Enable 100 low-income girls to complete graduation

  Update on Udayan Shalini Fellowship Programme

Udayan Shalini Fellowship programme of Udayan Care is a unique academic excellence and personality development programme for deserving and talented girls from weak socioeconomic background aiming to turn them into empowered and dignified women or Shalinis. It is unique because it goes beyond being a usual scholarship programme by not only supporting higher education but also providing regular mentoring and leadership development and inculcating a sense of social responsibility to them. 
In 2017-18, USF entered into 3 new cities – Baddi (Himachal Pradesh), Panchkula (Haryana), Chennai (Tamila Nadu) making the total to 16 chapters. We inducted 100 girls in Baddi, 50 in Panchkula and 62 in Chennai in first year. In total, USF has inducted 1144 shalinis in 16 chapters.

Udayan Shalini Fellowship Programme were also able to introduce ‘Employability and Placement section’ for our shalinis to help them get placements in various fields. In this regards USF was also lucky enough to get the support of 2 full time GSIF (Genpact Social Impact Fellowship) fellows from Genpact, who helped us in developing employability and mentorship module for our shalinis thus helping us in streamlining the process.

In 2018-19, USF plans to move into 5 new cities – Pune & Thane (Maharashtra), Vadodara (Gujarat), Bengaluru (Karnataka), Rishikesh (Uttarakhand) taking the count of chapters to 21. Also have a plan to add about 1000 new girls in 13 states and 21 cities.

 KEY HIGHLIGHTS

Class XII Board exam Result:
1. All Shalinis successfully cleared the board examination
2. Highest percentage is 94% scored by Mansi (Batch 15)
3. 8 Shalinis fall in the bracket of 90-99%, 25 Shalinis in 80-89% bracket.

APRIL 2018

KATHAK SESSION BY PRATIBHA

In this session, Ms. Pratibha first recalled the theoretical part which included Indian dance forms represents five elements of nature; Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space. Ms. Pratibha started with the basics. Also, she simplifies the dance form with five movements: forward, backward, upward, downward and diagonal. While teaching, she was
explaining and supervising the steps/dance forms which was being helpful in being more disciplined.

Kathak session proved a stress-booster for the fellows as their exams just got ended. Undoubtedly, non-academic performance adds extra value in the overall personality. Fellows were very happy to be a part of Kathak session and showed enthusiasm.

TIME MANAGEMENT BY SAPNA 
We often complaint about the lack of time in our everyday schedule. Managing our work/studies with sleep and other activities becomes a task. Hence, it is important to manage our time effectively on a daily basis.

Objective of the workshop:

• What is time Management
• Reasons why we are wasting time
• Tips on how to manage time

Outcome of the session:
• Through various anecdotes, the fellows learnt how they are wasting time and falling into the baits of social media
• They learnt the importance of being the drivers/engines of their own lives and not being the passengers
• Overall, the session was extremely motivational and helped the Shalinis understand the importance of managing time.

Feedback of the workshop: “Some of the key points I learnt from the workshop are; we must manage our priorities, we should learn to take care of ourselves, we should know how to say no. And we've learnt tricks to say no”. – Deeksha Batch 14”

“I learnt that we should not waste time in doing unproductive activities. We should give priority to our own goals and not feel guilty of saying NO”. – Dipti Batch 14

EMPLOYABILITY WORKSHOP: TEAM BUILDING BY AVADHI

Teamwork symbolizes collaboration, strength, and efficiency. To inculcate the importance of teamwork in personal as well as professional arenas, Ms. Avadhi conducted a very interactive session that encouraged Shalinis to understand the benefits of working in a team.

The session started with real life examples of teams, where families involve division as well as unification of work, and how they formulate common goals and achieve together. This was followed by an activity, where a few Shalinis were requested to volunteer and the significance of teamwork was explained. It was also emphasized that teamwork accommodates substitution, and shared effort can help in overcoming the shortcomings of the group.

Following this, Shalinis formulated 4 teams and each one was given a topic to discuss. These topics were as follows:
• Importance of teamwork
• Challenges that teams face
• Basic team skills
• How to make a good team.

This activity was followed by a story based on the life of Steve Jobs, and his efforts to bring his colleagues together to enhance the team’s comfort and efficiency. This continued to the discussion over the prevalence of diversity at
the workplace, and the ways of dealing with the same. Patience, respectfulness, cooperation and mutual understanding were defined as the keys of dealing with difficult situations at work.

Stages of Group Formation- Role Play

The stages of group formation- Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing were explained, following which the Shalinis formed four different groups and each group was required to enact a particular stage of group formation. The activity encouraged the involvement of all the Shalinis as they were able to understand its implications in a practical manner.

Lastly, post assessment was conducted at the end of the session to gauge upon the understanding levels of the Shalinis, and the average score was calculated to be 9.4 out of 10.

Feedback: “I plan to open up my own law firm in the future, and these learnings will help me for forming my own team” - Kamlesh, Batch 13

“I am a sportsperson and I am required to work in teams. Thus, I will implement this learning in the same”. – Nandini, Batch 14

MAY 2018

Parent’s Meet was organized with fellows of Batch 14.

The purpose of the meet:
1. To share the progress of the fellows with the parents
2. To discuss important issues related to early marriage and girl child education with the parents.
3. To re-orient the parents regarding the purpose of the program and how parents play a crucial role in developing and supporting our Shalinis to achieve their dreams.
4. To solve various concerns of the parents regarding education and admissions.

The outcome of the meet:
1. The parents discussed about the positive change that they have seen in their child. They also shared how happy they are they their child is getting not only support and guidance but also exposure to the corporate world.
2. The parents also shared how guide their child regarding the use of the fellowship amount and how USF teaches them basic financial management.

KATHAK SESSION BY PRATIBHA
Kathak sessions by Ms. Pratibha has been quite engaging and interesting for our Shalinis of Batch 16. This time they learnt the basic steps of ‘Surya Namaskar’ and the meaning behind each step.

Our Shalinis learnt and practiced these steps on beats.

EMPLOYABILITY WORKSHOP: EMAIL WRITING BY DIMPIKA
As we know, Email writing is an effective mode of formal/official communication, today. Therefore, it is vital for our Shalinis, who are not only seeking employment, but are also applying to other universities; to learn how to write and send Emails.

The session started with the trainer introducing when emails were introduced and the different emailing platforms namely Gmail, Hotmail, Rediff Mail and Yahoo Mail.

After this the Shalinis were divided into two groups, wherein one group had to present the possible advantages of Email Writing and the other had to present the disadvantages. Following this activity, the trainer made the fellows aware about the different components of an Email which are ‘Compose’, To’, ‘CC’, ‘BCC’, Subject line’. Each component and its purpose were discussed in detail by the trainer.

Lastly, the trainer provided the guidelines of writing an effective email and the importance of reviewing the contents of the email before sending it.

Throughout the presentation, screenshots and snippets of emailing were presented by the trainer, along with that the trainer also motivated the fellows to download any emailing app in their respective phones to practice email writing.

Feedback: “From this workshop, I not only learnt how to write an email but also  understood the full forms of various abbreviations used in an email. I learnt many knowledgeable things about email- it's features do's and don’ts of email writing” –Shama Batch 15

TRAINING OF MENTOR DIDIS BY BARUN
The aim of the project was to develop clarity about the nature of effective mentoring and coaching in order to secure coherence, excellence and a positive impact on Mentoring and learning in the next phase of the development of a Mentee.
The Workshop explained the Key Goals of a Mentorship Program, which can result in Positive consequences, such as Academic preparedness, Personality Development and Career Orientation and increased the insights of mentoring. The workshop enabled participants to learn ways to deal effectively with Mentoring Relationships and their phases, why to become a mentor, should I become a Mentor, their Skills and qualities, required to become a mentor.
Through this session, the challenges which the mentor didis face while mentoring such as; rapport building, time allocation, assessment of mentees etc., were all addressed.

Feedback: “I’ll surely apply all the points which part of the training were. The discussed points were interesting & important for me as I just started mentoring”. - Poonam Batch 11

JUNE 2018

TACKLING COLLEGE ADMISSIONS- By Yuva Health &TISS, Saumya
At this crucial time of college admissions and making a decision on which course to pursue, we decided to conduct a workshop helping our Batch 15 Shalinis, in getting more clarity about admissions and what they wish to pursue professionally.

Session 1: In this session, the batch 15 Shalinis interacted with our senior seniors regarding different courses in Delhi University. The Shalinis were also asked to do a self-analysis regarding whether they want to pursue a course of their choice or get into a college of their dreams. The response was to do course of their choice. The facilitator also helped the students identify which course is suitable for them and why.

Session 2: Representatives from Yuva Healthcare and TISS, made our Shalinis of Batch 15 aware about the various graduate courses their institution offers which includes many vocational courses in the field of medicine, paramedics and other skills needed in the healthcare sector.

Feedback: “I learnt a lot about my future plans. I want to become IAS Officer. Saumya Didi guided me a lot for that. I also learnt about 90 colleges in Delhi university and why we should not just stick to a few. The workshop
was very helpful” - Shama Batch 15

TRAINING OF MENTOR DIDIS BY HIMANI AND PRIYANKA
This was the second round of training of our prospective and current batch of mentor didi’s. However, this time our mentor Himani (Senior Shalini) and prospective mentor didi, Priyanka headed the task of making mentorship more
effective.

EMPLOYABILITY WORKSHOP ON USING INTERNET FOR JOB SEARCH BY BARUN

Aim & Objective: -
• Learn about the benefits of applying for jobs online.
• Be aware of job scams.
• Understand about do’s and don’ts of internet usage
• Discover and apply the alternate uses of the internet
• Practice safe use of the Internet

Internet is the most accepted communication in world, The module is all about the possibilities the internet opens up for us. Smart phones are a reality for everyone, the young as well as the old are quite taken in with all that it offers. the vast majority of job seekers have utilized online resources at one time or another to look for and apply for jobs – but the internet is just one resource that job seekers might take advantage of when looking for work. How do online resources stack up to the many other ways of looking for and finding employment, whether online or offline.

The Shalinis were also made aware about fraud job advertisements online, which needs to be cross checked.

Overall, the participants of the workshop had a wonderful interactive experience during various practices and activities. There were discussions at the end in which the doubts and queries of participants were resolved.

Feedback: The activities and the use of games to make us understand each aspect of the workshop was very helpful. Gaining employability training is very important today. – Dipti Batch 14

Success Story- Priyanka Batch 12

A determined mind and a strong will bear endless possibilities

A prolific writer and now a blogger, Priyanka is our Shalini who defines poise and serenity even during the storms.

Priyanka lost her father at a very young age. Since then, she along with her mother and brother shifted with their maternal grandparents. Her mother being the sole breadwinner of the family worked as a receptionist in an eye clinic and supported her brother to complete his MBA.

To ease the financial burden on her mother, Priyanka joined the Udayan Shalini Fellowship Program.

“First, I thought this program is just like any other scholarship program. But later when I read the description I was very thrilled and excited to know that apart from the monetary help, this fellowship also helps in becoming a strong individual. I needed a push to get out my comfort zone and this program was my platform to fly high and become a strong and dignified Shalini”- Priyanka

Through the guidance of her mentor, Priyanka discovered her passion for writing and wished to pursue a career in it.“The mentor-mentee program is the best part about this fellowship. I personally feel like this initiative is very thoughtful because we often need someone apart from our family to discuss and share our problems and challenges we face in life. USF has completely changed me into a different person altogether. From being a shy person and developing into a confident and independent girl was a long journey and the workshops and the mentors were always there to support in this long path”. - Priyanka

Currently, Priyanka is in her final year of journalism and communication from JIMS and is also a freelance writer and a lifestyle blogger on ‘Wordpress’.

“I just feel myself lucky to be a part of this program. If I had not joined here, it would have a completely different story than what is now. I learned a lot from here and implemented it to be a better person in my life. Walking along with so many enthusiastic and ambitious girls was a journey which I will cherish my whole life.”- Priyanka