December 2013
YP Newsletter
VISION STATEMENT
Create opportunities for school
dropouts and deprived youths to
help lead productive and socially
useful lives.
MISSION STATEMENT
To give a second chance to less educated
deprived youth through wage or selfemployment based on urban and rural
livelihoods training provided in partnership
with stakeholders.
“There are two ways of spreading light - to be the candle or the mirror that
reflects it” - Edith Wharton, Vesalius in Zante
A new identity for Yuva Parivartan
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Yuva Parivartan the Vocational Training Initiative of Kherwadi Social Welfare Association, has through its 15
year journey of growth emerged as one of the largest movements in the country, imparting livelihood skills to under
privileged youth across the country. With a presence in over 18 states, working in 5 domains and through 5
delivery systems, we train over 1 lakh students a year.
As we embark on the very ambitious next phase of our growth trajectory of training 1 million youth per year, we are
taking several steps to help us get there. These include strengthening our teams, systems and processes. We are
also adopting a new Corporate Identity and logo to reflect dynamism and leadership in imparting livelihood skills
and also in our academics, examination & certification functions.
It gives me great pleasure in presenting to you, our new Corporate Identity and sharing with you the rationale that
went into creating it.
Our new identity reads “KSWA’s Yuva Parivartan Academy” and is an impactful integration of the Yuva Parivartan
Movement with KSWA . Yuva Parivartan Academy symbolizes our move towards playing a larger University like
role in setting benchmarks and standards in Vocational Skill Development, besides defining our position as India’s
premier vocational training institute. The youth leaping with a power symbol in hand and the rising sun from our old
logo have been retained to be the most prominent part of the logo. The new identity reflects Yuva Parivartan’s
mission emotionally with the words “Giving Youth a Second Chance”
A new identity for Yuva Parivartan
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The new logo is created in the same bright and vibrant colours as earlier, to convey energy, optimism and strength
and to maintain a continuing link with our identity of the past fifteen years. It is contemporary in design and
showcases Yuva Parivartan as a professional academic institution with a human side.
News
Yuva Parivartan gets recognized at
SEOY-India Awards
KSWA’s Yuva Parivartan was proud to be selected as a finalists for the Social
Entrepreneur Of the Year award by the Schwab Foundation for Social
Entrepreneurship and the Jubilant Bhartia Foundation out of a field of over 200
entrants. Mr. P Chidambaram, Finance Minister of the Government of India was
the guest of honour at the awards banquet on November 11th in Delhi with
media partner CNBC TV18. Please see the segment on YP carried on TV18 at
the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI_8SThIzDw
Mrs. Mrinalini Kher, Hon. Secretary and Trustee and Mr. Kishor Kher, President
and Trustee were on hand to receive a citation.
L-R Mr Kishor Kher, President & Trustee, Yuva Parivartan; Mrs Mrinalini Kher,
Trustee & Hon. Secretary, Yuva Parivartan; Mr Shyam S Bhartia, Director, Jubilant
Bhartia Foundation & CMD, Jubilant Life Sciences Ltd; Mr P Chidambaram, Finance
Minister, Government of India and Prof. Klaus Schwab, Co-Founder, Schwab
Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship & Founder & Executive Chairman, World
Economic Forum and Mr Hari S Bhartia
Another award for Yuva Parivartan…..TATA
Housing Business Excellence Award
L-R: Santosh Sapkale, Former Student, Yuva Parivartan (YP); Mr. Kailas
Barve, Director MDTE at YP; Mr. Brotin Banerjee, MD and CEO, TATA
Housing, Mr. Anand Tribhuvan, Area Manager MDTE, YPand Mr.
Mahesh Shetty, Senior Manager MDTE, YP.
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KSWA’s Yuva Parivartan has been recognized as a valued partner of the sustainability
journey of TATA Housing in October 2013.
MDTE Director, Mr. Kailas Barve and his team were on hand at the reception dinner held by
the TATA Housing to show appreciation to the awardees.
Thank you Accenture Volunteers
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Uma Sundararaman, Head Counselling, KSWA’s Yuva
Parivartan and Dheeraj Sharma (first R) with the Accenture
Volunteers.
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For almost two years the team members of Accenture have been
giving of their time to students at Yuva Parivartan LDCs in
Maharashtra. They teach English and Life Skills and have become a
welcomed addition at the LDCs.
The Accenture volunteers were recently felicitated and presented
with certificates of appreciation by Yuva Parivartan. Vandita, one of
the volunteers noted that in helping the students with time
management she has seen an improvement in her own timemanagement skills.
The volunteers shared how students told them how they had missed
job employment opportunities because they did not speak English,
thus the English classes are very important for these students. In
addition, they have women who have enrolled in the class because
they want to learn for their kids.
We are truly grateful for the involvement of these volunteers.
Congrats to the Yuva Parivartan
Premier League (YPPL) winners so far
YP
Premiere
League
Gold & silver Coins
Holiday in Goa
Champions Trophy
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The Yuva Parivartan Premier League is our associate reward and recognition programme; rewarding high performance
behaviours and results from our associates. With the launch of YPPL in regions 1 & 3 so far it is good to share that the
first month was a resounding success. Associates were engaged and motivated to play the game and as a result, they
have been reaping the rewards.
Some areas in R1 were operating below their potential, however, by embracing YPPL with gusto, there has been
marked improvement in the general performance with 39 prizes awarded so far; 3 Gold coins,17 Silver coins and 19
Letters of Appreciation (LOA) and Parker pens.
In R3, the associates also went to bat with passion resulting in a total of 41 awards; 13 Gold coins, 17 Silver coins and
11 LOA and Parker pens being won. “It was really good to see how the participation of the associates embodied the
concept of the three Es; Energy, Enthusiasm and Excitement”! – Sanjay Bhusare, Livelihoods Manager
Congratulations to all our winners so far in the YPPL. All the best for the rest of the series.
Meet Veena Gidwani, former CEO Madison PR –
Advisor to the MarCom Team
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Ms. Veena Gidwani has been a communications professional for over thirty years. She
has considerable experience managing businesses and people. She chose to give up
full time working last year so that besides professional commitments she could also
devote some time to giving back to society and pursue other interests. She is a
volunteer at Yuva Parivarton as an Advisor to the MarCom Team. She was introduced
to Yuva Parivartan through a friend and after she had a better understanding of its
mission, activity and achievements she saw where she could contribute in a small way
to making this movement bigger.
Ms. Gidwani says, “YP's focus on skilling youth is an area of utmost importance to the
country today and needs as much support as possible to make it impact more lives.”
Though she has a busy schedule, she makes the time for volunteering because she
gets personal satisfaction from doing so. Her volunteering at Yuva Parivartan is one
such activity which always gets slotted into her calendar.
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She would encourage talented people to be associated with Yuva Parivartan by telling
them that ‘”you are going to be a part of a movement that is critical for the country; you
will work with a team that is extremely capable and passionate and have the
satisfaction of seeing the improved lives of many young Indians.”- is Ms. Gidwani’s
message to potential volunteers.
Veena Gidwani, Volunteer,
Advisor to the MarCom Team
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Ms. Gidwani really appreciates how most people that she has interacted with at Yuva
Parivartan are passionate about the cause of skilling and vocational training as well as
the need to excel in their individual areas of expertise. After more than a year of being
associated with Yuva Parivartan, she says she is she is still learning about many of
Yuva Parivartan’s achievements and successes... “there is a huge storehouse of
knowledge and success stories that are yet to be told” – Veena Gidwani.
Food for Thought
“The more we come out and do good to others,
the more our hearts will be purified, and God will
be in them.”
–Swami Vivekananda
Former students of the Apple Packaging Course now
employed by the Mir Brothers for the apple packaging
season in J & K.
YP Initiatives That Have
Changed Their Lives
A look at Yuva Parivartan in Kashmir
Camps and Placements in Kashmir
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Giving youth a second chance in Kashmir cannot be
easy; there are border conflicts and many of the villages
are so remote they have not seen any outsiders in years,
if at all. Yuva Parivartan is pleased to partner with the
Chirag Foundation Educational Trust (Baramula District)
and the Human Welfare Association (Anantnag District) to
provide livelihood opportunities for the underprivileged
youth in Jammu and Kashmir.
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Many of the students here are unable to pursue
traditional schooling past the eighth grade in these
remote villages that in some cases have irregular water
supply and poor road network as they are not top of mind
for the authorities. This makes them gravely
disadvantaged for the working world. They live by
subsistence farming, just enough to feed their family and
not enough to sell any. Tourism is an area where some of
the residents earn a living be it as tour guides or in a
hotel, however, with the border conflicts the tourism
sector is not at it’s full potential. Any opportunity to create
livelihood would be of significance in any of the villages in
this state.
Most of the courses offered in J & K by Yuva Parivartan are not found in any other region of India. For example, there is
Medicinal Plants farming, Kashmiri Handicrafts, Wool Knitting, Apple Packaging and Jari work . There are also the familiar
camps like Tailoring and Electrical Wireman. Do take a look at a few of our activities in Kashmir through past students,
present students and facilitators as observed by Yolando Sutherland, GSK PULSE Fellow from Jamaica, and Samy Emam,
GSK PULSE Fellow from Egypt on their field visit to J&K.
Gulshan Bano - a Role Model in her Village
Gulshan Bano , current Facilitator for the Wool Knitting Camp attended the YP
camp in March 2013. This camp is the first camp she is seeing in the village.
After she finished learning she approached Mukhtar Bhai from Chirag
Foundation/Yuva Parivartan partner to start one in the village. “I wanted to help
the ladies in the village to come together for the first time and be independent
with a skill” Gulshan said. She had been taught the the basics before and now
with all the training from Yuva Parivartan she learnt new techniques to advance
her skill.
Since the course started Gulshan has seen a lot of happiness in the participants.
The students say they wished that the camp lasted longer. She cannot believe
that she is actually teaching now because when she first came to class her
hands were shaking but now she is more confident. " Yuva Parivartan is very
good, we are all learning here because of YP" - Gulshan Bano.
Gulshan Bano, Wool Knitting Facilitator
23 years
Past student
Masooma Bano… a Young Entrepreneur
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Masooma Bano is the Facilitator for the Tailoring Camp in Kanchan,
Baramulla. Her students say that she's a role model for them as she
is financially independent and running her own household. The
students heard about the camp because she did the door to door
mobilisation drive where she spoke to potential students about the
camp. She has over five years tailoring experience, and she's selfemployed. Her father has been bed-ridden for over ten years, and
she is the currently the only income-earning member of the family.
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The Panchayat has been so pleased by
provided to the youth by Yuva Parivartan;
requesting more camps in their community.
is happy because “coming to the camp
confidence of the ladies”.
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ABOVE: Masooma poses beside her sewing machine.
BELOW: Pieces designed and made by Masooma
the training opportunity
they have sent a letter
Masooma says that she
has boosted the self-
Kashmiri Handicrafts Camp in Nowgam
Yuva Parivartan works in Anantnag, Kashmir
with our partner, Shabir baba
of Human
Welfare Association. The camp has jari (zari)
work done on pheran, a traditional Kashmiri
woollen and embroidery garment; usually worn
in the winter months. The garment is loose
enough to keep a kangri (earthen bowl with hot
coals) to help keep them warm in freezing
temperatures. We have conducted several
camps in different villages with each camp
lasting for 15 days for 4 hours each day.
Ridhwan Akhtar is the Facilitator, she was
taught privately two years ago, and she has
been working from her home since then. The
students say they are learning because they
want to earn for themselves. They are also
interested in learning other courses if Yuva
Parivartan were to offer them.
L: A pheran made by Ridhwan R-ABOVE: Ridhwan Akhtar, Facilitator, Kashmiri Handicrafts,
Nowgam, Anantnag R-BELOW: Students in the Kashmiri Handicrafts Camp
Poultry Farming Entrepreneur, Mohamed Altaf
Mohamed Altaf got his second chance when he enrolled
in the Poultry Farming course. This was done in
partnership with Chirag Foundation in Baramulla, Jammu
& Kashmir in February 2013. By March 2013, after
finishing the course he did a basic set up of housing for
the birds and thus began his business of selling chicken to
the members of his local community.
Mohamed is busy making sure that he can provide for
himself and his family and is very grateful for the training
received from Yuva Parivartan.
Mohamed Altaf,
Poultry Farming Course
Pringle Village, Baramulla
Great Opportunity to be Self-reliant
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Syed Shagufta
24 years
Tailoring Camp, Kanchan
Syed Shagufta lives in Kanchan, Baramulla with her mother, father
and three siblings. Unfortunately she failed 12th standard. Her elder
brother and father are the breadwinners of the family. Her brother is
employed to a hotel in Srinagar, but her father is currently not
working. Syed wanted to learn a skill because she wanted to be
able to provide for herself financially and help to educate her
younger siblings.
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She wanted to do tailoring because everyone has to wear clothes
and women in her village mainly wear dresses, so that is what she
wants to do. She said she would most likely work from home after
completing the course. She likes hemming and stitching so far. She
is looking forward to learning more from her teacher.
Stimulating young minds by making learning fun!
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Did you know?
That there is a Balwadi (pre-school) upstairs the Yuva
Parivartan Bandra LDC catering to toddlers between the
ages of 2 ½ to 5 years. There are 150 children who
receive a hot, freshly prepared, nutritious mid-day meal,
thoroughly enjoyed by the children.
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The Balwadi has been continuously running since 1928
(85 years). Only a nominal contribution of Rs. 900 per
annum is charged to the parents. The children are
encouraged to actively participate in games, sports and
educational activities. At the annual day children who
have excelled are given gifts. All national festivals are
celebrated with fervour.
There are three teachers and two helpers and the day to
day operations are supervised ably by Ms. Dolon Ghosh
who has been selflessly volunteering for 10 years.
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Above: Students with Teacher, Jignasha
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Below: Students during activity time with Teacher, Kanta