Manali - Case Study.

Manali, eldest among her siblings, hails from small area in Mumbai. Her father works as a waiter in a small restaurant on daily wage basis and earns Rs. 6000/- per month. The most deteriorating situation was when her father fell sick, his salary got cut off, and it became very difficult to survive their family of five.

"My community is very poorly maintained and we want to move out; people here frequently fight between neighbours" says Manali. These challenges of situations of life made her struggle even tougher. She attempted many interviews for a job, but lack of computer knowledge and poor communication skills led her to lack of success. In the midst of this, her parent's constant encouragement helped her a lot.

She heard about the Career Development Center of Airports Authority of India. She met with the community mobilizers when they visited her area. They told her about the courses and invited her to visit the centre in the evening.

Manali feels that from the day one itself she realized how much she had to learn. Her favourite sessions include debate competition, creation of presentations, essay writing competition and class room discussion. Manali's confidence grew as she interacted with the other trainees and faculty members in the centre. After completing the "Customer Care Service Training" she felt empowered. AAI CDC environment made a difference in her life.

Manali now works for Vodafone and earns Rs. 6500/- per month as a Computer Data Entry Operator. She looks forward to building a career with the training and grooming she received from AAI Career Development Centre.

"The Career Development Centre in Mumbai is a unique initiative of Airports Authority of India", which focuses on empowerment of unemployed youth living in nearby slum areas of Mumbai airport. It trains nearly 500 young people in a year on employable computer skills and facilitates their placement in gainful employment. Till date nearly 120 young people are placed in such jobs".

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