Bringing livelihood to 1200 poor rural youth

The reporting period of three months of October, November and December 2021 saw the minimal number of cases of covid related infected cases. During the period the rate of transmission had been getting reduced drastically after a disastrous spread of the Delta variant of the Covid pandemic in the second wave.

The young men and women forming part of the project during the major part of the period could attend their respective vocational skill oriented courses offline during the period. They were provided travelling allowances to attend their classes. And this had given them a sense of relief and refreshment. Prior to that in the peak of the   spread of Delta variant of the Covid pandemic SPPD took all efforts to keep the youth engaged fully in their online classes.

This apart, maximum care was taken to make the youth and their family members follow the covid protocols such as wearing of masks, social distancing etc during the height of the second wave. The project youth were also psychologically kept prepared to be fit for the opening of job positions post lockdowns.

SPPD made it particular for all the project youth to get fully vaccinated with two doses against covid infection. The organizations with openings in various categories have made it mandatory for all the new recruits to get fully vaccinated with two doses.

And hence this aspect of full vaccination was given importance as after nearly two years of pandemic slowdown the employment opportunities in the Hotel Management and Catering technology field was picking up.

Above all the project period of three months was also effectively made use of by SPPD to make the youth equipped in the skills required to be fit in the digitalized and new technology based world order.

The reporting period of three months followed the peak of 2^nd wave of the Covid pandemic in this part of the nation. The extremely alarming situation of very high toll of positive cases and deaths in particular had been taking place during the preceding period sending panic and lockdowns.

And during the last three months the government has been carrying out vaccination on a feverish pitch and SPPD has been supporting the same through various ways. The youth forming part of the project are being facilitated by SPPD to attend the online classes for the different courses they study.

Most of the students do not possess the gadgets required for online classes and prices of the gadgets have risen very sharply in recent months. And hence we have been taking efforts to secure used smart phones laptops, desktops and tablets for the youth here to help them attend their online classes without fail.

Similarly, apart from ensuring that the youth of the project get vaccinated and follow the Covid protocols, they are made to facilitate their family members to get vaccinated. SPPD also has helped quite a few families of the youth of the project who have lost their bread winners with solatium of Rs. 30,000/. Similarly as the families of the project youth belong to section of daily wagers and unorganized labor a good number of them have been given grocery kits during the lockdown.

Similarly, a big number of children of these families are being helped with nutrition kits every month as they have been missing the free mid day meals offered in their schools for well over a year. We have been able to involve in these interventions with the aid and sponsorships from Give India.

We do hope that with all the sectors are slowly being opened up, the scope for the youth of the project to improve upon the vocational skills and finding suitable employments is being brightened up too.      

The reporting period of the three months of March to May 2021 unfortunately happened to be the period of heavy spread of Covid19 in its more ferocious second wave here in our region.

There was a big dip in the number of admissions in various vocational skill courses. The skills required in the tourism and hospitality sector have been the most preferred courses of youth in our working areas. This sector of tourism and the hospitality industry were the worst hit during the pandemic times and the drop in the new admissions the courses concerned.

And all the students undergoing various courses had gone on internship in different places such as Bangalore, Coimbatore, Ooty and Chennai. They were undergoing their internships in the reputed hotels, resorts and restaurants. A few of those who had completed the courses earlier had also been absorbed by the establishments in which they had undergone internship this year. This would not have been possible but for the kind help of GlobalGiving.

And these internees had returned from their work places due to the onset of the second wave of corona pandemic since the month of March. During the period sensitization were carried out among the youth who form part of the GlobalGiving project through tele-calling bulk messaging on the protective measures such as wearing masks, social distancing and vaccination wherever possible.

This apart, SPPD took the initiative of building confidence in the minds of both the current students who are part of the project and other youth in general here on the need for keeping themselves well equipped in the skills to be fit for the job market in the post pandemic times. This is because there was a general depression among the youth on the future as the covid19 pandemic has been ravaging the livelihood of the people all over.

Hence, we focused more on counseling them through instilling confidence in their minds that once the pandemic is over there would a brighter future for those who are properly trained in various skills. This apart, the younger children in the families of those who happen to be siblings who form part this project are given the nutritional food supplement kit every month sponsored by the online platform of Give India.  

On concluding this report, we again thank the GlobalGiving and the individual donors who are associated with the organization for helping the youth towards ensuring their future.    

Empowerment of Rural Youth

A good number of youths here have been able to get the opportunity to undergo training in high job oriented vocational skills through this project. The support they receive in the form of cost of travel from home, lunch, uniform, etc. have proved to be vital in enabling the mainly the children of forced migrant laborers with assured careers and economic empowerment.

The internship options that the youth get even during the period of their undergoing the courses itself, is a great boost for the youth. Most of the youth undergo courses in the hospitality management such as Hotel management and Catering Technology. And the internships help them meet the payment of fees for their studies through the stipends they receive during the internships apart from landing them in solid careers in the same establishments.

During this academic year, a total of 285 boys and girls benefited by the assistance extended by GlobalGiving. The youth who formed part of the project and their daily wage-earning parents were sensitized on the protection methods of safeguarding from getting infected. Similarly, the youth received online classes from the institutions they were studying during the months of March and April in order to ensure the social distancing norms.

The major part of this year being spent in lockdown situation due to corona crisis in our working areas too like in other parts of the country. This has been badly affecting t the youngsters of poor backgrounds who form the vast majority of the population here.

SPPD has been trying its best to keep the youngsters alive to the vital importance of youth to equip themselves with required skills for their livelihood and long term career prospects.

During the last three months extensive sensitization has been carried out on the need for them to switch to Online mode of education for acquiring the skills as it has become inevitable and the only option in the given circumstances. We focused on bringing in the required attitudinal change among youngsters on this. But only30 students could be enrolled in to vocational skill training courses so far.

The absence and non affordability to own android enabled phones among the youth here has proved to be one of the major handicaps in making the youngsters to take to online mode of skill trainings. Only 30% of the target youth could be covered during the three months period and the remaining 70% are to be covered still.

And SPPD is not in a position to help the youth in this regard as already there is extreme financial crunch and the GlobalGiving assistance receivable too remain blocked for long as well.

But as part of preventing the psychological condition from going down   among the youngsters SPPD has been sending bulk messages and voice messages etc. These include on the imperative need for attitudinal change for youngsters to prepare them for alternative channel of education and skill training.