Meppadi is a village situated in the rural District of Wayanad, Kerala. Selected as one of the sites for the CVET and LEE training, Ammachi Labs made a visit to this picturesque town to meet with community members and potential students to encourage participation, and register students for the upcoming training courses.
Members of Amrita SREE,* our Partner Organization, were invited to attend the meeting –over 300 in attendance. “It was exciting to see the large crowd of participants – eager to know about the UNDEF project,” an Ammachi Labs team member commented.
The team provided an overview of the UNDEF project – as well as how participants would benefit from attending a course, emphasizing the importance our particular training program places on life enrichment education. The Wayanad District representative from the Train the Trainer program also spoke of her experience during the 12 day program:
“Learning through computers is simple and quick. The training at Amrita has changed my outlook on life, the things I thought difficult have become simple and I have gained a positive attitude towards life.”
Following the formal presentation and question answer session, attendees were provided with the opportunity to fill out participant applications on the spot, so that they could be considered for selection. Nearly 200 attendees opted to complete the application and submitted them on the spot. One participant remarked,
“We were reluctant about attending this meeting because we heard that it involved using computers. But I never thought that learning through computers would be so simple. I feel like I would have really missed a wonderful opportunity, if I missed this meeting.”
The healthy turn-out of and light of hope on the faces of potential participants left the Ammachi Labs team with a deep feeling of optimism that the UNDEF Project would be a success in Wayanad. We look forward to the start of the training centre slated to launch July 2012.
*About Amrita SREE
Amrita SREE (Amrita Self Reliance Education and Employment) is a project of Embracing the World (ETW) and works to facilitate the formation of Self Help Groups (SHG) among women struggling economically.
Amrita SHGs are based upon a formula established by the Reserve Bank of India and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development. Program coordinators first identify each targeted community’s particular needs, existing skills and resources before launching a phase of vocational training. Courses are selected from proposals and suggestions that emerge from the respective targeted communities and then offered at reputed vocational institutions. Finally, self-help co-ops are formed according to geographic proximity, each consisting of approximately 20 women. (Men who are family members of the women in the co-op are also eligible to receive vocational training). To date, over 5,000 women’s self-help cooperatives have been established, each one 20 women strong.
