By Vishal Talreja | Cofounder & CEO
Afreen (name changed) is a 17 year old girl studying at Government College in Bangalore, India. She belongs to a family of 6 members and she is the third of four children. As her father is the only source of income for the family, they were unable to meet the necessary financial requirements and thus faced problems. Afreen wanted to help them and reduce their burden. But her parents insisted that she study as she was too young to help them. When Afreen was in 10th Grade, Dream a Dream’s Career Connect team had visited her school and conducted a Career Awareness Session. Later, on the last day of her 10th Grade final exams, she got a call from the centre informing about the free computer training program being conducted at Career Connect and inviting her to join the course. She immediately agreed as she felt it was a good opportunity.
Initially, at the Career Connect, Afreen was a very fearful, shy and a quiet girl who did not talk to people much, especially with boys. But the activities that were conducted in the Career Connect Program slowly erased her fears. She was hesitant to talk to her peers in the beginning but there was a gradual change in her and she started communicating when she did not understand something.
Afreen says the Life Skills Program at Career Connect taught her how to express herself and communicate with people. She also got a very rare opportunity of being a part of the camp conducted by the Centre at Yelahanka in Bangalore and got a chance to showcase the art of mehendi designing. The facilitators encouraged her and asked her to start working on designing. She also started making earrings but after some time she did not know how to take her talent further. The facilitators then asked Afreen to present her work at the centre where she got help and ideas about how to work on different designs. She continued her interest and also got paid from one of her neighbours. Career Connect helped her join courses such as tailoring, dance, drawing and crafts and also awarded her a scholarship. She started pursuing her art work from home and now feels very happy about it. Afreen dreams to become a designer. She started going to college too. But, being a commerce student she cannot become a designer and hence wants to continue her interest in her own way.
Dream a Dream has encouraged 3059 young people like Afreen till date in 2015 through the Career Connect Program and the enrolment numbers are still going up. There are many young people like Afreen who are dreaming big and waiting for opportunities to come their way. Dream a Dream is committed to empower thousands of young adults like Afreen for a better future. However, it is not possible without your support. Thank you for being a committed supporter and we invite you to become a regular donor by signing up for the monthly donation options presented by Global Giving.
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