26 year old Pavithra is a young lady who takes on her responsibilities very seriously and diligently. Since enrolling in the Diya training program in May 2015, she has shown great progress in picking up cooking skills, cleaning the home and being more supportive of her sister who has brought her up from childhood. She is more mature and is able to now step into her sister’s shoes and empathize rather than just demanding attention. She has learnt safety skills around the house – in lighting the stove, turning the gas cylinder on/off. She has also learnt about budgeting and cautions her sister about ordering food out too often and instead offers to cook a full course meal instead – which skills she proudly learnt at Diya and has generalized their use to the home. She also uses her new found skills on comparing MRP of different brands and making responsible choices of staying within her budget. At work, In the Digitization Unit, multimedia training - Pavithra has learned to be very creative in doing banners and letterheads, preparing birthday greetings every month for our volunteers and donors. She was selected for a fast track employability training with Enable India and Dell Emc and underwent a digitization training internship. STUDIO C CUBED was launched on March 10th, 2020 and Pavithra with her amazing skills worked on the promo videos. She will be working along with her colleagues to make this a successful business venture for the future. We are hoping some of our Corporate partners support us in coming up with a good business plan for marketing and sustainability and that this venture will now impact her and her other colleagues in the Digitization Unit to be self employed.

Mohan is one of our most promising students for employment. He is a friendly and social person and gets along with his peers and trainers very well. He is good at following instructions and displays good communication skills in his mother tongue, Kannada. In the production unit, he is currently being trained on various production processes like making paper bowls, packing, lifting and carrying etc. He is a good assistant and is currently being trained for employment on housekeeping and gardening skills and is being coached on job readiness and how to tackle an interview. Mohan loves coming to Diya and has displayed a lot of responsibility after coming to Diya. We have seen an increase in his self esteem and self confidence. This is a big turnaround from the Mohan who entered the Diya training program in June 2017. He would refuse to stay and work in any place and loved walking out and taking buses and travelling from place to place which was a source of great concern to his single mother who is struggling to make ends meet. His mother is very happy with Mohan’s stability and sense of responsibility.

Mark Rohit Chakraborty aged 37 years is disciplined, systematic, organized and a well behaved gentleman. Excellent in his self grooming, table manners and his visual learning skills he has the ability to learn quickly under minimal guidance. Diagnosed on the Autism, this has only turned out to be a positive for Mark because of the right guidance and support of his family. Mark is a 37-year-old hopeful linguist and can read, write and speak English, Tamil, Kannada and Bengali. One will be hard-pressed to find another person as meticulous, organised, disciplined and committed to his work as Mark is. He is polite with engaging communication skills and excellent self-grooming and table manners. Mark has the coveted ability to learn different skills and tasks with minimal guidance through visual learning. Independent in all his daily living activities, he is a great support to his family when performing daily chores such as washing dishes, watering plants, drying and ironing clothes, etc. Mark takes great pleasure in his baking skills and enjoys mixing batter for cakes, making sandwiches and salads and putting together a simple meal for himself. Since joining Diya’s training program in 2017, Mark interned at Diya Innovations in the Chocolate Unit. He also underwent the Employability Training Program with Enable India and Dell EMC through which he secured a one month internship opportunity in ANZ. Mark is looking at a job in the Hospitality Sector and Diya has every confidence that he will excel at the job of his dreams!

Prasanna is enrolled in the Employability Training Program. His Trainer, Shirley Metline works on skills for self dependence like personal care, health and hygiene, managing finances, budgeting for daily needs, helping his family with household chores such as cleaning and cooking. He is also being given sessions on work readiness skills which includes understanding responsibilities, maintaining schedules and targets, the need for healthy interpersonal interactions, as well as the importance of punctuality and attendance. The journey has not been easy. But we continue to instill in him the courage to go on. Prasanna hopes to find a job in housekeeping since that is where his interests and strengths lie. We at Diya hope that when the situation with the pandemic changes for the better, Prasanna will find a suitable job in the community, helping him earn a living and contribute to the needs of his family.

The elder of two sisters, Bhuvaneshwari is thrilled with her new-found independence - especially as her parents are no longer over protective. Her current hands-on training for employment in the hospitality industry has seen her cooking abilities flourish.This means she can now prepare lunch for her family without her mother’s support if the need arises. The 20-year-old has also learned to use public transport to get to Diya’s learning centre, stay at home alone and manage household chores. She says: “I’m happy my mother has altered her belief that I am a sickly child and somebody should always be with me to help with travel and learning. Now my mum listens and respects my views.” During her training she learnt about being punctual and regular and taking responsibilities. We are excited to see Bhuvaneshwari job ready and responsible. She has undergone an internship at Haati Kaapi which resulted in a job placement for her. This has been an achievement for Bhuvaneshwari, her parents and Diya’s trainers in a short span of 1 ½ year since June 2018 when Bhuvaneshwari joined Diya .

Thirty one year old Prashanth joined Diya in January 2017. He had for a brief time been an apprentice in a carpenter’s shop and in a mobile repair shop. Initial assessments showed us that Prashanth, apart from work skills, would need training in voice modulation and social skills. All of this was introduced and with positive reinforcement, verbal praise and encouragement, he began to complete tasks assigned to him. Through Diya’s skill training program he worked in the candle and gardening units. To build on his social skills he would accompany Staff of Diya Innovations, our social enterprise, to different venues for sales and promotion. Six months ago, Prashanth was selected for a fast track employability training program at Diya, equipping him with soft skills necessary for a job in the Hospitality domain. An individual who preferred to stay to himself, he is now a supportive and empathetic adult looking out for his peers. He takes the initiative to help others without being asked and is willing to assist and provide support wherever necessary. As part of the Assisted Living training at Diya, he learnt to shop, cook and clean, be self dependent and confident that he can take care of himself in the future. He works with quality to complete a task and has understood concepts like analytical thinking, problem solving, performance feedback and improvement. Prashanth secured a job placement in Dusters Total Solutions Services Pvt Ltd. (DTSS) in their Housekeeping Section from Dec 2019. Diya believes he will make a mark at his workplace.

Priyanka has many achievements to her credit. She can speak in four languages, successfully completed her grade 10 and secured a Diploma in computer skills. As a young adult though, before joining the Diya training program, Priyanka spent most of her day either playing games on a mobile phone or watching T.V. Neither she nor her parents thought there was anything else she could constructively engage in. All that changed when Priyanka came to Diya in 2015. The 24-year-old learnt to travel independently every day to Diya. From life skills such as being able to stitch, cook, clean, budget, problem solve and be mindful of personal safety, the shy, nervous young adult mastered them all. Her strengths in movement and dance and alertness were enhanced to improve self confidence and guide her on her way to find a job and become a contributing member of her family. She has blossomed and grown into a confident, mature young lady, ready to take on the world of work. After a two-week internship at Cafe Coffee Day, Priyanka joined an extensive eight-month employability training programme which has prepared her for a job in the hospitality sector - a field she chose. She joined the company on a part time basis for five days in a week which should soon result in a permanent job placement for her. The turnaround has been tremendous - from being a quiet, anxious young woman to having the confidence to introduce our chief guest at Diya’s Silver Anniversary function in April 2019, and perform in our dance programmes with minimal training, is worth the mention. Diya’s trainers and Priyanka have strived together to bring out the best in her. Together we look forward to a bright future for her.

21 year old Bharat came to Diya in Jan 2017. He had some functional academic skills as well as some mechanical training in ITI. In the Diya training program he learnt to manage a home, and learn work skills like housekeeping, retail and production in the paper unit – making paper bowls, paper bags and meeting targets for the day. He also learnt skills like sanding, packaging etc. His dream was to find a job, earn and be self dependent. Bharat is a kind hearted boy and does not like to see any injustice done to another. He gets upset when he sees this and takes up arms on behalf of the person who he feels is being taken advantage of. To build up his work experience, Bharat was exposed to many internship opportunities at Mitti Cafe, Eat Raja Juice Shop, My Store Next Door and Antharbhaava. He is currently working at Antharbhaava in the Paper Bag making unit.

23 year old Samuel is shy, quiet, extremely hardworking and helpful with odd jobs around the Foundation. Being one of our most efficient trainees, he assists in the production unit. He has been trained to put rivets and chords on the paper bags. He can also make up to 3 paper bowls a day. He is passionate about cars and bikes and loves washing and servicing them. Under Life skills training, he is able to clean and set the table in a systematic way with minimal supervision. He is currently being trained on various areas like gardening, shopping with a list and within a budget and housekeeping as well. As part of personal social skills training he has had classes on accepting and giving praise, managing upsets, and sexuality training. Sam joined Diya in June 2013 with a lot of behavioural issues and problems in attending to a task for long. Sitting him down and having him work on a task and then slowly building up time on the task and increasing volume of work has built up his self esteem and confidence. Sam had a mental breakdown and was serious in hospital. It took him time to come back to normal. However, bringing him to Diya again improved his memory and stabilized him. He is now being trained with soft-skills for employment in the coming year and we hope that we can get him job ready and exposed to job internships.

Mohammed Shafiq Pasha aged 24 years, a person with cerebral palsy has been asked to refrain from lifting weights but this has never stopped this go-getter from being a good worker. Shafiq has good social etiquette and communication skills. He has been trained in skills like paper mache, housekeeping skills, gardening, assembling and packaging of products and items. As part of the training at Diya, Shafiq went through brief internship and work exposure opportunities at The Chancery, Shell Petrol Bunk and Reliance Mart.. These exposures helped him understand the world of work, expectations of employers and quality of work expected of him. His family too understood the importance of their support to help make a job placement for Shafiq a success. He was offered a job with meals and accommodation by MItti Cafe. Shafiq however, was not confident about staying on his own as personal grooming (buttoning his shirt,combing his hair etc.) without assistance continues to be a challenge. He decided he needed more time. He voiced his concerns to us. Diya put him into its Assisted Living Program to work on these areas. Here he learnt to wear T-shirts, clean his room, cook a simple meal without assistance. This experience gave him the confidence that he could actually manage without his mum’s help. We also continued to work with him on his personal social skills through counselling sessions with our Rehabilitation Psychologist who is addressing his and his parents’ concerns with regard to Shafiq being independent and self confident. These past 8 months he was enrolled into a fast track employability training in Car washing at Allegis. The trainer was very happy with Shafiq’s progress and skill on washing cars and has offered him a job in Car Washing.

Bharat joined Diya in May 2015 with a dream to get a job, earn and look after his mother. This dream came true when the Founder of the Home where his sick father was admitted – Anmol Health Home for dementia/Alzheimer patients and intellectual disabilities – decided to visit Diya and understand the training that Bharat was undergoing. On learning about Bharat’s training in making beds, changing pillow cases, washing dishes, following instructions from an instruction chart, cleaning and dusting Office space, watering the plants in the garden, etc. she was very impressed with his skills and asked him to come in on weekends to work in the Home. In August’2019 after his father passed away, she offered him a job in the Home cleaning her office space, gardening, taking inmates with intellectual disabilities for a walk in the garden and feeding them their meals, going to the shop. He works from 9:00 - 5:00 and is being trained by his mother to travel independently. Bharat is very proud and happy to be working and earning and contributing to the household finances.