and work primarily with open-source applications such as Open Office. However, since the accessibility is not optimized, we now run most computers on Windows

Limited Wireless Internet access is available in the academic block from 7.15 am to 10 pm.
The kanthari WIFI network is provided to be used for course and project related purposes only.

However, using your smartphone as an hotspot will make accessing internet easy.
additional internet access can be purchased by participants from internet providers. The rates for Airtel (the provider with the current best coverage in our area) can be found at http://www.airtel.in/recharge-online

Throughout the campus you will find the Indian 3-pin 220-volt sockets. UK and European continental plugs will usually fit. For other plugs the participant can purchase an adaptor locally. (Please note that you will not be able to use any equipment that is made to be used with 110 Volts)

During the course you will learn skills that involve taking notes, writing e-mails, writing proposals, budgets and reports etc.

To be prepared for this, please get familiar with the following software: Excel, Word, Open Office, email client Thunderbird, Internet Explorer and any one of the Operating System like Windows, Linux, MAC etc. before the course starts. Also get familiar with Zoom.

The kanthari course has a logical sequential structure. This means that one session builds up on a previous session and so on. Therefore, attendance of all sessions is compulsory, and it is not possible to take time off during the duration of the course. Most weekends are off-time. There will be short breaks between act 1 and act 2 & act 3 and act 4.

At kanthari we don’t give grades and do not compare participants with each other. Assignments are either achieved or not achieved. Please note, assignments in the kanthari course are mostly documents or actions that are needed to start and/or run your organisation.
If you achieve all assignments, you are well equipped and prepared to start your venture.

To pass each act of the Curriculum, a minimum number of assignments need to be done and pass clearly defined criteria.
If participants fail to deliver assignments, engage in a proactive, respectful, social and responsible manner it could lead to cancellation of the scholarship agreement.
There is one state examination on social entrepreneurship which is a certification course under Bharat Sevak Samaj (BSS).

08:00 – 08:30 Breakfast

08:30 – 09:00 Block 1 (only Mondays & Fridays, and some exceptions))

09:00 – 10:30 Block 2

10:30 – 11:00 Tea/Coffee break

11:00 – 12:30 Block 3

12:30 – 13:00 Lunch

13:00-14:00 Free time

14:00 – 15:30 Block 4

15:30 – 16:00 Tea/Coffee break

16:00 – 17:30 Block 5

19:00 – 19:30 Dinner

20:00 – 21:30 Block 6 (exceptional)

This schedule is flexible – although we have a timetable pattern for the year, it can change to suit the activities planned for a particular day or week.

The curriculum will be interrupted for some days in between acts.
Exact dates will be announced once the course starts.

If you meet all the criteria and you are selected, a scholarship will be provided for you.

The scholarship covers the following:

– for international participants: a round trip economy ticket for a flight to TRV airport.
(Form the airport that is in the city where the visa needs to be applied for)
For Indian participants: a train or bus ticket to TRV railway or TRV bus station

– Transportation within India for project/course-related purposes.

– Full board, including shared accommodation and meals (while staying at the kanthari campus).

– Exposure visits to organizations who do similar work to gather subject matter expertise and best practices.

– Course-related costs, including faculty, equipment, and materials;

PLEASE NOTE: the scholarship does NOT COVER the following, these parts will need to be covered by you:

– A safety caution deposit of US$ 750. (This will be returned in instalments during and after the course unless the criteria laid out in the question “What is the purpose of the caution deposit?” are not met.)

– Passport & visa. (Except for Indian and Nepalese participants, as they do not need passports and visas)

– Health check and health certificate

– Health Insurance

– Personal expenses are approximately US$ 400 to US$ 500 for leisure time activities during the time that you are in India.

– Any expenses that are related to your venture / organization, for example, the cost for a web domain & hosting of your organization’s website.

Since participants come from around the world, costs for passports, visa, health insurance etc vary. Inform yourself in advance of costs that you will need to cover so you can raise the funds for this.

If selected, you agree to commit to participate for the full duration of the 12-month program, and during that time, the kanthari course will be your highest priority.

– Caution deposit of US$ 750 (or an equivalent in Euro, or other currency). (This will be returned in instalments during and after the course, unless the criteria laid out in the question “What is the purpose of the caution deposit?” are not met.)
– Passport & visa. (This does not apply for Indian and Nepalese participants)
– Health check and certificate
– Health Insurance
– Personal expenses approximately US$ 400 to US$ 500 for leisure time activities.
– Any expenses that are related to your personal venture / organisation,
for example cost for a web-domain & hosting of your organisation’s website.

Please note: Since participants come from around the world, costs for passports, visa, health insurance etc vary. Do inform yourself in advance of costs that you will need to cover so you are able to raise the same in time.

Every year, we receive more applications than we have seats. As a lot of work, time and costs go into the selection process, in tailoring the course to the selected participants and in raising funds for scholarships, we wish to avoid ‘no shows’ as this would lead to a seat that could have been occupied by another deserving change maker.

Therefore, a caution deposit is in place. On the day, the scholarship agreement is signed by you, the caution deposit needs to be transferred. Once this is done, your seat is reserved.

The caution deposit will be returned to you in 3 equal installments of US$ 250 over the duration of the course period, however only if certain criteria are met:

– no damage to kanthari’s property and/or equipment is caused by participant,

– no dues are owed to kanthari.

– you successfully complete the specified acts and reach the required percentage of assignments.

The caution deposit will not be returned to you if you drop out of the course, or if the minimum performance criteria are not met, or in case the agreement is cancelled due to repeated and/or severe misconduct. In any such case, the remaining deposit amount will be used to cover costs that had been incurred till date.

The caution deposit will need to be transferred once the selection for the course is confirmed by kanthari.

On the day you sign the scholarship grant agreement, you need to transfer the US$ 750 (or equivalent in Euro or other currency) security deposit.

The details where the security deposit will need to be transferred to, will be informed to you once you have been selected. To avoid transfer fees or conversion costs, the caution deposit can be transferred to a kanthari alumni in your country (or neighbouring country)

Once the caution deposit has been received, you have reserved your seat for the upcoming course.

The first 25 applicants who transfer the caution deposit will receive the scholarship for the course in India

The caution deposit can be remitted via wire-transfer or any other online transaction option.
If you are selected, you will receive the details of where the caution deposit will need to be sent.

If no damage occurs, and if your scholarship agreement is not terminated prematurely, and/or if you do not resign from the course, and if you meet all the minimum assignment requirements, the deposit amount minus any dues owed to kanthari, will be returned to you in the following sequences:

Upon successful completion of Act One: One third will be returned.

Upon successful completion of Act Four: One third will be returned

Upon successful completion of Act Five: One third will be returned

If it is not possible for you to bring enough medicine for a year, please go to https://pharmeasy.in/ or https://www.1mg.com/ or a similar site and look if the medicines are available in India. (All medications will be procured at participant’s own cost).

Upon acceptance to the course, you are required to provide a general medical examination report, as well as the following test results:

Tuberculosis antigen-based skin test

Hepatitis A and B

Feces Worms Test

Yellow Fever (if you come from a region where this disease is common) and

Any as per the health department and government required tests.

There are two reasons why we need you to provide us with this information:
1. In the unlucky event that you become sick during your stay in Kerala, you must be in a position to prove to your health insurance company that you are not suffering from a pre-existing condition.
2. Should you suffer from a disease that requires quarantine, such as TB or hepatitis, naturally we would want you to be cured before joining the course.

Therefore, if the test result for any of the above should be positive, it is your responsibility to get sufficient medical treatment first, before applying to the course.

You will need to check with an insurance company in your country that offers a health care service with international coverage. Please make sure that your insurance includes coverage for repatriation in case of severe sickness or accidents.

insurance policy will be at the cost of the participant.

Yes, if you are not from India or Nepal, you will need a valid passport that should be valid at least 6 months after the on-campus part of the kanthari course is over.
For example: for the 2025 kanthari course the on campus part will end in December 2025.
To apply for an Indian Student visa for the 2025 program, your passport must be valid until June 2026.

Yes, you can purchase local SIM cards upon arrival at the airport. (depending at which airport you enter India) There can be SIM providers like Vodafone, Airtel etc. (But at the campus area, Airtel has the best reach.) inside the airport and this would be the quickest and easiest way to get the SIM. You will need a copy of your passport and visa, so make sure to prepare the same before traveling to India. You will be fully responsible for purchase of SIM card, the use of the same and for the costs of phone credit.

The total duration of the kanthari course is 12 months. When selected, the participant commits him/herself fully for this period of 12 months.

The kanthari Curriculum is named “a journey in Five Acts”. In 2021, we added an online preparation act, ‘act 0’, also called \”the green room\”.

Act 1 to 4 are on-campus in Trivandrum, Kerala, south India, and last for approximately 6 and a half to 7 months. At the end of act 4, after the kanthari TALKS and certification event, the participant returns to the region/country where the project is started/run, for the start act 5 (3 months).

With your student visa in hand, once you arrive at the campus, you will need to register with the FRRO office in Trivandrum. Upon registration, you will receive a so-called ‘stay-visa’. This is only valid till the end of the kanthari course (Till the end of Act 4). This means that you cannot stay in India after the 4 acts are finished.
Please note that the kanthari campus will be closed around 3 days after the certification event. Therefore, it is required that your return flight is planned within a maximum of 3 days after the certification event.

Yes, kanthari is an Authorized Training Centre by Bharat Sevak Samaj (BSS, TVPM/168), national development agency, promoted by Government of India.
You can find the course on the official website of BSS
Scroll down to number:
159 – Braille Without Borders -Kanthari Leadership Training Centre – Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram(Dt)  – 27-08-2021

Buses to Trivandrum run every 30 minutes and the bus stop is at walking distance from the campus. The bus ride takes about 40 minutes and costs app. 20 rupees one way. The same journey in a rickshaw may cost between 200 and 300 rupees. The nearest beach resort, Kovalam, is accessible only by rickshaw. A one-way journey costs between 300 and 250 rupees. A Rickshaw is a 3-wheeled vehicle, which can hold up to 3 passengers at a time. It is commonly used for taxi services. The price should be agreed prior to the journey.

The kanthari training course is very compact and traveling/sightseeing is not the scope of the program. For project purposes, kanthari organises trips around Trivandrum and a 2 weeks lasting exposure tour through the South of India in which you will be able to meet project founders, including kanthari alumni in their organisations.

Of course, you are free to travel during your off days, however, the Institute will not organize or fund personal trips. Any trips taken should not negatively affect your participation in the course. We expect you to attend classes with 100% focus and in full attentive mode.

Coffee and tea, sometimes juice will be served in the morning and afternoon breaks.

Cold and warm drinking water is always available.

Sodas and other soft drinks can be purchased at own costs.

Since alcohol consumption in public is forbidden in Kerala, alcohol is not allowed on the kanthari campus.

Food at kanthari is prepared by our own chefs. The kitchen team provides healthy, tasty and homemade food.
Lunches are generally South and north Indian meals.

At diners fusion cuisine. Our kitchen team is interested to learn new recipes from around the world.

Breakfast is served at 8:00 hours, Lunch at 12:30 and dinner at 19:00.

There are vegetarian and non-vegetarian, as well as spicy and non-spicy options.

Relatives, friends, or project related guests may visit kanthari, but only under certain conditions:

•     Guests should be announced beforehand to the administrative manager.
•     Guests should always be registered at security office when entering the campus.
•     Hosts should take over all costs for food (100 rupees per meal).
•     To ensure blind participants to know who is on campus, all visitors have to introduce themselves to kanthari members at the beginning of their stay

Overnight stays for family members or friends of participants are generally not possible.

If you wish to bring your guide dog, all papers, vaccinations, medical care, food, transportation, and others need to be arranged and paid for by the guide dog owner.
The guide dog owner is responsible for the wellbeing of the dog. The dog must be well-behaved and human and animal friendly. Please note that there are already 3 dogs on campus.

The kanthari campus is located on the banks of the Vellayani Lake and we as we are guests in nature, of course we will need to respect its wildlife. The kanthari campus is very green and we wish to keep it that way, therefore chemical insecticides are not an option. As an alternative, there are some herbal products which can be bought locally. All rooms are fitted with mosquito mesh doors and windows. In this area of Kerala there is no Malaria. The kanthari campus is installed with an eco-friendly anti ant/termite system which carries a channel of water around the buildings. In order for this system to work, it must be maintained properly, and no food items should be openly stored/kept in the rooms.
Please help with the maintenance so that everyone can enjoy ant and termite free rooms. Allergies against certain insects should be stated to kanthari staff.

Exact course dates will be announced to you upon your selection.
If not advised differently, you can arrive in Trivandrum two days before the course starts.

Departure date should be scheduled within three days of the final day of act 4.