Anbu Illam Organising Spl Training Prog
The Don Bosco Anbu Illam will organise special training programmes for the youth this summer starting on April 15. Unlike every year, this time the centre has an added advantage in terms of infrastructure. The Coimbatore office of the Cognizant Technology Solutions, an IT firm, has donated 15 computers to the home for run-away children, in addition to sets of tables, desks and bunk beds, adding up to Rs.7 lakh.Resource persons from the home will handle classes.
The home will use these computers for reaching out to the youth who have no means to continue their education. Those who have completed Class X from areas in and around the Anbu Illam at Ukkadam in the city, will be given training in computers. Unemployed youngsters from the slums where the home runs evening classes will also be roped in for the programme, says Christopher Jayaraj, Director of the Anbu Illam.
Resource persons from the home will handle classes. They will be taught the fundamentals of computers and also communicative English, Fr.Jayaraj adds. The 20-day programme will also include cultural programmes such as dance and music during the evenings. The boys and the girls will be divided into separate batches. The Anbu Illam runs evening coaching centres in over 15 slums in Coimbatore. Some of them function at Damu Nagar, Gandhipuram, Kallukuzhi and Press Colony.
After April 20, special summer coaching programmes will be organised for the boys at the Anbu Illam. The camps will include computer training along with life-skills coaching. They will also be taught additional skills such as card-making, weaving, tailoring and making envelopes. Dance and music are also included. The children are also sent to their homes to meet their parents before school reopening. “Though many of them don’t express interest in going back homes, we insist they keep in touch with their families,” Fr.Jayaraj says. “The reason why many of them ran away from their homes is poverty. Some parents even force them into begging or send them to work,” he adds.
