The Family Connect & Support Program (FCSP) Report

FCSP

ORGANIZATIONS APPROACHED FOR CONNECT 1. PRERENA Prerana is an NGO that supports needy students. Through its Nurture Merit Program, it identifys and supports the education of merited needy students. It assists students who wish to pursue higher education by paying their school fees and providing them with textbools. It is to be noted that Prerena visits the homes of all the students prior to support.

A list of students who had applied for renewal of their FFE scholarship 2014 was used to identify and shortlist students whose families are situated in Bangalore and who have siblings in need of financial assistance in furthering their education but do not meet FFE’s criteria for selection. The following were identified:

1. Roopa N: This is a current scholarship beneficiary of FFE pursuing Information Science and Technology at University Visveswaraiah College of Engineering, Bengaluru. Her father is late and her mother is a housewife. Roopa has a brother currently pursuing CEBA commerce and in need of financial support to pursue his studies. The brothers details are as outlined: Name- Chiranjeevi Class- 2nd PUC College Name- Vision PU College Branch- CEBA(Commerce) Percentage in 10th- 72% Percentage in 11th- 94.83% Email-ID- chiru.mgld@gmail.com Fee details: Fee for 1st PUC- Rs.25,000 Received Rs.5000 as concession from the college, and hence we paid Rs.20,000 Fee for 2nd PUC- Rs.25,000

Received Rs.5000 as concession from the college, having topped in the Commerce Department in his 1st PUC. As of now he has paid Rs.15,000 and has a balance of Rs.5000 which should be paid later to the college.

Roopa’s contact details: roopareddy.nid@gmail.com Telephone: 8095266155 2.

Divya G.: This is a current scholarship beneficiary of FFE pursuing Telecommunications Engineering at BMS College of Engineering, Bangalore. Divya’s father is a sales representative and her mother is a housewife. Her brother is currently in 12th standard (Science-PCME) and is in need of financial support to pursue his studies.

His details are as outlined below: Name : Nagaraj.G.Kurdekar College:M E S college Class:2nd PUC(Science-PCME) College fee: Rs.19,061 Books:Rs.5123 Total:Rs.24184 Percentage in 10th -89.76 Percentage in 11th -71.33 E-mail: ID-nagarajgkurdekar@gmail.com Divya’s contact details: divyagurudask@gmail.com Telephone: 9035863509 3.

Anjana G.: This is our current scholarship beneficiary of FFE pursuing Information Technology at PES Institute of technology, Bangalore. His father cannot work due to renal failure and his mother is a tailor. His brother is in 2nd PUC(Science) and is in need of financial support to pursue his studies. His details are as outlined below: Name: Arun Athreyas G Class: 2nd puc (Science) PCMC College: BSRNS composite PU College, Vijaynagar , Bangalore marks scored: 10th std(State Board) : 94.24% 1st PUC :85.2% Total fees paid for 2nd PUC admission: Rs.10,000 Anjana’s contact details: anjanaathreyas28@gmail.com Tel: 8147213539

An introductory mail was prepared and sent to Prerana requesting for assistance for the students mentioned above. Currently, Prerana is in the process of conducting due diligence on the families of suggested students. It is hoped that the students shall be granted the scholarship and shall subsequently lift off the financial strain currently being experienced by the family.

2. UNNATI

Unnati is an NGO that provides vocational training and job-placement with a salary of not less than Rs. 8,000 to the socially underprivileged youth. In addition to the vocational training, it imparts soft-skills, values, spocken English and computer skills. Unnati’s 70 day training program is completely free as it spends Rs. 12,000 per youth for the 70 day training. The program includes: i.

Training materials

ii.

Food: breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner

iii.

Bus passes

iv.

Hostel facility for outstation youth

v.

Vitamin Health Suppliment

The vocations offered mostly don’t require formal education and are carefully chosen based on factors such as market requirement in the organized sector and job stability. They range from: i.

Retail sales

ii.

Field sales

iii.

Guest care (hotel)

iv.

Guest care (offices)

v.

BPO (data entry)

vi.

Industrial Tailoring

vii.

Industrial Painting

viii.

Chauffeur/Driving

ix.

Security services

An introductory meeting was held with Mr. Ramesh Swamy (Managing Trustee) and Gopikrishna (Centre Manager, Bangalore) on the 24 th of September at Unnati centre. Unnati expressed their interest in supporting the FCSP. Currently, FCSP is in the process of reaching out to FFE sponsored students in Bangalore whose family members could be in need of Unnati’s intervention. Similarly, family visits are to commence to profile the cases brought forth. It is hoped that the matched family members will help improve the family income level and become positive change agents in their families and communities.

FAMILY VISITS (Family Visit 1) A family visit was made to Anjana’s family at Marenahalli, Vijayanagar. Anjana is one of the FFE Scholarship beneficiaries who was shortlisted as a beneficiary of the Family Connect and Support Program. Her late father was the family’s bread winner and his passing away due to renal failure in mid-year of 2014 left a major void in the family both emotionally and financially.

Anjina’s mother is a tailor who makes saree blouses and salvers from her house. However, due to the fact that she tailors only on order, she doesn’t make much money. During the visit, she mentioned that her tailoring business only gives her Rs. 2,000 per month. This amount is utilized for household groceries and is barely enough to plough back into the business. Upon enquiring on the payment of rent, it emerged that Anjina’s family was currently living under the mercies of the landlord who only asks them to pay what they have and in installments. It is to be noted that prior to the father’s passing, Anjina’s family had taken a loan to finance his medical expenses and this loan is currently in need of servicing.

Upon identification of Anjina’s family for support by the FCSP, it was apparent that they required support. Her Brother Arun Athreyas was in need of financial support for his 2 nd PUC ( Science) PCMC. He is currently at BSRNS composite PU college, Vijaynagar and has a good performance record in his studies having scored 94.24% in 10th standard (State Board) and 85.2% in 1st PUC. Through Prerana, the FCSP managed to secure scholarship support for Arun Athreya’s for his 2 nd PUC. It is recommended that this scholar continues to perform well in order to make a scholarship renewal request to Prerana.

From Left; Anjana’s Mother, Arun Athreya (Brother), Anjina Athreyas It is also recommended that a CSR initiative responsible for scaling up small enterprises be paired with Anjina’s mother to enable her to scale up her tailoring business in order to generate more income to support her family.

From Left; Cecilia, Anjana’s mother, Arun Athreya (Brother), Anjina Athreyas

(Family Visit 2)

Another family visit was made to Veena and Roopa’s family and a video clip on the same is available on youtube and vimeo. The links provided below provide an account of this family visit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7l44EXNOeI http://vimeo.com/107897292

The FCSP reached out to Veena and Roopa’s family. The two sisters are engineering scholarship beneficiaries of the Foundation for Excellence India Trust. Their father is late and their mother is a housewife. They have a brother Chiranjeevi who is now currently being supported by Prerana as an intervention of the FCSP.

A caption of the FCSP visit to Veena and Roopa’s family at Chikabanaswadi, Bangalore is highlighted in FFE’s 3rd issue newsletter below.

A caption of the FCSP visit to Veena and Roopa’s family at Chikabanaswadi, Bangalore is highlighted in FFE’s 3rd issue newsletter above.