DB Tech Newsletter (Volume 4 | Issue2 | 2012)

DB Tech NEWS

Volume 4 | Issue 2| 2012

BRIGHT DAYS

AHEAD

Message

DB Tech News

Message from

Executive Director Dear Friends, Recently, I happened to hear Mr. Bunker Roy speaking about the Barefoot College in Rajastan. It is a college where learning is imparted not by the people who hold paper degrees but by professionals who have knowledge and expertise in the specific field. Here a professional is defined as some one who has a combination of Competence, Confidence and Belief. The people, who have vast experience in particular profession/trade, are the teachers. He/she is certified by the community he/she serves. A Grandma, who has primary education, is the dentist for 7000 kids; similarly a rural woman becomes the solar engineer.

The abilities of human is beyond our comprehension. Ordinary people having extraordinary abilities learn and teach others and do things which are beyond our imagination. It is truly amazing to see the youth who are considered useless and troublesome due to their lack of schooling, experience and exposure become heroes of the day. In most cases offering a platform for learning and skilling brings drastic changes in the lives of many youth. The short term vocational skills

have brought life and joy to many lives across the country. For many a youth, knowledge and experience in their first jobs have opened a new horizon. As in the case of the Rising Stars in this issue, life is changed not only for them but for the whole family.

DB Tech believes in the young, and gives an opportunity to them to develop the areas where one feels comfortable. And beyond the skills instil confidence and trust in one's abilities in building a new life.

My wishes to all the trainees who have shown the courage and determination to learn the skills for taking up the challenges in the new work situations and staff members who inspire confidence and impart skills for life.

Fr. A. M. Joseph

DB Tech bids farewell to Fr. Raju DB Tech hosted a farewell event on May 21 to honor its departing Assistant Director Fr. Raju Philip, which was attended by DB Tech National Office staff and Executive Director.

After two years of dedicated service to the organization, Fr. Raju has taken on a new role at Don Bosco (Sulthan Bathery) as the Director.

DB Tech thanks Fr. Raju for his commitment and dedication to the organization and for his leadership during the past two years as Assistant Director. He will be greatly missed by his colleagues at DB Tech, who wish him continued successes in his new role at Don Bosco (Sulthan Bathery).

Contents 1

Volume 4 | Issue 2| 2012

Bright Days Ahead Govt. of India made an effort to empower the rural workforce by facilitating the market based vocational skills through public-private partnership. In partnership with DB Tech, over 34,580 BPL youth have been trained in marketled vocational skills under BASE project during last two years. Out of these 81 percent trainees have been placed in a spectrum of 812 organizations in manufacturing and service sectors. After implementation of these projects, now DB Tech becomes a preferred organization for 118 leading companies, who always look forward to employ candidates from BASE for their different facilities.

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unwind, rewind, rejuvenate

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As team-building exercises become a part of DB Tech's agenda, an outbound training for the staffs at National Office was organized at Camp High 5 (Jayalgarh, Uttarakhand).

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Centre in Focus: Don Bosco SERI

In a process of learning from each other, a refresher training was organized for the trainers of Jammu and Kashmir at Maitri Bhawan on March 6-8, 2012.

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Featuring DB SERI (Mirpara, West Bengal), which is a laboratory to test, prepare and nurture the self entrepreneurs and an interview with Br. T. V. Matthew (Founder, DB SERI).

DB Tech

Published by Fr. A. M. Joseph SDB on behalf of DB Tech

NEWS

Volume 4 | Issue 2| 2012

Edited by Devi Prasad Mahapatra Layout and Designed by John Daniel

BRIGHT DAYS

AHEAD

Photograph Devi Prasad Mahapatra

Printed at Bosco Press

Liven Up - A refresher training program

Rising Stars: Koyel and Chaitali Highlighting success stories of two childhood friends, who were born and brought up in the same locality, studied together, got skilled in DB Tech and chose a career in the same profession.

We are keen to hear from our stakeholders and would welcome any feedback you can provide us to where we have exceeded your expectations or how we can do better. We appreciate your input and look forward to hearing your reading experience. Please do mail your inputs, comments, suggestions and feedbacks to comm.dbtech@gmail.com

Cover story DB Tech News

BRIGHT DAYS

D

AHEAD

espite economic development and a huge skill based job market, employment-age youth from rural India hardly get a chance of being a part of this new economy due to lack of job-specific basic skills that industry requires. To empower this section of the rural mass, Govt. of India made an effort to facilitate the development and upgrading of the skills of the growing rural workforce through public-private partnership. In partnership with DB Tech, over 34,580 BPL youth have been trained in 22 states under BASE project during last two years.

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Cover story “I will present a saree to my mother with my first salary. Since long, I have not seen her wearing new clothes. Still I remember those days, when my father died, there was nothing left to run the family. We had to depend on relatives for any financial requirement. I had a great desire to study hard to get a white collar job but family's financial condition suppressed my desire,” says Amit Kumar, who has been recently placed in Hotel Horizon after completion of the training in Hospitality from Bosco Academy for Skills and Employment (BASE), Hatia, Jharkhand. It may be a small gift but matters a lot for Amit. The happiness on his face tells the story of thousands of youth, who are recently graduated from BASE and got opportunities in diverse sectors.

The youth from small towns have poor educational upbringing. They lack academic skills to pursue higher studies and also lack vocational skills to get an employment. As a result, they are unable to be a part of the pool of employment created by this new economy. There is always a strong desire for the youth to move to a metropolitan city but they hesitate to go as they lack the confidence and necessary skills. If at all, some do migrate to the city; their earning capacity is very poor.

Technical skills and communication skills through this short term training makes a huge difference in the lives of youth like Amit Kumar.

Our educational system barely provides any knowledge which equips

Volume 4 | Issue 2| 2012 the students with appropriate skills required by the industry. “I have always been inclined towards hospitality sector. Though I have completed a degree I hardly know any technical skills required by industry in a typical work environment,” says Rama Devi, an alumnus from Lucknow Centre. DB Tech.

Aligning with India's skilling mission India is a country marked by distinctive socio-economic diversities and inequalities. More than 70 percent of the population resides in rural areas facing lack of employment opportunities and inadequate access to education. For the unemployed youth from villages, the country's growing economy is a mirage. Hampered by lack of relevant skills, these youth are unable to tap into this growth. “Our vision is to emerge as a leader, who harnesses the power of skills to transform the future of our youth and power the economic progress of the nation. We will do this by empowering the youth with pride and proficiency in their job that enable them to be successful at work and life, and make them an asset

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Cover story DB Tech News

to the nation,� says Fr. A M Joseph (Executive Director, DB Tech). To achieve the mission 'Skilling India', DB Tech partners with all likeminded organizations and individuals who want to extend their hand for achieving the India's skilling mission.

are women. For many of the them, the program is a big step forward, as they often are the first in their families to secure employment in the formal sector.

Under Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY), Ministry of Rural Development (Government of India) has the single most powerful mission of providing appropriate skills and mainstreaming opportunities for the youth in the sun-rise sectors of the economy.

Favourably considering DB Tech's unmatched skill development infrastructure and almost 100 years of experience in empowering underprivileged youth in skill training and development, the ministry has funded four projects for north-central, east and north east, southern and south-west regions of the country. Under this project, 34,580 underprivileged youth from 22 states trained in market-driven course in various sectors. Significantly over 34 percent of the trainees

Before initiating any intervention in livelihood sector, DB Tech conducts a community mapping cum youth survey to assess the attitude of youth to various aspects of the skill based training.

For these MoRD projects, DB Tech administered over 66,966 questionnaires in four regions to assess caste distribution, educational status, employment status, the youths' willingness to migrate for employment and other correlation amongst these variables.

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Mapping for makeover

The study involves a series of interviews with youth from BPL category to understand the choices made by young adults as they make decisions related to interests, aspirations, skill sets desired, preferred

Cover story employment and location. The mapping is a preliminary attempt to access to get the buy-in of the BPL youth and sound them off on mainstream options available to them through short term skill development programs. The data is compiled, collated and analyzed to map trends and to customize national level trades and courses to local industrial need. The findings highlight that there was a pool of unskilled or semiskilled youth waiting for right opportunity for vocational training which in turn gives the youth a chance for better productive life. On the basis of the findings, the strategies were designed for effective implementation of the project. The findings of this report were used for implementation of project in the respective states.

Reaching the unreached populace DB Tech set up BASE training centres across India that focuses on building employability skills among the youth from below poverty line.

Volume 4 | Issue 2| 2012 Based on the findings from Youth Survey related to project intervention and availability of the target group, DB Tech has rolled out the BASE programme in 22 states across India. The youth in the age group of 18-35 years, who are mostly unemployed, school dropouts, or employed as unskilled labour, are selected for enrolment in the training programme. Sharing the experience of those mobilization days, Ms Rose Kujur, who was part of the outreach team during the inception of the project said, “At the beginning, it was really very tough for all of us to make them aware about the skill training. Only one motivation factor that helped us to attract youth was an employment after completion of the training. As far as credibility is concerned, Don Bosco’s century long service for abandoned youth has created a trust factor that really worked to mobilize the BPL youth.� To get BPL list, the outreach staff approached DRDA officials and then met the community leaders, outreach partners, SHGs, etc to identity the right candidates for the training program. 21 year old tribal girl from

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Cover story DB Tech News

Balalong (Ranchi), Nirmala shares, “One of my friends, who is working for Mahila Samiti, told me about the course provided by DB Tech. Don Bosco in our locality has a great value whenever it comes to training.

When we came to know that Don Bosco is providing this free vocational training with support from Govt. of India, many youngsters like me came to the centre to get enrolled for the courses.”

During the mobilization, the outreach staff create awareness about the opportunities in different sectors and need for developing job skills for these employment opportunities, which certainly generates a desire to participate in the BASE training programme. Fr. Johny (Centre Incharge, DB Tech, Monsada, West Bengal) shared, “For social mobilization, we developed all possible tools keeping the infrastructure and understanding levels of the target group in mind.

Besides that we also attempted to involve the people at the grass root level through volunteers and community leaders.” Mobilizing right candidates for the first batch is really difficult at any place because of program which is quite different from our conventional educational system. But after the completion of the first batch, each candidate trained and placed by DB Tech became a brand ambassador of BASE program and mobilized needy youth for the skill training. The enrollment in the training centres had a good response from all spheres of community across India. Nowadays in most of the centres in DB Tech, the alumni took the responsibility of mobilization process through ‘word-of-mouth’. Those youngsters who have benefitted personally from this program took an oath to put their efforts to support another candidate to join the program.

Routes to ‘Skilling India’ DB Tech’s BASE program addresses the critical need of increasing the employability of India’s youth. The program’s uniqueness lies in skills training for youth in high-growth professions in job markets. The skill training program is conducted by experienced and committed trainers of various trades who have good tie-up with companies for placements of the trainees of the BASE. The youth survey enumerates the number of potential livelihood opportunities in a specific location. In this regard, the team discusses with corporate, business houses and market linking agencies to prepare a suggestive list of the various courses in the BASE centre. Regarding the domains, if the location demands a new domain, then it is DB Tech’s responsibility to prepare the curriculum after consultation with the key industry players and professionals in the specific sector. During the implementation, DB Tech has archived 26 new sector curricula within the BASE framework.

“To increase the capability of the employees and to build a motivated and high-performing workforce, we provide holistic learning, development opportunities and solutions at individual, team and organizational levels. The L&D focuses on designing and executing of various training programs like induction, refresher training, domain workshops, management training, outbound training, etc. as per the requirement,” says Mr Stanley Jones (Head-Learning & Development, DB Tech). Certainly the pool of committed trainers are the backbone of the skill development program; and these training programs help them to understand their profile, approach, and deliverables at the individual level.

Most of the trainees are school dropouts and some of them join colleges with mode of writing the examination in their respective regional languages. Any of them hardly think of the importance of English communication skills. “Being school dropout from Oriya medium school, I never felt the importance of 5| DB Tech

English Communication skills, Grooming and Etiquette, for employment. This three months course covers all these and additional life skills that really prepares us for facing the cycles of ups and downs in life,” says 20 years old, Hari Ekka, from a small village Kansbahal (Odisha). The BASE training incorporates domain specific skills and personality development programme in preparing young people to be successful in entry-level positions.

Equipping Sustainable livelihoods The quality training that DB Tech imparts to its trainees not only provides them an entry level opportunity but also gives them a new lease of life. In these four regions, 81 percent trainees are placed in spectrum of 812 organizations in manufacturing and service sectors with a salary range of Rs 3,200 – Rs 25,000. Some of the collaborators in this mission are Sobha Developers, Larsen and Toubro (L&T), Kitex Garments, Welspun, Bombay Rayon Fashion Ltd,

Cover story Tata Motors, Voltas, TVS Motors, Apollo Tyres, Pizza Hut, Vaango, Costa Coffee, KFC, Aditya Birla, Taj, Reliance Retail, Hinduja Global Solutions, Sodexo, Café Coffee Day, Eureka Forbes, Vishal Mega Mart, Big Bazar, Pantaloons, Domino’s, Mc. Donald’s, Hotel Regency Inn, Vishal Mega Mart, etc. Now DB Tech becomes a preferred organization for 118 leading companies, who always look forward to employ candidates from BASE for their different facilities. DB Tech always involves the industry leaders in every step of operations starting from choosing the right curriculum for its domains, recruiting quality manpower for their organization–curriculum development, guest lecture, exposure visit, on-the-job training, certification, campus interviews, etc.

Credit certainly goes to the centre team, regional coordinator and state teams, who put all their effort for this achievement. Regarding the placement of these trainees, Ringu Pillai, who is looking after the

Volume 4 | Issue 2| 2012 placements says, “Don Bosco has wide network with industry leaders from service and manufacturing sectors, which helps us to place these students. Now we are maintaining the same relation with the employers by communicating the all domain-related and batchrelated information to the potential employers regularly.”

Tracking for betterment DB Tech in line with the requirements of the project and its own mandate ensures that the youth are trained, placed and tracked.

Tracking of the youth through post placement is an integral part of the overall program model of DB Tech. The Post Placement Survey (PPS) is conducted after three months of completion of a batch. DB Tech is loyal to track the youth for a period of one year after placing them in the industry. The main purpose of tracking the youth is to ensure that the trained youth do not leave jobs and go back to the villages being unemployed again and to assess the impact on the family and the neighborhood. DB Tech also gathers feedback of employers on quality of training and study the career growth of these youth.

The methodology is designed to get data pertaining to the target beneficiary and is mainly done through one-to-one interaction. The strategy is followed to track 25 percent trainees trained and placed in every batch over a period of one year. PPS is a tool to assess the status of youth and qualitative changes in the lives of the trained youth It is an integral tool that enables us to design the scale-up programs for skill development programs in the future.

Conclusion Skills development is now a national priority and India has a long way to go in delivering the benefits of its demographic dividend. As a leader in skill development sector, DB Tech gives a platform to acquire quality and innovative skills to underprivileged youth to lead a dignified life and bright future that they deserve. BASE is a story of over 40,000 BASE alumni, who joined the short duration training program and now become a role model for their fellow aspirants. Now they have a livelihood to support their family and to actualize their dreams by means of their earning from their respective jobs. All of them have a long wish list which they are planning to achieve. After getting an opportunity in Hotel Horizon, Amit Kumar also prepared a list of tasks to be done. In his agenda, the prime focus is to think about his future.

He shared, “Now I have a job and I will try to make an effort to do higher studies in the Hospitality sector. DB Tech acted as a catalyst for fulfilling my dreams. Otherwise it would have been almost impossible to think about a decent job and higher education for a BPL youth like me.”

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Focus DB Tech News

unwind rewind rejuvenate The nature can be an analogy of our work life. The survival of the fittest to the struggle for existence holds true for us. To survive this race, we have to be competent and confident, as the famous adage reminds us, 'A smooth sea never made a great mariner'. “I feel like a different person. The more I do, the more likely I love to say, 'I can, I can do it'," says Neel Kusum, the youngest employee of DB Tech National Office. She never attempted any adventurous activities before; and the activities in this training program not only exposed her to a new world of self realization but also had ineffable experience in a tranquil and informal environment. In this fast moving life, team management, team composition and team building are very important. A good team makes a good organisation and to keep a team gelled, team-building exercises became a part of DB Tech's agenda.

The Outbound Training for the staff at National Office was organized at Camp High 5, which is a riverside camp that stands on the banks of the River Alaknanda at Jayalgarh (Uttarakhand) on February 16-18, 2012. Mr Rahul, Ms Priyanka and Ms Sonia from Laureate Global did their best to help the participants in the learning process through the activities. The team from Great Indian Outdoors (GIO) motivated and helped to perform all the activities with ease and to identify inner strength. The members were tested for their physical fitness through numerous activities like Welded Ankle, Nitro Crossing, Everyone Standup, Tree Jumaring, Human Matrix, Repelling and Valley Crossing on the first day itself. Many of the activities require individuals to work in groups and it led to a great team bonding, which involves planning, strategizing and performing.

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The second day started with 23 Kms White Water Rafting. To boat for long distance would have been near impossible considering the first time experience of the members but they made it through by rafting down the Alaknanda River. Midway down the river, a surprise was yet installed for the participants. A Cliff Jump from a height of 30 ft never crossed their minds until they did it. A high level of self belief, a spirit to challenge oneself, high determination and belief in instructors pushed participants to the limits.

Now with better adaptability and knowledge of the terrain, they were divided into two groups for the last activity of the training program.

Orienteering, a form of trekking with a map, a compass and a photographic clue were set before them to lead towards the destination. After a hard trek through the narrow path, the bushes and steep mountains, they finally reached their destination and had a luncheon prepared by the groups.

Regarding the outbound training, Mr Ujjal Paramanik (MangerFinance & Accounts, DB Tech) says, “It was really a wonderful and a great learning experience. Learning with adventure is an innovative learning module. We learned self-reliance and teamwork. I love the fresh attitude that we brought from camp. This OBT has boosted me and all the members, especially in taking up newer challenges in life.�

Focus

Liven up – to make or become livelier and interesting – a refresher training was organized for the trainers of Jammu and Kashmir at Maitri Bhawan on March 6-8, 2012. The first batch of the Himayat project have completed; and 32 trainers from 8 centres came together to spent three days in interacting with one another and learning from each other. The 3-day program was conducted by Stanley Jones (Head – L&D, DB Tech) and Felix Jajo (Asst. Manager – L&D, DB Tech). The program introduced different tools to understand oneself and to build a better professional relationship with one another.

The program started with the address of Fr. Thomas (State In-charge, J&K). He asked the trainers to make the most of the three days as they spend learning and interacting with one another. The first session began with a recap of the BASE process, starting with the preimplementation going on to the implementation and then to the postimplementation. Together with the resource persons and the state team, they tried to find out the good practices followed in the first batch and also identified ways to improve some of the flaws that were visible in the first batch.

Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation - Behavior (FIROB), a tool to understand oneself, was introduced to the group. This tool helps every participant to identify his/her expressed needs in a group and also his/her behavior to certain situation. Through this exercise, the person understands his/her natural behavior, his wanted and expressed needs. FIRO-B is an ideal tool used for interpersonal behavior measurement and assessment. After understanding

Volume 4 | Issue 2| 2012

oneself, the participants were put through another tool developed by Dr. Merideth Belbin. Belbin's Team Roles Theory, as it is known, is a tool to identify the different roles an individual play in a team. Through this psychometric test, the participants were able to identify their behaviours. This also enables an individual or team to benefit from self knowledge and adjust according to the demands being made by the external situations. Thus, it enables the team to work together in a better way.

The action songs and the activities in between the sessions kept the group moving and lively, bringing in more energy to the group. One such activity which also coupled as a learning session for all was 'Making a star with a rope'. The participants were divided into four smaller groups of seven members each; and each group was given a rope of different lengths and sizes. Five members of the group were to be blind folded and then make a star without talking to each other.

They can only be guided verbally by the remaining two members.

There was lots of confusions as they tried to make the stars blind folded. The similar situation happens in every centre or the state when there is no clear communication given to the lower levels.

‘Dead Poets Society', a movie was shown to the group. The film revolves around an English Poetry teacher and his different but innovative style of teaching. The Assessment Card and the Performance Evaluation Plan (PEP) were introduced to the group and were instructed on how to use it in their respective classes.

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News DB Tech News

DB Tech spreads its wings to Nepal The Salesian provincial of Calcutta Fr. Thomas Ellicherail inaugurated Don Bosco Vocational Training Institute at Thecho, a developing suburb of southern Kathmandu in Nepal on March 3, 2012. The Chief Guest for the function was Dr. Ram Hari Lamichhane (Director, Technical and Vocational Education, CTEVT). Various government and Catholic Church dignitaries including Bishop Antony Sharma SJ of Kathmandu, Fr. Raju Philip (Asst. Director, DB Tech), Mr. Roland Strux (Don Bosco Mondo, Germany), Markus Koth (Don Bosco Mondo, Germany), Ms. Anita Leutgeb (Jugend Eine Welt, Austria) were also present at the occasion.

The centre team updated the officials about training module including mobilization, induction, trainee selection, domains, training, infrastructure, activity planner and documentation. They were also shown the filled registration forms, interest inventories, supporting documents of the trainees and assessments. They were informed that already 71 trainees from Bishnah centre have been placed in various private organizations in and outside of the state. During their visit, they also interacted with the trainers and discussed in brief their interest of joining the organization, qualification and work experience.

The officials also interacted with the trainees in their respective classrooms. They congratulated the centre team for their best efforts and also exhorted trainees for gaining better life skills and job opportunities after completion of the course.

Regarding the visit, Mr. Munish shared, “Success is always for those, who dream and dare to convert it into reality.” He congratulated all the candidates and wished them success in their life. Ms. Samriti Bhagat said, “It was a nice experience interacting with a group of motivated youth, ready to face the challenges of outside world.” She wished the centre all the success in its future endeavours.

DB Tech participates in the NGO India 2012

Speaking at the inaugural function, Dr. Lamichaane highlighted the importance of skill training for the youth of Nepal in the present world that is progressing. He also appreciated Don Bosco Tech for the effort made towards the empowerment of the marginalized youth.

Don Bosco Tech participates in the NGO India 2012, the exhibition cum conference forum at the Epicentre, Gurgaon on March 16 -18, 2012. NGO India 2012 is a unique concept on an exposition platform, which allows non-profit organizations to network and spread awareness about the work being done by them.

“This has been a long awaited project for poor and marginalized youth,” said Fr Benjamin Pampackal (Rector, Salesian Community, Kathmandu). The institution currently provides skill training to boys and girls in seven domains, and more market relevant domains will be added soon,” said Fr Jijo John (Director, Don Bosco Tech). The seven vocational training areas comprise of modern office management, fashion designing and dressmaking, electronics, electrical maintenance, welding and fabrication and computer training. Some 300 youngsters in the age group of 15-25 years are estimated to be benefitted from the vocational training institute every year.

NABARD officials visit Bishnah centre Mr. Munish (General Manager, NABARD) accompanied by Ms. Samriti Bhagat (AGM, NABARD) visited the Himayat centre located at Bishnah (Jammu) on January 31, 2012. During their visit, Fr. Thomas (State Head, DB Tech, J&K), Fr. Ivan Pereria (Centre In-charge, DB Tech, Bishnah), Mr. Chakradhar Vuppala (Himayat Project Coordinator, DB Tech, J&K), Mr. Sanwaria Lal Sharma (State M&E and MIS Executive) and centre team were present.

DB Tech in coordination with Accenture set up a stall to spread the word 'Skilling India' with likeminded organizations. A team from DB Tech deputed at this multi-platform to showcase DB Tech’s interventions, spread and way-forward with domestic and international NGOs. At the same time, DB Tech was exposed to over 160 NGOs, who are being involved in Education, Livelihoods, Environment and the Empowerment of Disadvantaged groups. The team met with CSR professionals and other funding agencies to identify how they can collaborate and better serve the needs for the larger benefit of the community.

Besides the exhibition, well conceptualized knowledge–sharing sessions at the conference and workshops propelled thoughtleadership which highlighted challenges being faced by the Indian NGOs. The topics covered in the conference included the role of NGOs in delivering inclusive and sustainable development, opportunities and challenges in executing social initiatives, and many more topics throughout the first two days of the event. Regarding the event, Mr Stanley Jones (Head, L&D, DB Tech) shared, “The event provides a wider platform for DB Tech to connect directly with their

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News peers, pro-active humanitarians, and funding bodies. It is also an opportunity to learn from their experience and gain insights on governance and social challenges.”

NIRD representatives visit BASE centres A two-day NIRD visit to the DB Tech centres located at Muzaffarpour and Jehanabad were organized to witness the modus of operandi of BASE in Bihar. Representatives from NIRD, Mr Anukriti Kaushal and Mr Rajesh Sahu accompanied by Mr Subrato Nandy (State Operation and Placement Cordinator, DBTech) to visit the DB Tech (Muzaffarpur) on February 16, 2012. On successful NIRD visit to Muzaffarpur, Mr Anukriti Kaushal and Mr.Rajesh Sahu also visited the Jehanabad (Bihar) on February 17, 2012. The centre team welcomed the NIRD representatives at the DB Tech (Jehanabad).

During the visit, the trainers at the centre were present to brief them about process of mobilization, counseling, induction, process of selecting the right candidate, training procedure, placements, tracking and post placement survey. The NIRD officials thoroughly checked

Volume 4 | Issue 2| 2012 organized an exhibition to showcase their learning. 120 trainees and more than 200 visitors including Salesian community, parents, guardians, and Don Bosco Nava Nirman school children assembled for the feast and visited the exhibition. During school days, these trainees only heard about exhibition but never took part due to lack of interest and skill, hence organizing an exhibition on special occasion like this made all of them anxious. Trainees of Welding, Hospitality and Electrical domain decorated the exhibition hall to demonstrate domain-wise stalls.

Hospitality trainees demonstrated five types of mock tails, varieties of omelets, shape, size and garnishing, housekeeping, beds, restaurant table set up, front office, varieties of flower bouquets. Electrical trainees had pictorial presentation on tools and equipments and demonstration on house wiring, measuring instrument like multi meter, volt meter, ameter, digital clamp meter, safety device like MCB, ELCB, RCCB. There was a display of different production materials of welding domain like candle stand, shoe stand, book stand, India map, tools and equipments like hand grinder, drill and all hand tools.

Trainees also showcased their IT learning spree through pictorial presentation on application of ITeS in BPOs, facilities of online banking, boom of call centre industries in India. Visitors appreciated the skill training programme of DB Tech as well as trainees' interest and enthusiasm. “Dropouts with so much interest to start all over again are really appreciable,” Fr. Francis opined. The exhibition was motivating to the trainees as it was starting of their journey from laymen to acumen.

Fundraising initiative by BREADS (Bangalore)

the admission form, certificates, snapshots of activities during the BASE course and other collaterals used during the course. During their visit, the officials visited the Pind Baluchhi Revolving Restaurant to interact with BASE alumni at their workplace. NIRD team interacted with all the candidates as well as with employers. After the two-day packed with activities, they appreciated DB Tech for the awesome training. Overall it was a very fruitful visit in which they interacted with the staff, students and alumni and got all the desired information. They appreciated the way the training is imparted at DB Tech in Muzaffarpur as well as in Jehenabad.

The staff of BREADS began a fundraising activity by setting up the kiosk at IGCC Football Tournament on January 22, 2012. The stall was placed at a place, which was prominently visible to all the players as well as spectators at Golden Palms Resort (Tumkur Road). In this tournament, over 128 football players and 300 spectators were present. The volunteers from Ajjanahalli participated at the fundraising activity. As the matches took off, the volunteers moved across to the spectators as well as players introducing themselves, distributing brochures with a brief note about BREADS. 16 teams participated at IGCC Football Tournament. The volunteers interacted with spectators from various walks of life and gained experience to initiate more of such kind of activities in the future.

Celebrating Don Bosco Feast Day Team members at DB Tech (Muniguda) centre celebrated Don Bosco Day on January 31, in honor of the founder St. John Bosco, who died on January 31, 1888 after spending his whole life working for the welfare of the youth. On this occasion, trainees of BASE programme

The international tournament, which had started in 2007, is a big success year after year with the number of participants increasing.

The Indo-German Chamber of Commerce conducts this annual event to support Shanthi Bhavan the exceptional school for the socially neglected and most vulnerable children. The staff of BREADS 10| DB Tech

News DB Tech News

participated in this event to make BREADS known to all the corporate and the dignitaries from Indo-German Chamber of Commerce present at the event. On the whole, this first effort by BREADS was a huge success in terms of gaining experience in marketing and network building.

Training Programs Seminar on Fire Safety and Precaution at Don Bosco Technical School (Liluah) The PRT of Kolkata had organized a seminar on Fire Safety and Precaution for the students of Don Bosco Technical School (Liluah) on March 24, 2012. Mr. Ganendranarayan Sengupta (Faculty, Vivekananda College of Empowerment) was invited as a resource person for the seminar. Over 75 students from different trades like Fitter, Turner and Machinist participated in the seminar. Fr. Tommy (Principal, Don Bosco Technical School) and Mr. Subhechha Ghosh (PRT Coordinator) introduced the resource person to the students of DBTS (Liluah). The resource person along with his colleagues from Vivekananda College of Empowerment attended the seminar.

about themselves. They shared some examples, short stories of success and personal experiences with the trainees, which motivated the trainers to a certain level. The major topics covered in the training program included BPO Curriculum, Communicative English and ITeS Training for the trainers, 'Skills to Succeed' skill development project and Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives. Accenture resource persons interacted with the participants to understand them more and about their roles and responsibilities. Apart from this, a brief information on the Accenture process was given to the trainers in the form of hand-outs for reference purpose.

A training program on 'Time Management' at DB Tech (Vaduthala) A training program on 'Time Management' was organized at DB Tech on March 7, 2012. Fr. Binu Scaria and Mr. Joseph were invited as resource persons for the training program. There were around 150 students with the trainers present for the event. The programme was aimed to share the effective ways of Time Management to the students. With this programme, the students would be better prepared to take up the assignments once they complete their studies at Don Bosco.

The topic covered in the seminar was main causation of fire, identify fire hazards, sources of ignition, sources of fuel, sources of oxygen, evaluate, remove, reduce and protect from risk, smoke movement through a building, evaluating the risk to people, fire detection, warning system, fire fighting equipment and facilities, escape routes. All the topics were covered along with presentation and demonstration.

Besides that the resource person also shared the basic precaution on fire safety. One of the participants shared, “It was an opportunity for us to learn the safety and precaution of fire. We are aware about the basic precaution procedure and the different causes of fire.� At the end of the sessions, it was an interactive session between the students and the resource person. The students expressed their gratitude to the resource person for helping them to be aware of fire safety.

BPO Orientation Program at Bangalore Provincial House An orientation program for BPO domain trainers was jointly organised

by Accenture and DB Tech at Bangalore Provincial House on January 20-22, 2012. Trainers from South and South West Region (Belgaum, Hubli, Hospet, Ashalaya, Madurai, Amsam, Lalgudi, Katpadi, Kancheepuram and Puthiyathara) were present at the Orientation Program. The resource persons for the program included Ms Hema Venkataraman (Accenture), Mr Hameed Sheriff (Accenture), Mr Vincent Fernandes (DB Tech), Fr Joy Nedumparambil sdb (DB Tech) and Mr Maheish Shetty (DB Tech).

The program started with some Icebreaking activities by Ms Hema and Mr Hameed so that the trainers could know each other more and share 11| DB Tech

Fr. Antree (Principal, Don Bosco ITI, Vaduthala) introduced the resource person Fr. Binu Scaria (Youth Animator, Kerala) to the participants. Mr. Joseph welcomed the students with the brief on life skills to partake in the programme. Fr. Binu explained the topic with relevant presentations and activities and brought in the learning atmosphere. The students were active throughout the session. The programme was concluded with the thanksgiving by Fr. Antree and Mr. Joseph.

Life Skill Training Programs Ashalayam (Kolkata): A Life skill training program was organized by the Province Resource Team of Kolkata at Ashalayam on February 17, 2012. The program was attended by 22 students from different

News trades. This program focused on various skills and their alignment with life cycle. The VTI center in charge Mr. Barnad and Rita Ganguly graced the event with their presence. Well qualified trainers led the program and they kept the topic for discussion such as concentration, finding out self talent and goal setting with students. Objective of organizing such event is to make students confident, positive towards goal and also realizing self capabilities. Along with the discussion, some practical activities also were undertaken to make them understand the importance of theoretical aspects. Students participated in meditation and yoga activities and understood the importance of physical and mental fitness, and how these activities help a person to collect positive energy. Some motivational stories were shared by the trainers to motivate the students to achieve their goal.

Students showed high level of interest in the program and learnt various tools to make their life more organized and structured, which will lead them towards their dreams. It was also about the realization of one's own skills and making the proper use to build technique for a better life.

The students were from different non-formal courses such as Arts & Craft, Tailoring, Carpentry, Bakery, Welding, Knitting, Beautician, Farming, Candle making, Screen Printing. The students thanked the trainers for making them aware about self realization. Through this session they got a chance to set a clear goal for their future.

Vennala: A life skill training program was organized at Don Bosco (Vennala) on March 8, 2012. Fr. Binu Scaria (Youth Animator, Kerala) and Mr. Joseph (PRT Coordinator, INK) were the resource persons for the training program. Around 45 students from Don Bosco attended the life skill training program. Time Management and Assertiveness were the major topics highlighted in the training program. The programme aimed to share the effective ways of time management and how to be assertive by the students.

Volume 4 | Issue 2| 2012 The program started with an opening speech by Fr. Joyson (Principal, Don Bosco Cultural Center, Vennala) who also introduced the resource persons to the participants. Mr. Joseph welcomed the students with a brief on the guidelines to pursue the training programme. Fr. Binu Scaria explained the topic with relevant videos, and activities to create a learning atmosphere. The students were active throughout the three hour session. With these programmes the students will be better prepared to take up the assignments at various organizations once they complete their studies at Don Bosco.

Exposure Visits Hassan (Karnataka): DB Tech (Hassan, Karnataka) organized the field visit for trainees of Sales and Marketing trade to Big Bazar on December 16, 2012. The industry visit provided a big opportunity for the trainees to understand the functioning principle of Sales and Marketing.

All the students of the DB Tech were greeted by Mr. Raghu (Store Manager, Big Bazar) and he briefed the trainees about the various departments such as purchase, sales, accounts, IT, stocks, etc. He also briefed about the working principle of the respective departments,

so the trainees can observe the working principle more effectively.

Along with this, trainees were briefed on the salesman personality and their selling technique by highly experienced sales representatives and also got knowledge on quality standardization, techniques of sales promotion, stock maintenance and product knowledge. After theoretical session, all the trainees were taken to the shop floor for practical understanding, which helped them to understand the working procedure more effectively. Trainees had shown the high level of participation in learning and understanding the procedure during the visit.

Kokar (Jharkhand): An Industrial visit to the Big Bazar in Ranchi was organised for the sixth batch of Sales and Marketing domain by the DB Tech on February 2, 2012. All the students of Sales and Marketing domain were welcomed by Mr. Choudhary (HR Personnel, Big Bazar).

He also gave introduction about the Big Bazar and its grip on retail industry in India.

All the students visited the floor after the briefing and had a quick look over the merchandises and working procedure. They also met the employees of the different departments to learn about the department more effectively. They closely monitored all the process functions of the Big Bazar.

Some of the students visited such gigantic shop floor first time in their life, which brought them joy and happiness on their faces. All the students had scanned all the five floors to get a better understanding 12| DB Tech

News DB Tech News

of the shop floor. After completing their shop floor activities, all the students gathered in the discussion room, where they were offered the tea and snacks and also were asked to share their experiences and learning outcome of the visit.

Along with the general exposure, all the trainees learnt more about their respective core area and got valuable inputs which would be helpful for them in future. This visit rendered the thoughts and theoretical concepts in practice. The managing authorities of the different outlets also explicated about the work distribution, manpower utilisation, service, customer's need.

Valedictory Functions Latur (Maharashtra): The valedictory function for the fourth batch students of BASE and inauguration of the skill training in partnership with Accenture were organized at SSEN (Latur, Maharashtra) on March 22, 2012. Mr Srinath Shetty (General Manager, Grand Hotel) was invited as Chief Guest for the function. The dignitaries who attended the function included Dr Varsha and Ms Panchshil Davkar.

All the students shared their experiences and also asked questions to clear their doubts. The whole discussion was lead by Mr. Choudhary, who briefed them about the sales and marketing techniques and also about the working procedure of the Big Bazar. He also threw light over the future demand of the retail industry and also briefed them about their bright future. The success of the visit brought confidence and satisfaction among the students and made them more enthusiastic to grab the coming opportunities in future by shaping their mind through the sales and marketing course.

The program started with an introductory speech by Mr. Kiran who appraised about SSEN. The organization is working since 18 years for the empowerment of youth and women in the locality through entrepreneurship model and vocational training. Ms Panchshil Davkar highlighted the contribution of NGOs towards the empowerment of youngsters in the Latur region. Till date, DB Tech trained 300 youth in various market driven courses and out of which 250 students are placed in various entry level opportunities. After that Mr. Shivaji Sawale shared about the opportunities available in Hospitality sector, which is having good career scope and remuneration. This sector requires skilled manpower and DB Tech is giving chance to youth for making their bright carrier in Hospitality sector on free of cost.

Siliguri (West Bengal): DB Tech organised a day long field visit to provide the exposure of corporate culture for all three respective domains such as Hospitality, Retail and IT of BASE programme (Siliguri) on January 3, 2012. As per the plan, all the trainees visited the Cosmos Mall of Future Group situated in the middle of the city at Sevoke Road (Siliguri). This field visit was a part of the schedule or course structure of the programme provided by the DB Tech. The objective of this trip was to provide the working exposure to the trainees and also make them familiar to the work place and about the latest technologies being used in their respective field.

The trainees from all the respective domains visited the various outlets of different brands, restaurants, café, food courts, which provided the real working exposure to the trainees. During the trip, trainees got opportunity to interact with the staff and the floor manager of Pantaloons, Big Bazar, E-Zone and many others outlets. Managers briefed all the trainees about the operational and the functional aspect

Then the Chief Guest handed over course completion certificates to the students who had successfully completed the skill based training at BASE. In his speech, Chief Guest Mr. shetty appreciated SSEN's interventions and welcomed the students to the Hotel Industry. After his speech, Ms Manisha (Alumnus, BASE) shared, “I got this

confidence from the trainers of BASE, who showed me how to live a good life.”

KGF (Karnataka)

of the different department. This enormous exposure bought the conceptual clarity in trainee's mind about the functioning principle of the different departments.

13| DB Tech

DB Tech organized a grand ceremony to distribute certificates to the trainees of all trades of second batch, which was completed successfully at the DB Tech (KGF) on the January 5, 2012. Fr. Joy (Regional Coordinator, DB Tech, Bosco South) was invited as the Chief Guest for the function. Fr. Thomas Augustine (Rector), Fr. Dominic (Center Head, DB Tech, KGF), Fr. Devassy (Administrator), Sister Johan and Sister Susheela were also present at the inaugural function.

The Program started with lighting of the lamp by Fr. Joy, Fr. Thomas Augustine, Fr. Dominic, Fr. Devassy, Sister Johan and Sister

News News News

Volume 4 | Issue 2| 2012 can make a beautiful future with the training that you have received here in Don Bosco. Apart from looking at the competition and salary in this competitive world of work, you need to gain experience, knowledge and job satisfaction.” He concluded his address saying, “There's no subsitute to hard work”. Rev. Fr. Felix Serrao encouraged the trainees not to look into their past but to look ahead and move forward. He gave examples of Warren Buffet and Bill Gates and a few others who have made success but still live a simple life. He advised the youth not to focus on the salary but on experience and that will help to build a career and a fruitful life. Certificates were then distributed by the Chief Guest and other dignitaries.

Alumni Meet Susheela. Mr. Subramani (Electrician Trainer) read out progress report of last two batches that included registration and placement details of trainees. Fr. Dominic addressed the trainees, who have been working in different companies and encouraged to work for a bright future. Then Fr. Joy addressed the gathering and assured every youth who are trained will be given a job to have a bright future with a handsome salary to support their Family. Fr. Thomas Augustine spoke to the trainees and wished them for a happy future. This program was organized by the third batch trainees with the help of the trainers to make it successful.

Trasi (Karnataka): The Concluding and Convocation Day program of the BASE (third batch) were held on January 31, 2012 at Don Bosco, Trasi. Rev. Fr. Santaremend Lopes was invited as the Chief Guest to grace the function. Rev. Fr. Santaremend Lopes (Centre In-charge, Don Bosco, Kakti, Belgaum), Rev Fr. Felix Serrao (Rector, Don Bosco, Sirsi), Rev. Fr. Anand Noronha (Principal and Rector) and Rev. Fr. Leo. Pereira (Director) were also present for the occasion.

The program began with the welcome address by Rev. Fr. Leo Pereira, who congratulated the trainees for making use of the opportunities given at Don Bosco and wished them a bright career.

Rev. Fr. Santaremend began his address saying, “What you are is God's gift to you, what you make of it is your gift to God.” He gave examples citing students from the centre in Belgaum as to how they are pursuing their career in life. He briefed about gradual transformation that takes place with the students as they received training in life coping skills like, money management, handling emotions, stress management, etc. He further remarked saying, “You

Dumka(Jharkhand): A grand 'Alumni Meet' was organized by the DB Tech to bring the alumni and students together on one platform at BASE (Dumka) on February 17, 2012. The main objective of the event was to pay tribute to the alumni and also to create the communication bridge between alumni and students so that the new students will get exposure about the organizations and their working culture.

The event was inaugurated by the Chief Guest Sri Sashidhar Mandal (Director, DRDA, Dumka) and Guest of Honor Mr Vincent Murmu (Director, CFCA). The other guests present at the occasion included Fr. Nirmal Raj and Fr. George. The success of the programme was that the event registered huge strength of 47 alumni from BASE. All the alumni reached Dumka center by traveling hundreds of miles to make the event more colourful and successful. All the alumni placed at Kitex Garments showed great enthusiasm to be a part this event.

Some of the alumni shared their experiences and briefed about the working procedure.

Addressing the gathering Fr. Alex Topno (Head, DB Tech, Dumka) said, “It is really nice to experience the enhancement in the living standard of the natives of Dumka after the intervention of DB Tech. We must learn everything from life, because we learn everything by doing things.” Chief Guest Mr. Sashidhar thanked all the alumni who came from so far and shared his thoughts with the students.

The participants had a good time interacting with one another, relieving themselves from their day to day activities at the centres and above all learning from each other to carry forward their career in a better way. The 3-day program ended with the action song 'It's I who build community' reminding oneself that we are all responsible in building a better community.

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Feature DB Tech News

Centre in Focus: Don Bosco Self Employment Research Institute(Mirpara, West Bengal) Entrepreneurship is a significant component in the growth of an economy. In the recent times when the economies of the developed nations are sinking, a country like India is transitioning through a tough time. In this juncture, the hope for the youth lies more in becoming job creators rather than job seekers. Promoting youth entrepreneurship helps to solve a lot of problems in the society by ensuring that the marginalised youth is brought to the main stream through providing them with self employment opportunities.

In a densely populated country, a non-productive group increasing year by year certainly retards the progress of the country. Very little has been done to empower this group at least with a skill for income generation. In 1978, a visionary Br. T. V. Matthew (Founder, Don Bosco SERI) made an effort to establish an institution that will promote and nurture entrepreneurship among school dropouts. His can-do approach to the mission of Don Bosco Self Employment Research Institute (DB SERI) started at a hired premise with 14 vagrant boys.

These boys had something in common: a willingness to succeed, the 15| DB Tech

desire to learn the trade, and the tenacity to keep learning. Br. Matthew started the whole concept as a self entrepreneurial manner by involving these boys at every step of their execution–starting from purchasing the machines, applying for bank loan, machine maintenance, customer interaction, etc. These machines were purchased out of bank loan between Br. Matthew and beneficiaries in an intent that they will repay the loan from the earning during the training. At the end of their training, these youngsters paid the bank loan and became the proud owners of small-scale industrial units and are now employing other jobless needy youngsters as well. Recalling those days, Br. Matthew says, “Still I remember that day, we organised a big feast for the achievement of these youngsters. Very next day, I asked all of them to carry away the machines to their respective homes and start their own workshop.� This foundation stone of the self-entrepreneurial concept took its original shape as dreamt by the Founder, when the institute shifted to its own building near Mirpara (West Bengal) in 1990.

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With the generous help of many benefactors and well wishers, the first of its kind research institute started in full swing with brand new infrastructure. “This institute comprises state-of-the art infrastructure and facilities, which intent to 'grow these future entrepreneurs through the institute' so that they acquire a love of learning and the sense of curiosity and discovery,” says Fr. Jose Podimattam SDB (Rector & Director, DB SERI). DB SERI consists of multi-story academic buildings that include various departments, classrooms, computer lab, language lab, civil engineering lab, machine shop lab, assembly hall, conference room, workshops, well furnished library and hostels.

Over the years, DB SERI successfully managed to bring hope to lives of many who would otherwise have been left out of the social mainstream. “Our aim is not only to teach and train the under privileged youth but also to make them responsible citizens in society with a steady income. In other words, many alumni of DB SERI set up

Volume 44 || Issue Issue 2| 2| 2012 2012 Volume

workshops of their own and with the help of some financial institutions and Banks associated with DBSERI, and now they employ a couple of unemployed people. This synergy is essential today for a better society tomorrow,” says the Founder of the institute, Br. Matthew.

DB SERI offers various formal and non-formal courses, which are affiliated by ICSE (New Delhi), WBSCVE&T, NIOS, WBSCTE and NCVT. Other than vocational training, many outreach programs conducted at DB SERI through which the families from nearby localities are also being benefitted. This unique model of self employment research institute not only imparts knowledge and skills to marginalised and school dropouts but also rehabilitate them with an opportunity of wage employment or self employment. As a result, recently DB SERI received the Best Vocational Training Institute award for the best practices from the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

16| DB Tech

Feature DB Tech News

Nurturing Entrepreneurs Br. T. V. Matthew noticed the spark among the youth and developed a unique self-entrepreneurial model to create opportunities for job creators. With this mission, he put all possible efforts to build a laboratory to test, prepare and nurture the self-entrepreneurs, contributing to a more vibrant economy. He has the capacity to convert the dreams into hard reality.

Br. TV Matthew believes very strongly in the ability of youngsters to lead as entrepreneurs. Inspired by Don Bosco, he traveled another extra mile not only by skilling the needy youth but also helping them to establish their own enterprises by hand-holding at different levels of their struggling days. As a strong leader, he recognizes potential of the youth, and has the guts to reroute the youth's talent for the betterment of the society. His contribution towards the skill development sector was appraised at different forums. Now he is also part of many government commissions, who are directly involved in policy making for the next generation of skill development. DB Tech News team got an opportunity to interview Br. Matthew about his experience in shaping his dreams into reality.

Interview with Br T. V. Matthew DBTN: Congratulation for the prestigious award from NCERT. Why don't you share those innovative strategies that you have implemented at DB SERI? Br. Matthew: This award is given to us for the best practices that DB SERI has executed in the skill development sector. The most appreciated best practice of DB SERI is the concept of empowering the school dropouts as successful entrepreneurs. In every domain, we tried out new strategies which evolved as a best practice for the specific domain. Over the years, these best practices were replicated by other organisations who are implementing similar courses.

DBTN: Back to year 1978, as a founder of this institute, what prompted you to start a research institute for self-employment?

Br. Matthew: Necessity is the mother of invention. In the same year, I 17| DB Tech

Volume 4 | Issue 2| 2012

attended a meeting in Mumbai in which there was revelation that 70 percent of children were opting to drop out from school. Though there are lots of effort by Government, NGOs and other likeminded organisations to educate the children, somehow we forgot the school dropouts and their future. We must do something for the school dropouts. I didn't know at that time, I would be one-man army in this fight. But when I jumped into the battle, I had to fight through many odds that came on my way. Today I am happy that I succeeded in establishing the research institute. I can say, 'If it is man's work, it will die. If it is God's work, it can't be stopped.’ DBTN: How would you express your understanding of what your institute stands for and how does this fulfil the ideology of your congregation?

Br. Matthew: The mission of the Salesian family is to empower the poor and orphan boys by imparting some skills to them. Somehow we are diverting from Don Bosco’s mission by establishing world class institutes where hardly any less privileged youngster gets an opportunity to study. But in DB SERI, we not only uplift these young boys and girls but also help them to lead their life as a entrepreneur. I think we are really addressing the core objective of this congregation.

DBTN: Again why did you choose Mirpara to establish the Self Employment Research Institute?

Br. Matthew: DB SERI started at a rented building near Don Bosco Technical School (Liluah). At its budding stage, I had to work whole day in the technical school and in the evening I spent some time with these young boys. Actually we were searching for a plot near Liluah but fortunately, we got a huge land here. So without second thought, we purchased the land which is not very far away from Liluah centre.

DBTN: What are the various programmes currently managed by Don Bosco SERI? Ans: DB SERI offers various formal courses in Civil Engineering Technician, Tool and Die Maker, Site Supervisor; and non-formal

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courses in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, Electric House Wiring and Motor Winding, Electronics (Radio, TV and CD player repairing), Welding and Fabrication, Cutting and Tailoring, Wool Knitting, Carpentry, Construction Supervisor `A' Level, Computer Fundamentals (for Handicapped), Auto CAD and Amin Survey.

premises, where they can stay with their families and start their small scale industries. Later I feel, instead of inviting them to reside in DB SERI, better I should go outside to their locality to extend my service. I think DB SERI itself is the greatest contribution of Salesians to the community.

DBTN: Besides the vocational training, is there any outreach program conducted by DB SERI?

DBTN: Are there any motivational stories or achievements of the institution which, you would like to share?

Br. Matthew: From the beginning, we are involving each member of every family in some way or other through our welfare programmes.

Few outreach programs are free tuition on Sundays to financially deprived children of the locality, free medical treatment, sponsorship for education to local poor children, free eye treatment including intra ocular lens operation, free treatment to TB patients, blood donation camps, eye and ear care camps, etc.

Br. Matthew: Hera is one of our alumni, who passed out from DB SERI, got a placement in a renowned factory. One evening, he came to me and asked for support to purchase a welding machine. He told me that he would like to earn more. So after coming from the factory, he wanted to work extra in this welding machine. Because of my relation with the bank, he got a loan to purchase a machine. He employed one person from my Institute, who used to work whole day.

And after coming from his work, he spent some extra time in his workshop. After few weeks, he got more jobs so he bought another welding machine and recruited four more mechanics to meet the demands. One day I came to know that Hera is doing really well become a small scale industrialist. So I visited his factory, when I saw all of them working in bare body. I was not able to recognise him but he shouted 'Brother, Brother ...'. Then I came to know that he left the job and started another workshop. When you see, the students are reaching the greater heights, what would be more satisfying than this.

DBTN: Do you anticipate a huge demand-supply gap in the skilled manpower requirement? What role should the government and educational institutes play in bridging this gap?

Br. Matthew: Skill development is taken by the Govt. of India as one of the priority activities. So in the Five Year Plan, they allocated a huge amount of money for imparting and upgrading the skills among youth.

Because India is a young nation having 75 percent of population under the age of 35 years. At the same time, the manpower requirement in the global level is really very huge. The day is coming

Thank you so much for sparing sometime and sharing your experience with DB Tech News team.

very soon that all global employers will recruit Indian youngsters for their facilities. On the other hand, the developed countries, 94 percent of workforce are trained whereas in India only 4 percent are trained.

Keeping this global requirement mind, we have to prepare our workforce as per the global standards; and Don Bosco is very much on the right track to produce skilled youth.

DBTN: Being a part of different government commissions, what would be the next level of skill development with regards to implementation and deliverables?

Br. Matthew: The next level is to satisfy the present requirements in the developed countries. Their technology is changing in very fast pace. We also need to keep up our training to that level. India is making lots of effort in order to get the latest equipments at the training centres. Recently we have tied-up with different organisations in abroad through the initiative of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

As per the agreement, some retired engineers or experts from

Br. T. V. Matthew Founder, Don Bosco SERI

Germany come to the DB SERI for a period of six weeks to share their expertise. There should be lots of activities like this to upgrade our training program as per their standard and needs.

DBTN: What do you consider to be your greatest contribution to the community you have worked in, in the light of that what do you feel, you can bring to the institution?

Br. Matthew: I spent 25 years of my career in the Don Bosco Technical School (Liluah). After that 10 years, I was handling both the profiles at the technical institute and also imparting non-formal vocational training to abandoned youth. When DB SERI shifted to Mirpara, somehow my vision for working for needy youth changed to certain extent. I thought to build little houses for the beneficiaries in this 18| DB Tech

Rising Stars DB Tech News

factory earning only Rs 120 per day and also does hand painting to add little extra to his income. “We regret because we could not help her to study further because our income was barely enough to make ends meet,” says Koyel's mother, Mrs. Soma Mukerjee who works as a cook to support the family in a hope that one day they will live better.

hreshold of ransformation

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hakpara is an industrial area in vicinity of Kolkata, surrounded by slums of industry workers, who live in makeshift houses made up of with thatched walls and thatched roof. This is a hutment where almost every family lives in 90 sq. ft. area; where open sewers in the middle of the streets join together to a pool that is being used for bathing; few public toilets for general community; and a water tap for the drinking water. The life of slum dwellers is filled with downs and downs. When they travel towards the end of road and after reaching at that point, they realize that it is not an end but only the starting point of another struggle. There could be plenty of turning points but it does not end only carry the hopes for better tomorrow. In this voyage to become a developed nation, still we fail to provide basic amenities to many fellow citizens. Most of them can hardly afford higher education, barely have pucca home to live and always be in a never ending queue for a bottle of clean water to drink.

DB Tech works as catalyst for them, who have dreams and courage to achieve their destination on their never ending roads. In this issue, we have made an effort to cover a story of two girls, who live in slums and have struggled a lot to bring smiles on the face of their families. Koyel and Chaitali are two childhood friends, who fall under same socioeconomic category and belong to poverty-stricken families from Chakpara. They are born and brought up in the same locality, studied in the same school, got skilled in the same institution and chose career in the same profession. They are always there for each other. One counsels the other for any juncture of uncertainty; and one paves the way for other when there is an opportunity.

18-year old Koyel discontinued her studies due to lack of money as it was quite difficult for her father to enroll her in the college. After completion of matriculation, she was forced to drop out and tried her hand in different minimal work to support her family. Her father is a daily wage worker in

Koyel Mukherjee

19| DB Tech

“I came to know about BASE program through an advertisement in the Bengali newspaper but was quite uncertain about it because all the advertisements like this demand money when we enquire about the training program,” says Koyel. She rushed to the BASE centre located at Don Bosco SERI (Mirpara, Kolkata) and asked about the course fee. The trainer briefed about this government sponsored skill program, which is exclusively designed for the youngsters like her.

The centre team asked her to appear for test that qualified her to enrol

Rising Stars in Hospitality course. The trainers at the BASE centre said that the three-month course not only teaches her a lot about Hospitality, but also improves her English and communications skills. After completion of the 3-month training, presently she is working in Café Coffee Day (CCD) and earning decent total of Rs. 4,000 per month to strengthen her family income. When she handed over her first salary to his father, Mr Santibrata Mukherjee said, “I am proud of my daughter because she has achieved a specific skill that helps her to enter an organized sector, which I could not achieve in my whole life.”

Her eyes glitters with several dreams, as she has made plan to study further and fly high to complete her dreams and support her parents.

She made her parents proud by proving herself and set a benchmark for other poor needy people of that area. Every day she travels around

Volume 4 | Issue 2| 2012 four hours to keep her dreams alive and returns home at night around 8 pm. Regarding her achievement, she says, “I fought in my life more than I thought; I wept in my life more than I thought, but I believe, certainly now time has come to smile the rest of my life.”

Her classmate Chaitali started struggling during her school days when her father met with an accident. After that black day, he was not able to work anywhere but it is due to the kindness of the factory owner who agreed to pay a token amount of financial support every month. With his meager income, it was really tough to maintain a family of four (wife, one son and Chaitali). “Situations were worst for us when he lost his one eye in the accident; and at that time we were hardly able to get two meals a day,” says Chaitali's mother, Ms. Abha Ghosh. It was like a turning point for her as there was no one to look after the family as her father was away from job for long duration due to his medical treatment. Chaitali's brother was studying in class X and her family income was not sufficient for both household and study related expenditure. She had to sacrifice her study after her matriculation because she did not want her brother to drop his studies due to the lack of money.

When her friends were enjoying their annual vacation, she was busy in exploration of best option that could have for her in those hard days. At that time, Koyel had already joined Café Coffee Day. Looking at her financial condition, Koyel asked Chailtali to join the skill development training conducted by DB Tech; and assured to extend all her support in this regard. Chaitali was quite happy during those days because she could visualize the silver lining on the cloudy sky. Without a second thought, she decided to follow the same path as covered by her friend.

She joined the Hospitality as Koyal and grabbed the job in same company. “Koyal and Chaitali both had distinguished characteristics but both were common in many things, both of them wanted to be a good and successful in their life. Koyal was fast learner whereas Chaitali was very positive and open-minded to learn new things. But in BASE program, Koyal was senior to Chaitali. Both of them cracked interview in the first attempt and are now working in same company.

It is a very big achievement for them as well as for DB Tech as it helped them to reach their destination,” says Mr Soumen Sarkar (Hospitality Trainer, DB Tech, Mirpara) There are many youngsters like Koyel and Chaitali, who are in search of an opportunity to empower with some skills. DB Tech has always helped them to become successful by providing them short-term livelihood training.

These alumni have made DB Tech proud by giving a chance to facilitate them in the best way by training them and making them successful in life.

Chaitali Ghosh

20| DB Tech

o t e c n a h c a m iG ve the DREAMS. r i e h t e s i real

2012

Like Koyel and Chaitali, there are thousands of needy youth who need an opportunity to prove themselves. ‘Freedom with Five’ is a volunteering program that provides you an opportunity to make a difference in their lives.

Invest in goodwill where your returns are going to be priceless blessings and a feeling of greatness of doing something good.

To know more about the volunteering program, visit www.dbtech.in

Don Bosco Tech, Nangloi Road, Najafgarh New Delhi - 110 043, Ph:+91-11-28011431/433 Fax:+91-11-28011432, www.dbtech.in