Setu - Women Empowerment Program

Dear Reader

New year at SETU started with great momentum as we got a new Skill project again for one year based on our previous success record, SETU continues on the road to glory.

Marking yet another milestone, SETU embarked upon a very special journey with the launch of  its Physiotherapy Lab that was a long awaited wish and need of our special students fulfilled by Metlife thereby provoking new energy and excitement in students. Students have already started therapeutic excercises to improve strength, range of motion and  endurance to correct postural imbalance under the guidance of experienced physiotherapist post a detailed physical assessment and actionplan for future.

In 2019, we continue to strive for excellence and  extend heartful thanks to all our corporate partners in fulfilling our beneficiaries wishes for brighter and a more beautiful future ahead for the unserved.

Highlights at Setu Skill Centre                                                                                                          

• New year celebration
• Launch of Smile project
• Self-help group
• Guest Lectures
• Convocation
• Corporate visits
• Exposure visit of Special students
• Birthday celebration
• Workshops for trainers

 Launch of Smile Project : Once again, SETU procured SMILE project based on the proven track record of success for empowering the youth in various courses like IT, Basic English, Personality Development, Retail Management and Financial Literacy to prepare them for the job arena. The SMILE project was launched on 15^th January 2019 to train the unserved by making them competent and efficient for securing good jobs and efficiently performing in highly professional work life.

Nutritional Meal supplement and gift distribution at center for Special Children: SETU extends a big thanks to its donors for getting smiles to our beneficiaries by gifting them eatables and woolens at an exciting event for the special students on the occasion of New Year. It was a day full of celebration surrounded by lots of fun games and activities that brought a rush of great excitement and happiness in the specially abled children. In an effort to fulfill nutritional requirements of our Special students and at the same time be able to train them in taking more ownership and responsibility for themselves and at home, a Nuritional Meal Supplement has been arranged in collaboration with Max India Foundation. Under the programme, students learn to cut vegetables, fruits and chop coriander and learn dinning etiquettes of how to serve well and eat. Variety of food like poha, flavoured milk, buttermilk, fruits, juice, glucose biscuits provide them nutrition for rest of the busy day. This not only avoids classroomhunger but also has shown improvement in regularity in attendance and nutiritional needs of the intended benefecieries.

 Self-help Group a Breakthrough : A group of girls from Beauty and Wellness course explored new frontiers as they went for Mehndi function at a private ceremony where they made beautiful mehndi designs. This proved to be a breakthrough as they were initially hesitant to pursue this. It turned out to be great opportunity for them as they procured additional order on the same day which they completed successfully. Our Customers were very satisfied with their behavior and their input.  This effort was also appreciated by the parents during a Parent Teacher Meeting and both the Parents and Students got great motivation while getting an opportunity to earn well for themselves by participating in the self-help group. Their mothers of the students were called over and applauded which help with  further motivation and encouragement for their daughters. They were really happy to see their daughters becoming independent in safe and secure environment while at the same time harnessing their talents.

Guest Lecture for Students : A Guest Lecture was organized at SETU Skill centre in Nithari as a Volunteer from Cognizant, Mr. Saif visited the centre and conducted sessions for IT students. It was a very enriching and beneficial session as he gave tips on interview skills and motivated them to take up jobs after completion of the course to be empowered and successful in a highly competitive world. Another Guest lecture was conducted by Mr. Pawan Singh HR cum Admin from Quovantis who conducted a session on Personality Development at Nithari for IT students. He shared in detail various job opportunities for both experienced as well as fresher. Students participated with great interest and posed relevant questions to him. At our Sadarpur Colony Centre Guest lecture was also held for the Students of the Fashion Designing Course by Ms. Ishita from Pearl Academy, Noida. She guided them on pattern making and designing. While giving the students a glimpse of industry exposure, the guest lecture was aimed at acquainting them with advanced practices of designing so that they can become more result oriented, motivated and dynamic as self-employed individual. This was followed by a Guest lecture at Beauty and Wellness Students by industry expert, Mrs. Nandini Mehra, who gave the students demonstration of some new herbal hair and skin treatments available in the market. It was highly beneficial for students as they could have access to latest and upcoming treatments and developments so that they complete the certification with competence and confidence to work in a modern professional salon. Motivational Session was also held at Jaipur Centre centre which also covered interview skills and personality development. It was a memorable event as it included many interesting games and activities. The students participated with great zeal and enthusiasm and learned valuable tips on grooming and communication skills.

Corporate Visit : Visitors from Creatnet along with their Australian Buyers visited SETU skill centre to observe and motivate the students to keep up the good work. They particularly observed the garments designed by Fashion Designing students. They were surprised to see the creative genius of the students come alive as they showcased their work with great happiness and interest. They appreciated the block printing and tie and die work done by students as well as the garments stitched and designed by students. They also took interviews of students and they have been using their manufactured products for sale and discussed the avenues for them to work in the garment industry.

Seminars and Trainings : SETU continues to believe in the upgrading the skills of its trainers and never lets go an opportunity to send them for trainings that define best in practice industry standards.  Trainers at SETU recently attended train the trainer programme conducted by Smile Foundation at their premises. The trainers were trained on the objectives of training, objective of Smile and mobilization practices. They were particularly trained on ‘Connect to Learn’ that briefed them on basics of Libre Office an online software that prepares to train via online technology.  A Seminar on Disability was conducted by University of Chicago to discuss policies related to differently abled people. They briefed the audience on 21 types of disabilities and responsibility of NGOs and vision building for organizations working for the benefit of specially abled people. The Special educator and interpreter from SETU’s PWC centre attended this seminar to enhance their skills and knowledge.

Birthday Celebrations at Centre for Special Children: Our Advisor Mr. Arun celebrated his birthday with special students at SETU’s centre for special children in the month of January. He thoroughly enjoyed his day with them and students were very happy to celebrate with him on this special occasion. The trainers present at the centre further discussed with him details on training needs of special children, employment and types of disabilities they work on. Our donor Mentor supports us with birthday celebration for a slot of every two months in total for all special students whose birthdays fall in those months. Once again on the occasion of birthday cake cutting, children enjoyed the day full of fun and savored the delicious cake cut by birthday boys and birthday girls in moments full of fun and frolic. There was singing, dancing and merry making which was captured by clicking pictures.

Physiotherapy Sessions : SETU takes pride in its journey towards success as it inaugurated its Physiotherapy Lab on 26^th march 2019 for specially abled students. A highly proficient Physiotherapist from Metro Hospital, Ms.  Shruti has been regularly visiting the centre to assess the students, taking details about their disabilities, areas of improvement and the best possible treatment. The children are particularly excited about it as they are now hopeful of being able to improve agility and range of motion.

Exposure visit of special students: Volunteers from PWC accompanied the special students from SETU’s centre for special children at the National Zoo in Delhi.  It was an educational trip for about thirty students and they were very excited as it was first visit at Zoo for many of them. Students were thrilled to see them in real and wrote down the names in their notepad after recognizing the animals and our special educator and interpreter helped in answering their queries. This was followed by lunch and the students returned at the centre with great happiness. This was followed by Students from SETU’s PWC centre visiting The Flower Show at Noida which was an educational trip for enhancing their learning of flora. The event showcased a variety of flowers put together in interesting shapes of birds and animals. The children were excited about various other activities like pottery maiking, art and craft products, bungee jumping, various rides, display and sale of decorative plants, the children danced with cartoon dummies.

Nutritional Meal Supplement for Students : In an effort to fulfill nutritional requirements of students at PWC centre and at the same time be able to train them in taking more ownership and responsibility for themselves and at home, a Nuritional Meal Supplement has been arranged in collaboration with Max India Foundation. Under the programme, students learn to cut vegetables, fruits and chop coriander and learn dinning etiquettes of how to serve well and eat. Variety of food like poha, flavoured milk, buttermilk, fruits, juice, glucose biscuits provide them nutrition for rest of the busy day. This not only avoids classroomhunger but also has shown improvement in regularity in attendance and nutiritional needs of the intended benefecieries.

Convocation and Women’s Day Celebrations : SETU Skill Centre at Jaipur rewarded 28 students of IT, 63 students of tailoring & Textile with certificates on 14^th March 2019. One of the Sewing students got a sewing machine as a motivational reward for her future endeavors to be successfully self-employed on this day of convocation. There were big smiles on the faces of students as their efforts to be skilled in their respective vocations were successful. At the SETU Skill centre at Nithari certified 86 students enrolled in various vocations as IT, Spoken English and  Sewing in March 2019. 36 in Sewing, 11 in Tally and 39 in IT successfully completed their courses. It was Convocation cum Women’s Day celebration and a day filled with lots of fun. The students who passed out earlier were also invited to share their valuable experiences in job arena so that the currently passed out batch could benefit and learn from their work experience. The students put up a fashion show wherein the garments made by Fahion Designing students and bags made by Sewing students were showcased by IT students. There was a cake cutting ceremony to celebrate Women’s Day and motivational talk to the students to reiterate  women’s empowerment on this special occasion. Another 77 students from SETU Skill Centre at Sadarpur were rewarded certificates on 26^th March 2019 for successful completion of their courses in which 36 were from IT, 19 from Sewing, 13 from Beauty, 9 from GDA & Hospitality at a convocation. The students were extremely elated and excited to get their certificates and shared their happiness and experiences before and after the course with the audience and peers present at the occasion. Women’s Day was also celebration at Jaipur Skill center - SETU Skill centre at Jaipur celebrated Women’s Day with great joy and enthusiasm as volunteers from Metlife came to celebrate with the students from various courses. They briefed the students on the importance of women empowerment and also motivated them  to pursue their dreams by utilising their skills to the best of their ability.

Success Stories:

Meenala always had an ambition to pursue a decent job to as she belongs to marginalized family and dreamt to uplift their financial condition by acquiring necessary skill set to make it possible. She enrolled in SETU’s IT & Spoken English courses so that she could enhance her knowledge of Computers and also be able to speak well in English to be ready to face the competitive job arena. She came to know about SETU from one of her neighbors and she enrolled herself in basic IT/ English course. At the completion of this course, she got placed as a teacher at Sky Flow School with salary of Rs. 3000 per month. There are 6 members in her family and their financial condition is dismal as her Mother is the sole bread earner in the family. Her family’s annual income is Rs. 84,000/-. She always wanted to be self - dependent and to support her Mother in her responsibilities so that she could ensure a decent life and education for her siblings as well. In the beginning, she did not have much know how of Computers. As she started the course, she learnt the basics such as MSWord, Excel, PowerPoint and Internet. She is a confident individual and is very happy as she can now understand the make the most of training she received. She also got training of English communication skills and attended many Personality Development and grooming sessions to improve her confidence and presentation skills. Now she is employed in a job that has paved way for many more opportunities for a better future.

 Kiran belongs to an underprivileged family and with a dream to have a secure future, she wanted to acquire basic computer and communication skills to have decent job and hence secure life. She came to know about SETU through mobilization campaign and she enrolled herself in basic IT/ English course. She was trained on the computer skills and improved her linguistic skills aslo through basic English course. She was trained through Mock interviews and Personality Development Sessions. At the completion of the course, she got a job in HCL as Backend Executive with a salary of Rs. 13,000 per month. There are 6 members in her family and her father is the sole bread earner with a meagre annual income of Rs.1,68,000/-. She always wanted to be self-dependent and to support her family so that her siblings could also have a secured life. She is diligent girl with great self-motivation and sincerity. She also helped her peer group in learning and improved her English communication skills. She attended Personality Development sessions and groomed herself under trainer’s guidance to be able to communicate and present herself well in interview. Kiran is now placed in a decent job that has brought her dreams come alive.

Dear Reader

At Setu we ensure a safe yet dynamic learning environment for students across all age groups for their holistic growth. We provide fearless atmosphere and simultaneously create an open space for kids to explore, learn and grow where they are comfortable to share their concerns with teachers or even with the head of the school. Teachers also act as counselors for them and guide them about their safety issues which are very important to teach them given the present scenario of our society.

At Setu we are equally concerned of physical safety of students and we keep trying new ways of protecting school by wiring the railings. This time our donors supported us by funding for safety net which had been our main concern for a very long time. We are thankful to our donors for safety net.

We have tried our best to capture the events and bring to you an update on what transpired doing the last few months.

Swachta ki aur is an endeavor of Setu to ensure a Clean India. It began with a ban on use of plastics at all Setu premises, which is a way of life now. To spread the message of cleanliness around our project sites, a rally was organised at Sadarpur Colony Noida in September 2018 to spread awareness on the importance of cleanliness. The residents including shopkeepers were also briefed on cleanliness and the students also distributed paper bags to them.

Setu Mela : With the spirit of festivity in the air, The Setu Diwali Mela was a big hit again. Amidst the beautiful décor done using recycling waste like paper tray, cartons etc., there were, games, food, dance, gifts, volunteers and the crowd adding to the glory of food, fun, games, dance and other activities.Kudos to students and teachers.

Health Camp: At Sadarpur Village Noida a cardiac health-camp was organised by Setu along with our partners Metro Hospital. The camp received over-whelming response as 150 people underwent the cardiac checkup. Commendable effort by Team Setu at Sadarpur who gave it their best to make the camp a huge success.

Children’s Day: Children’s Day at special centre was celebrated with great zeal and enthusiasm as the students participated in a painting competition followed by special lunch for students.

On Disability day at India Gate and at Worlds of wonder, Noida and Celebrated Disability day celebration at the Centre

Convocation : Graduation Ceremonies were held at all Setu Skill Centres across Noida and Jaipur and 349 students who completed their Vocational Courses were handed over Certificates. 42 students were awarded Certificates at the Setu Skill Centre for people with Disabilities, 117 students for Basic Computer Skills and Tally, 133 in Tailoring, 21 in Beauty, 21 in Fashion Design and 21 in Spoken English. Out of these 86 were certified in Jaipur, 84 at Nithari Village and 137 at Sadarpur Colony Noida.

Setu receives Santosh Sharma Award : On 16^th December 2018 Setu was nominated for Santosh Sharma Award for commendable work.

Success stories

Aakash is aDynamic and passionate Akash of class XII from Commerce stream. Elder son of his parents, he was born with Kyphoscoliosis syndrome with weak and short right lower limb, distorted shoulder and eyes. His father is the sole earning member of his family who works as a supervisor in Catch Spices and mother is housewife. He has a younger brother studying in class IV.

He came to know about SETU PWC through our mobilization campaign and enrolled himself in IT and English course. His focussed approach and positive attitude paved way for new opportunities. Under five days a week Yoga session, Akash has shown remarkable improvement in his Physical appearance and confidence. He participated in YogUtsav 2018 and received a Certificate of Appreciation. Akash’s willingness, persistent efforts of Team SETU and cooperation from Yoga Guru Institute attributed to his success.

Prince, a native of Siwan, Bihar was born deaf and is only deaf member of his family. He has one elder and two younger sisters.  His mother came to Noida in search of job.  He enrolled at SETU PWC in 2016. He was overage then and needed to attend school immediately.

SETU PWC Team has provided job to his mother as she is the sole bread earner for their family. SETU PWC Team also helped him to take admission in Rotary Institution for Special Children and through Cochlear Implant Surgery, he is now able to hear environmental sounds. He is learning speech and language skills that will stimulate communication and enhance chances to develop understanding of words and sound.