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| With mentors, Mr. Ramprasad (center) and Mr. MR. P.D. Nayak |
This past summer, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to India for the ILR GSL Program and to work with Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement, an NGO dedicated to bettering the livelihood capabilities for rural communities, tribal youth, and women. For my project, I worked with Mr. Ramprasad V and Mr. P.D. Nayak of the Socio-Economic Empowerment Program (SEEP) to create 5 standard operating procedures for Viveka Rural Livelihood Center. The goal of SEEP Program is to work towards the economic employment of the rural and tribal community through micro-level planning and to uplift their socio-economic conditions. The Livelihood Center has the vision of providing training to unemployed youth and women in the local area, and it is a hub of various vocational training, with several satellite locations in Karnataka State.
The SOPs that I created this past summer cover the entire process of the SEEP Program, starting from community mobilization, followed by admissions, training, on-the-job training, and lastly, alumni engagement. They outlined the necessary steps to successfully execute each task and maintain the high quality of their training programs. Community mobilization is the process of identifying the right candidate for the training courses from neighboring communities; admissions it the process of admitting candidates into the training programs; training is the process of helping students adjust to their new lifestyle and creating a sense of community; placement is the process of putting students into jobs; and alumni engagement is the process of creating a strong network where prospective and current students can reach out to ask any questions.
During my time in India, I had the opportunity to visit the Kenchanahalli site twice and meet with Mr. Ramprasad to discuss the project, see some of the training programs, and meet with the English-speaking students, the fashion students, and some of the staff at the site. Once I returned to the United States, I met with my mentor twice a week to stay updated on my tasks, and also continue to establish a strong relationship and open communication. After finishing the SOPs, I began to conduct research on other livelihood centers around the world to find any similarities or differences between their outcomes and goals. After conducting this research, I presented several recommendations for the improvement of the SEEP program that may be implemented in the near future.
Overall, I had an unforgettable experience working with SVYM and spending time on the SVYM campus. I am very grateful to have been able to travel this year and see some of the cultural sites of Mysore, such as the Mysuru Palace, Devaraja Market, and Sri Chamundeshwari Tayi Gudi. Beyond the project experience, I am so thankful to have had an incredibly kind, supportive, and loving cohort who are now my good friends at Cornell.
