By Wilma Correa | Donor Relations & Communication Manager
CSA believes that every orphan child must be nurtured till he/she grows up to be a happy and contributing member of society. However for children living in orphanages, it is a date, which most of them dread, because after this date whatever shelter they have at an orphanage is withdrawn. Children have to leave orphanages once they turn 18 years; in many cases this happens even earlier. The children then step out into the complex web of the outside world, having no clue whatsoever as to how to navigate through. Some of the girls are married off, while the boys get pushed into daily wages type of livelihoods. It is not surprising that many children stumble in this transition and fall back into cycle of exploitation, poverty and broken families.
To address this need, CSA has created a Bridge to Livelihood Program. As the time to leave the orphanage approaches, we work with the child, and a career counsellor to create an exit plan for the child. After the age of 18, we facilitate either higher education or livelihood training linked to job opportunities. With this objective, CSA has partnered with many training/skilling centres and educational institutes so that the children have a good variety of options available to them. Apart from training course, the children require some financial support and mentoring till they are in a job and a stable situation.
We would like to share the inspiring life stories of 2 young adults:
SUNITA*
Sunita* is a young 24 years old girl from Cuttack, Odisha. She was admitted to Pallishri Mahila Samiti (PMS) around 15 years back when she lost her parents. Her sister was married and she was not a in condition to take care of her younger sister. Being differently abled wherein Sunita cannot use one hand has not deterred her spirit. She is in CSA's care since we started interventions with this children's home. She received support in different areas such as Health, Hygiene, Nutrition etc.Our aim was to make her self-sufficient & overcome her challenges. Shewas enrolled at the Centurion Institute in Odisha for a course in Retail and Packaging. This course helped Sunita* stand on her own feet & become self-sufficient. Now she is working at UMBC as a sales executive. This is a huge achievement for her and morale boost to her confidence levels!
STEVIE*
Stevie lost his father when he was small and his mother was sent to prison for drug peddling, he didn't have any relatives to take care of him & he was admitted to a child care institute in Odisha. He is in CSA's care since we started interventions. CSA extended a helping hand when he completed his Higher Secondary Course scoring 73% marks in the Commerce stream. He also wanted to go for higher studies but at the same time he was supposed to leave CCI and stay on his own as he had completed 18 years. Stevie was motivated to pursue his dream of enrolling for a Management course. Not only did he pass the MBA entrance exams but also secured a ranking of 300 out of 6000 students!! He is currently studying Bachelors of Business Administration (BBA) at Indore in Madhya Pradesh. He dreams of completing his post-graduation in MBA . He is very keen to take care of his younger sister and help her complete her formal education & become independent.
CSA is proud to be able to be apart of the life journey of these bright young adults!
Please note: Names have been changed to protect their identity*
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