Asustainable livelihood is one which can sustain a range of dynamic stress factors and shocks. Creating sustainable livelihoods that a skilled worker’s capabilities are not limited by external factors. A person can have a sustainable livelihood only if they acquire skills that remain relevant in the long-term to ensure a source of income.
At Smile Foundation, we are continuously working on creating sustainable livelihoods through the STeP (Smile Twin e-Learning Programme) initiative. Skill training and enhancement, in accordance with market requirements, are the main measures under STeP, along with personality development.
Till now, we have trained close to 50,000 youth. Here are the endearing stories of some of the trainees. With Tayyari Kal Ki, we are geared up to skill and support many more such youth.
Neha
For a better and brighter future, it is important to dream. If your father is a daily wage labourer and mother is a domestic helper, those dreams may sometimes seem far-fetched. After completing her graduation in commerce, Neha started looking for a job. It was very important for her to procure a job as soon as possible to add to her family income of Rs 10,000-15,000 per month. It has been her dream to be independent and contribute to her family’s income. She also dreamt of having a corporate job.
Neha found out about the STeP initiative through a community mobilizing session in her locality. Soon after, she joined the digital marketing skilling training programme by STeP.
Over the duration of the course, Neha gained the skills necessary for a job in digital marketing. With the correct training and guidance, Neha has now got a job as a Digital Sales Marketer at Innovative Technologies, Noida. She proudly earns a salary of Rs 13,000 every month and makes her parents proud.
She is currently working as a Digital Sales Marketer in Innovative Technologies, Noida at a salary of Rs. 13000 per month.
Mohammad Ibrahim
The future depends on what you do today. Hard work and perseverance will never fail you. Mohammed Ibrahim will surely stand by this. He is a resident from Talab Katta, Hyderabad. Ibrahim belongs to a lower middle class family. His father is a daily wage earner and his mother a housewife. Due to financial problems, he had to discontinue his studies.
He came to know about STeP from his friends. Ibrahim felt that learning from the STeP centre would give him the much-needed skills and training he required to get a good job. As he did not finish his studies, he faced problems in finding a job. The STeP training centre provided him the best possible platform and infrastructure to excel in his career. The expert trainers made him industry-ready, while the placement training helped him to enhance his soft skills and made him stand out from others.
First, Mohammed Ibrahim got placed in 99TV channel. He knew he had to work even harder to chase his dreams. After putting in a lot of extra work, he is now working as a Marketing Executive at Tata 1MG. He now earns a good salary of Rs 25,000 per month.
“Finding a good job was my concern and how to proceed further was something I was completely unaware of. During my research, I got to know about STeP employability training which further helped me in building my confidence and polishing my skills,” he shares. He wants more young people to avail of this opportunity so that they can build a future for themselves.
Bijan Halder
Bijan Halder is a 20-year-old resident of Sonarpur in West Bengal. Soon after he completed his higher secondary studies, he started looking for skill development courses to improve his chances of getting employment. STeP’s on-ground mobilization team conducts various surveys to find potential trainees. They found Bijan through one such survey. He seemed like the perfect candidate who could upskill himself and realize his dreams.
Bijan belongs to a lower-middle class family. His father is the only person in the family who is earning. As a daily wage labourer, he makes about Rs 12,000 per month. Bijan wanted to take some pressure off his father and support his family financially. He always had a knack of helping others and he finally decided to put this to use for earning an income. After contemplating for a few days, he decided to enroll in the nursing course at STeP.
He joined the three-month programme in 2020. The healthcare course under STeP not only provides the required theoretical knowledge but also the practical knowledge. This helps new healthcare workers to hit the ground running when they join the industry. Communications classes are also held as part of the course to make sure the students do not face any problem communicating with their patients or colleagues in the industry. With the tireless help of his mentor, Bijan was able to successfully complete the course.
In 2021, he started his career in the nursing industry with Hindustan Health Point as a trainee. He is now working at New Town Nursing Home and earning Rs 9000 per month.
