Support, Mumbai, Maharashtra

This one-year pilot project, jointly supported by PPI and ASHA-Seattle was completed this year. It provided short-term vocational training to street children and homeless youth in Mumbai as part of a larger rehabilitation program. The aim was to enable the youth to become gainfully employed. This is important in the rehabilitation of these youths and ultimately enables them to become self-reliant. Vocational training included silk-screen printing, simple handicrafts and agarbatti (incense sticks) making. Ms. Sujata Ganega writes in a letter dated August 29, 2000: Of the 80 boys in trained in silk-screening, 16 are employed, 3 are helping other Non Governmental Organizations, 8 are peer educators at SUPPORT and 7 have returned to their homes. 45 women and children among street dwellers learned to make agarbatti. The products are sold to businesses, and sales have been steadily growing. A group of four girls and a woman are about to start a small business. The employed youth have opened bank accounts as a beginning towards fiscal responsibility and independence. The work is now recognized and appreciated by Mumbai's Mayor's office and SUPPORT is working towards getting funding from United Nations' agencies to expand the project into more traditional vocations that offer stable jobs. Our funding for this project was for Rs.170, 800 ($ 3795).