Transforming Youth in India with Computer Training

Thanks to your generosity, a girl with a motor disability was able to get a job to support her family!  Meera suffers from muscle paralysis and weakness on one side of her body that severely limits her employment options.  Through your donation, she was given a chance to study computers.  

Meera and her mother struggled to make ends meet and relied on government subsidized food canteens for their provision.  Because of her condition, lack of education, and the strain covid left on job opportunities in India, Meera was unable to find employment. 

Not only did your donation provide covid relief for Meera but it also gave her computer skills and education!  Meera went to the local photo copy store to make copies of her resume and was offered a job on the spot! The offer was immediately accepted by Meera, who is very grateful for the opportunity.

Thank you for giving the gift of computer education to people with disabilities in India.  It affords them the education, training and connections they need to make their way in the world.  Without your generosity people like Meera wouldn’t have a chance to provide for their families, but you helped make a way.  Now Meera works a respectable job and makes money for her survival.  Thank you!

 Sincerely,

John Sparks

President, India Partners

In India, those who have a disability are not respected. They are often shunned and are unable to find work. Much of this disrespect for those with disabilities comes from a stigma in India that people with a disability are a burden and cannot do any work.

Vidhya* is a young woman who has a physical disability and has been in a wheelchair as long as she can remember. She and her mother were living in extreme poverty; her mother too ill to work and Vidhya unable to find work. Vidhya’s mother is a widow and all of Vidhya’s siblings have married and moved away, so it is her responsibility to take care of her mother.

But Vidhya’s life was radically changed when she was able to attend a computer training school for free! Because of your generous support, Vidhya was able to complete the computer training program and find a job! Vidhya now works close to home and makes enough money to take care of herself and her mother. 

Your gift enables people like Vidhya to succeed. If it weren’t for you, Vidhya may have never found work and she and her mother would have continued to suffer. Thank you for giving Vidhya opportunities that she would not have had otherwise. 

Sincerely,

John Sparks

President, India Partners 

P.S. Vidhya is just one example of the many people in India with disabilities who are suffering in poverty. If you would like to provide computer training for another person like Vidhya, you can do that today!

*Names changed to protect identity

Youth come to the India Partners computer training Institute to get IT training with the hope of getting a job after graduation, what they don’t realize is that they will also get new life experiences which will help prepare them for their future.

International Women’s Day was celebrated on the 9th of March, this was an opportunity for a special fellowship day for the women students. All the girls went for lunch and ordered whatever they liked, at a small accessible restaurant. It was very special for those who went to a restaurant for the first time in their life. Yes, first time in their life.

Kavita was one of those that enjoyed going to a restaurant for the first time. Her family had always shied away from taking her into public spaces as the family would be shamed when people saw they had a disabled child. So other than school they had never taken her shopping, eating out, or other activities most of us would consider normal life.

Learning how to use a computer to enable them to get a job is only one part of teaching youth how to thrive in the marketplace. Teaching them life skills and helping them to discover how to navigate life in a wheelchair is at the core of our program.

Your gifts to Train Youth in India with Computer skills do far more than just teach them how to use a computer, we help develop their self-image so that they see themselves as someone that will succeed in life, as they set their mind to accomplish the challenges life throws at them.

Links:

• Please visit our project

Ganesh comes from a respected family but when he was injured in an accident, he found himself passed over for opportunities both at school and home.  People still cared for him, but they felt he had lost his chance to succeed.  So, they were not willing to invest in furthering his education, and without education, success in India is very unlikely.

Ganesh would have none of this thinking, when he heard about India Partners Computer training, and the fact that it is free, he knew this would be the way that he could excel based on his own merit and not have to rely on his family’s name or money.

With a certificate from the India Partners Computer Training Institute, he would be eligible for a government job.  Since he will have a relevant education and was learning excellent soft skills while at the same time learning computers, he felt confident that he could rise to the level of manager quickly. 

Self-confidence, interpersonal skills and empathy for others are part of the training we provide along with computer training so that when our graduates get their first job in IT they will be on their way to being a leader, from the start.

Thank you for supporting Ganesh and other youth like him as they overcome the hinderances of their disability on the road to their success.  When you support Transforming Youth in India with Computer Trainingyou bring the opportunity to flourish to a group that are often marginalized.

Baskar was only twenty when he met with an accident two years ago. Unable to walk, he quickly withdrew inward and refused to speak with anyone. With the covid lockdown strictly enforced in Chennai he has rarely had contact with anyone since the accident. 

India Partners staff met his mother at a community outreach, and she asked them if they would visit Baskar. They agreed, and when they arrived, Baskar sat quietly during the visit. When invited to visit the computer training center to meet other people with disabilities, he agreed to go. Upon arriving he received his first walker and was able to move around without assistance. And within a short period of time, he started talking and interacting with others. Now Baskar visits regularly and looks forward to enrolling in Microsoft Office training when lockdown ends, and the computer training facility reopen.

Covid has created a lot of pain and heartache but providing relief has connected us with many people like Baskar — future students we might never have met.

Thank you for your support during the pandemic.