by Father Mario Vaz for BISMumbai

Don Bosco Centre for Learning (DBCL), Kurla through its different institutions is well known and in great demand for its University degree and other Technical skills programmes that prepare young people for Life and Livelihood. Over the years DBCL has consistently shared its expertise in bringing about a transformation in the lives of youth at risk as well as those in villages and the nearby slums by offering training programs that are job oriented. In response to the call of the Province to draw up a “Recovery and Assistance Plan” after COVID-19, one of the initiatives of the Salesian Community was to venture into an online mode of training for people interested in entrepreneurship to alleviate the hardship due to the pandemic.

The DBIT (Don Bosco Institute for Technology) NSS unit along with the DBC (Don Bosco College) NSS Unit conducted three 05-day Entrepreneurship Development Programmes online. The first was for college students, unemployed and jobless young people mainly from the Ghatkopar slums in Mumbai, from 05 August to 10 August 2020, 4pm to 6pm daily. Out of 37 participants who registered, 15 participated for the entire duration. The second programme for tribal men and women interested in becoming future entrepreneurs in their respective areas was conducted by the DBIT outreach cell in association with Sakhya women guidance cell, (Nirmala Niketan College of Social Work) functioning in Vasai-Palghar. This 05 day programme was from 17 August to 21 August 2020, 2pm to 4pm, with a total of 50 and more registered participants. The third was organized by the outreach cell of DBC in association with YWCA (Young Womens' Christian Association) for tribal men and women, mainly SHG members from Mumbai Vasai, Thane and Navi Mumbai. This programme was from 15 to 19 September 2020, 2pm to 4pm daily, with 56 participants.

The main aim of these programmes was to make the participants aware of opportunities and guide them to begin entrepreneurial ventures and self-employment. This would also help contribute to family income. These programmes focussed on the basics of how to start a small enterprise and how to develop and sustain it. The first day’s session on leadership skills and personality development was conducted by Royal Dsouza. Amarr Prabhu (Principal SJITI Kurla) conducted the session on Business skills on the second day; Laxmikant Malvatkar (Managing Director SSP Pune) conducted a session on Marketing skills on the third day; Vandana Joshi (Banking expert) conducted the session on Banking and Accounting on day four with Arvind, Harmik and Ashtad sharing their experiences as entrepreneurs on the last day. A 'certificate of participation' was awarded to each participant on completion of the 10-hours programme.The pedagogy used was lectures, activities, videos, powerpoint presentation, etc., through Zoom and YouTube.