Wholistic Development of the People of Dharavi Island: Kishori & Youth Programmes

Under the project of holistic development of the people of Dharavi Island, a series of training programs were conducted for kishoris and youth during the months of March and April 2015 at the 6 Parish CBOs in collaboration with Centre for Social Action (CSA). These trainings were coordinated by CSA and CBO Staff.

Name of CBO	Name of Training Program & Date	No of attendees	Resource Person
Sahyog Samaj Kendra, Chowk	Clean Green Environment 23^rd March, 2015	33 kishoris	Fr. Calistus Fernandes who has worked with tribals in Roha, Raigad prior to his current work at Karjat.
Sahyog Samaj Kendra, Chowk	Gender Sensitization 24^th March 2015	30 kishoris	Fr.Xavier Devdas, SDB who has worked for the past 20 years on the issue of street children and is now giving vocational and technical trainings at Karjat.
Sahjeevan, Pali	Gender Sensitization 28^th April, 2015	14 kishoris	Ms. Kinjal Maru presently working as HR Assistant at Infinity Consultancy Services. She has completed her Masters in Human Development from Niramla Niketan College of Home Science and besides holding a PG Diploma in Counseling Psychology she is also a part time Counselor at YMCA and visiting faculty at Garware Institute.
Sahjeevan,Pali, Sahyog Samaj Kendra, Chowk & Savadhaan Social Centre, Manori	Program on Event Management & Resource Mobilization on 19^th April, 3^rd May & 21^st May respectively	142 youth (boys & girls)
Suryodaya Community Center, Gorai	Program on Event Management & Resource Mobilization 29^th May, 2015	30 youth	Rev. Fr. Anthony Santarita from Don Bosco Home (Borivali)

At the Clean Green Environment training held at Chowk Parish, the resource person Fr. Calistus Fernandes explained how human beings formed an integral part of the environment. Maintaining, safeguarding and keeping the surroundings clean and green is the responsibility of all of us. At the end of the session, the kishoris shared that they understood the importance of a clean green environment and the role that each one of them have to play in order to keep the surroundings clean, green and free from pollution. They also realized that a clean environment helps in keeping illnesses away.

While biologically there are differences between men and women, in terms of rights and capabilities should there be any difference? To relook at this age old discrimination, two separate seminars on Gender Sensitization were conducted for the kishoris of Chowk and Pali.

The session at Chowk conducted by Fr.Xavier Devdas, SDB brought about the reality of gender discrimination issues that exist in the community. Some of the issues highlighted were “when we marry the family members prefer that we bear a boy and not a girl child as the boy child can carry forward the family legacy and plans are made to get rid of the girl child”, “even though we and our mothers are girls we are treated differently from boys as we feel girls will marry and go to another house”.Some participants shared that “the amount needed to get the girl child married is also a burden for the family as the money spent on her will be of no use to the family. Fr. Xavier expressed that this discrimination exists even though women are equal to men and are working shoulder to shoulder with the men in society. In spite of that, many people in our society still disrespect the girl child and discriminate them even with regards to food, clothing and education. This thought process has been in our society from ages but now is the time that young girls should come forward and change the mindset of the society by beginning from their very homes. Being sensitive to the issue and starting by first changing our own mind set is the crucial step in Gender Sensitization in our society. At the end of the session, the kishoris shared that they felt proud to be a woman and assured the resource person that they would do their best to change the perspective and mindset of the people beginning from their very own family and friends.

At the session held for the kishoris from Pali, the facilitator Ms. Kinjal Maru encouraged the participants to express the various gender differences they see in their work areas with the aid of drawings. This activity was followed by a group discussion which highlighted that the first and foremost responsibility of each participant is to be aware of such implicit gender based stereotypes. Only if participants are aware, then they can speak up against discrimination in society. Gender based discrimination can be transmitted through families, neighborhoods and institutions. Using a lot of examples, the speaker brought to the participant’s awareness, many of the gender based inequalities. Under the guise of protecting the girl child, a lot of privileges which the males enjoy are denied to the girls. Through the feedback collected at the end of the session, it was observed that the girls felt empowered by the seminar to recognize discrimination. Instead of looking at this issue from a position of weakness, the seminar awakened in them a sense of well-being and to look at their self and their rights from an enlightened perspective.

Half day program sessions on Event Management & Resource Mobilization were held for the youth (between the age group of 19 to 27 years) of Pali, Chowk, Manoriand Gorai on 19^th April, 3^rd May, 21^st May & 29^th May, 2015 respectively. The main objective of these programs was to encourage the talents of youth and toexplain to them about Career Development and the Event Management Process. To quote from the resource person, Ms. Kinjal Maru’s sessions “We should always have the urge to compete today in order to determine what we would be doing 20 years later - to arrive at something concrete; we need to start thinking today. You need to start thinking that you can do something good in your life and must have that self belief. While choosing a career, you need to ask yourself if you are ready to take up the role. You need to develop an interest and ask questions like what sort of a course is this? Will I be able to complete this course? etc. You have to be certain that you will put in whatever effort and hard work it takes for your growth and development and achieve something in life.”Through the story of Thomas Edison she mentioned that one needs to always have alternate plans i.e. Plan A and Plan B ready so that in case Plan A does not work out then you can pursue Plan B.

In the second session Ms. Maru spoke about Event Management wherein she explained that before every program there is a need for detailed planning about the objective of the program, target audience, topic/theme, date, time, venue, budget, etc. All this assists is having maximum output and impact with minimum input in terms of budget, resources, time, etc. The Event/program challenges should be perceived well in advance and the learnings from the previous program should be included in the planning as it assists in not repeating previous mistakes which can be easily avoidable. Proper planning becomes inevitable and each team member should be given some responsibility which will help in organizing the event successfully as per plan. At the end of the program there should be an un-biased evaluation of the same, which should be well documented for future learning. By way of example she further explained “If you are taking up an event pertaining to Bal Sansad, then you need to plan who are the people who will manage the event, where does the money come from, how to ensure procuring better things with a low budget which will in turn benefit the children”. Ms. Kinjal also shared how one boy managed to fund his education by making garlands and bouquets which he provided to schools and colleges for their functions. Through this, he was not only able to succeed in building his own career but also supported his parents. One should plan well in advance in order to ensure success.Fr. James also provided guidance and tips on career development and event management. During the feedback session the youth expressed their thanks to the resource person for guiding them through the process of event management and said that they will plan the next program keeping in mind the process learnt at this session.

At the session for Gorai youth conducted by Rev. Fr. Anthony Santarita from Don Bosco Home (Borivali), he provided guidance to the youth encouraging them to start and develop a small scale business in their own villages and areas thus providing income for their families. He pointed out how people from outside the area have started their own business. By ways of examples,Fr. Anthony also shared the importance of education and provided guidelines on how to start a small business. At the feedback session the youth expressed their appreciation on the guidance and tips provided by Fr. Anthony which would help them further their career.

Exposure visit at Bosco Boys Home (Borivali West)

Suryodaya Community Center organized an exposure visit to Don Bosco Institute at Borivali (West) for the youth of Gorai, on 1^st May, 2015. The objective of the visit was to expose the youth to the different courses available. This visit to Bosco Boys Home institute was very helpful to all the 25 youth as they were shown various skills and different courses that will help them to choose a proper career for themselves. Fr. Anthony Santarita, who is in charge of the Institute explained it’s history and also gave a brief description on the various courses e.g. Hotel Management, Motor Vehicle and Machine Repairing, Bar Tending, Petrol Mechanic etc. He also shared how these courses helped drop out youth start their own business thus enabling them to stand on their own feet. The youth were also given a demonstration on Bar Tending by Mr. Joseph. During the interactions, the youth shared that this visit was a wonderful experience as it gave them an insight to a lot of courses which would help them choose a future career.

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