Smile Foundation has always believed in the importance of a sustainable livelihood. For an ordinary person with no means, getting the skills needed for a sustainable livelihood is not an easy task. The impact of skill training in such lives is quite significant.

 

Here are some stories of the individuals whose lives have undergone a change after proper skill training.

 

Poornima

 

Poornima is a 27-year-old woman who comes from a lower middle-class family. Her father is a farmer who lives in small village near Dervan in Maharashtra. Her father could not support her education after she completed her SSC, and married her off at an early age.

After her marriage, she moved to Pune with her husband. During the pandemic, her husband lost her job and it became difficult for them to support the family of five. Her in-laws and little daughter had to move back to the village.

 

Poornima took it upon herself to become a financial support to the family. However, she lacked confidence and had poor communication skills. Thus, she found it difficult to get a job. Unfortunately, she did could not even afford the fees of a vocational training course. When she got to know about the GDA course at the STeP centre, she enrolled herself.

 

Despite many obstacles, Poornima was determined to complete the training with flying colours. She learned a lot about the healthcare sector and also the practical skills required for a GDA. The mock interviews at the centre helped her with her confidence.

 

Poornima is not gainfully employed at Tarachand Hospital as a GDA at a salary of Rs 10,750. The first thing she did was buy a basic smartphone so that she could video call her daughter at any time.

 

Ruturaj

 

Ruturaj always dreamt of studying as much as he could and getting a respectable job for himself. However, due to financial conditions, he had to take up a job at a local grocery store in Talegaon soon after his HSC. He did manage to complete his graduation externally.

 

His father works as a carpenter and his mother is a housewife. His younger brother is still in school. Before the pandemic, the family’s monthly income was about Rs 15,000 per month.

Once the pandemic-related lockdowns began, Ruturaj’s family faced grave consequences. His father was not able to get any carpentry work, and Ruturaj lost his job.

Ruturaj always had an interest in sales and marketing. But due to lack of skills required for such a job, his search was proving to be futile. A friend recommended him to enroll in Smile Foundation’s STeP course for digital marketing. Since then, he has not looked back.

He proved to be a sincere student who always participated actively in all the classes. Along with acquiring skills related to digital marketing, Ruturaj also evolved as an individual. The training he received gave him the confidence to communicate with strangers. Soon after completing the course, Ruturaj got a job at Ace Marketing Solutions as a Digital Marketing Executive. He now earns a salary of Rs 11,000 per month.

Ruturaj is using his newly acquired skills to find carpentry gigs for his father too! He has created his father’s profile on various digital platforms. Now, he gets inquiries not just from Talegaon, but from other locations too.

To know more, read about our Tayyari Kal Ki initiative here.