Life skills Training Program for disadvantaged young people have the aim of helping every young Indian to be employable, have self worth and lead a dignified and productive life.
| Total number of beneficiaries (Girls & Boys) | Budget (Rs.) | Supported By |
|---|---|---|
| 1528 | The Hope Foundation |
The Life Skills Unit aims to provide vocational training to young individuals from our Protection Homes and nearby slums. The main beneficiaries of these opportunities are adolescent girls and young women apart from the children we work with. The Life Skill Training Institute provides inexpensive, high-quality vocational training to individuals who are unable to avail of such services elsewhere due to financial constraints or because of the educational prerequisites set by other institutes or universities. Professionally designed training courses are tailored to suit the capabilities of the trainees. A one-to-one intensive learning of technical knowhow provides each trainee with a marketable skill. This is complemented with a certificate upon completion and job placement.
Food and Beverage Training in café Unit
Students were learned kitchen skills and other additional kitchen works like chopping vegetables and washing dishes along with cooking. Special classes were conducted by two Indian volunteers and trainees learned special dishes like grilled fish, tart etc.
| Number of beneficiaries | Team Strength | Budget | Supported By |
|---|---|---|---|
|
4 kitchen trainees 4 service trainees |
1 Programme Manager 2 Chef 1 Accountant 1 Kitchen Steward 3 Security 3 Cleaner |
The Hope Foundation |
Achievements
- Just before Lockdown was enforced in March2020, 1 trainee was placed in The Country House, as a Barista trainee at a stipend of Rs. 4500/-.
- Networking with Mahima Girls Home and Boys Half-way Home (another initiative of Hope Kolkata) resulted into enrolment of one trainee from Boys Half-way Home September 2020 onwards and two trainees from the Mahima Girls Home, who were enrolled from January 2020.
Success Stories
An Ex-student, Gopal Adhikari when lost his job in April 2020, was in heavy debt but he was supported to get another job as resident Cook at the Inter-religious Centre of Development at a salary of Rs. 10,000 a month.
Tailoring Unit
The tailoring training unit at Hope Life Skill Unit introduces learners to the functionality and operation of the tailoring machine and imparts training in designing patterns, making garments, stitching, embroidery, knitting and sewing.
| Number of beneficiaries | Team Strength | Budget | Supported By |
|---|---|---|---|
| 43 trainees |
1 faculty trainer 1 lab assistant |
HSBC |
Achievements
- Compulsory spoken English to improve communication skills been conducted on a regular basis
- 1 networking has taken place with local garment production unit for placements
- 2 special classes were conducted by one leading Indian Sewing Machine Manufacturer. This help students to have idea about commercial sewing machine
Success Stories
Jharna Das, a 40 year old lady with a kid, was suffering from depression and anxiety. The worldwide pandemic situation affected her mentally. In Hope tailoring unit she learnt how to make kurti, salwar, petticoat, designer blouses, 22 types of embroidery, palazzo. She also started getting orders from her neighbours and soon word of mouth spread about her tailoring and she started earning money by taking orders locally and earning about 5000/- to 6000/- a month.
Beauty and Salon Skills
HOPE Life Skills project, especially the Beauty Unit offers young people a ray of hope. Here, a short inexpensive course can enable these young hopefuls to work from home with a minimum infrastructure cost. Each Beauty Trainee collects a start-up kit, put together by a donor to begin working.
| Number of beneficiaries | Team Strength | Budget | Supported By |
|---|---|---|---|
| 54 trainees |
2 course coordinators 1 english teacher |
HSBC |
Achievements
- Enrichment classes of Hairdressing, Deportment and English were organized for the Trainees
- A hair dressing graduate from the Ashar Alo Girl’s Home demonstrated new Hair cutting techniques
- Beauty unit provided services to 16 customers which generated Rs.5240 (€ 72) As income
Success Stories
Punam’s husband lost his job during lockdown in April 2020 and they came to Kolkata to stay with Punam’s parents. Punam’s parents lived in a slum located near Hope Life Skill unit in Panditya, Kolkata. Punam took admission in the beautician course of Hope Life Skill unit and learned the skills of skin and beauty treatment, hair cutting and techniques of doing make up. As she passed out in October 2020, she started providing services to customers in their houses. She is earning around Rs.8000 – 9000 per month and is extremely grateful to Hope for this opportunity to stand on her own feet.
Blue Edge
The project is aimed to provide high quality vocational training based on Practical approach such as computer literacy to the trainees who are not aware of day to day computer technology, which may change their lives by learning it. The project aimed to literate trainees with Basic & Advance Computer course along with financial course such as Tally ERP9 along with Spoken English, Communication and Personality Development classes, as value addition, so that they are positive and self-assured during job interviews and are also able to fit into mainstream workforce / society with self-confidence.
| Number of beneficiaries | Team Strength | Budget | Supported By |
|---|---|---|---|
|
78 Computer and Personal Development Trainees 30 Tally and Financial Accounting Trainees |
1 Computer Teacher 1 Asst Teacher 1 Tally Teacher 1 English Teacher |
Blue Dart |
Achievements
- Our 108 trainees have participated enthusiastically in Spoken English and Personality Development sessions.
- The trainees have participated in celebrating International Day of Happiness with proper safety protocols.
- Leadership skills and team work have improved for our trainees as a result of overall participation in presentations and interactive sessions as conducted on a weekly basis by the Spoken English and Personality Development faculty.
- The Vivanta Groups of Hotels (a reputed chain of boutique hotels) invited the Life Skills trainees on account of International Women’s Day. Our trainees shared a presentation and their thoughts on the importance and role of women in a society.
- The trainees of our unit celebrated International Day of Happiness actively and shared their viewpoints on the importance of happiness in everyone’s life.
Success Stories
Ashish Prasad joined Envisage Consultants Solution as Executive Accountant. He is very happy with the salary of Rs. 10,500 which he uses to support his family. Prior to getting the job Ashish had to struggle hard to provide for his family but now after being placed his life is a little easier.
Rinku Ram completed her B.Com from Sivnath Shastri College and joined Netscribe as Guest Relationship Executive and Back Office Executive. She earns Rs. 12,500 which helps her continue further studies and she is very much content with her current placement.
HSBC HKF Life Skills Programme
Hope Kolkata Foundation provides practical and hands-on training to students from underprivileged backgrounds, with 5% reserved for students with special needs. It conducts courses in IT and Financial Accounting, Garment Construction-Tailoring and Hair Styling-Beautician training.
| Number of beneficiaries | Team Strength | Budget | Supported By |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1315 | 19 | Rs. 55,76,326 | HSBC |
Achievements
- International Literacy Day and International Day of Peace have been celebrated by the students.
- Provided online support through Google Meet and WhatsApp to reach the trainees who were unable to attend offline classes.
- Provided printed study materials and worksheets to those students who were unable to attend offline classes and also didn’t have access to smart devices.
Success Stories
Rita Yadav belongs to a lower income group family. There are 4 members in her family. Her husband (only earning member) lost his job in March 2020 owing to the lockdown and somehow they managed to survive the pandemic with Government ration and small savings. They have 2 children. After completion of the tailoring course she secured a job at Aish Fashion Pvt. for herself. Rita earns Rs. 84,000 annually and is now leading a happy family life.