Pointing youth in the right direction

At 15, Mainuddin Ansari, whose family was so poor that even one meal a day was hard to come by, ran away from home. He spent two years living off the kindness of strangers, on the railway platforms and streets of Mumbai. He sometimes subsisted on rag-picking and eating food thrown away by commuters on trains.

In 1999, he was picked up during a routine round-up of street children and brought to the Reay Road Boys Shelter. That, he agrees, was the turning point of his life. He attended counselling sessions and was then enrolled at a vocational centre run by the Community Outreach Programme at Talegaon where he completed a course on welding. “I now earn Rs4,000 a month,” says a proud Mainuddin.

He is not alone. The Community Outreach Programme (CORP) has helped scores of directionless youth, women and the elderly find purpose and a goal in their lives.

“We strongly believe in investing in youth to promote future self-sufficiency. In addition to providing vocational courses for women, we also provide vocational training for men and youth,” says one of the directors of the programme.

At the Talegaon Training Centre, a number of training courses are run in conjunction with the Methodist Vocational Training Institute, including courses in mechanics, electrical wiring, motor rewinding, spray-painting and welding. The Methodist Vocational Training Institute also runs a fully operational garage where participants can practise their skills.

These courses aim to provide school dropouts, children from villages, and street children with the technical skills to help them earn a living and support themselves. More than 400 youth have participated in these training programmes since they began in 1995. The Family Counselling Centre has been instrumental in helping many women get back on their feet after a divorce, death or ill-treatment by spouse. “In our community, women face significant difficulties in their home life, including marital problems, conjugal abuse and other family disputes. In some cases, these difficulties require legal or police intervention. Our Family Counselling Centre, located in the Dharavi slums, works with women and their families to provide information, advice and support during disputes and crises. The counsellors who staff the centre have social work training and knowledge of the legal system,” the director adds. The centre is supported by the Maharashtra State Social Welfare Board. It is also recognised by the Crime Investigation & Social Welfare Branch of the Mumbai Police.

The outreach programme also provides support to the elderly who face many challenges, including deteriorating health, loss of independence, loneliness and isolation. To address these problems, there are several programmes run for senior citizens.

The CORP programme is looking for volunteers who can write grant proposals, create newsletters, or work on the website? If you have expertise conducting training and awareness programmes for women, youth and communities, contact: 23086789.