Samvada: Giving underprivileged youngsters a chance at life

Bengaluru: There is no gift more valuable than education. Realising this, Samvada, an NGO, has been working for decades on empowering women from lower economic backgrounds through education.

It all started in 1986 in Delhi, when a group of members at the Indo-German Social Service Society in New Delhi conceptualised a unique programme to introduce affluent young Indians to the realities of rural and urban poverty. It reached the city four years later, when one of the team members, Anita, moved here and started the Bangalore SMILE Centre, which later became an autonomous organisation – Samvada.

“In 1992, Samvada began working with rural youth. At the same time, we realised that exposures alone could be very confusing. Workshops and one-on-one discussions were introduced to help make sense of their experiences. In 2007, Samvada was confronted with young people's need to find a meaningful livelihood that could assure them financial stability, dignity, excitement, challenge and avenues to contribute towards social change," says Ms Ishrath Nisar, who is an active member working with the organisation and is actively involved in educating the rural and urban youth. On one of Samvada's programmes which is based on the concept of alternate livelihood she said, “Alternative livelihoods have been conceptualised as work options, where humanity's needs and not job markets, are central to the way one earns a living. To address the issue, a unique college, Baduku Community College, was started to carve out professions and livelihoods from emerging social and ecological challenges of our times.”

The college has emerged with the recognition that the formal and mainstream system of education has not only been unreachable for a vast majority of youth, but has also created a wall between higher education and vocational education. “The college seeks to address these gaps and imbalances, while reaching out to the youth who are at risk of dropping out of the education system," she said. “Our focus is mainly on young people from marginalised groups, like the urban and rural poor, Dalits, Adivasis and women. Youth from remote regions of North Karnataka, from peri-urban areas and communally sensitive districts are especially encouraged to apply for our courses," she said.

The idea, however, revolves around the basic concept of empowering through education and also helping the youngsters find jobs. “We run a few courses and also help them find a job after that, so that the hope about a better future stays in their heart," she said. The courses are designed with a unique inter-disciplinary approach that builds dignity, confidence, life skills, knowledge, sociopolitical perspectives and rights awareness along with vocational/ technical skills. “The objective of the college is to create professionals committed to wellness and justice for women and children, and empowering youth with skills and knowledge for sustainable livelihoods in agriculture, water harvesting and community based eco- tourism.”