• samvada@gmail.com
  • 080-26640244

“Working with youth” is a relatively new idea in India.

People often ask, “How does working with young people actually lead to social change?”

We see this as a two step process where our interventions lead to CHANGES IN YOUTH,
which then leads to CHANGES BY YOUTH. 

The short term outcomes of our work are first manifest in new values, aspirations, sensitivities, life skills and livelihood skills in youth. This then results in new behaviors, decisions and personal and professional choices, initiatives in families, communities, campuses and workplaces in a way that challenges oppressive and unjust social systems and institutions. 

Programme 1

Youth Leadership Programme

Outcomes and Impacts of Youth Leadership Programme at YRCs and YSKs

8700 young people

(with more than 50% of them girls) sensitized to issues of caste, gender, sexuality, pluralism, environmental sustainability and social inclusion.

1010 Young leaders

trained and mentored to take initiatives in their colleges and communities.

12 Youth led Campaigns

with over 1000 youth led events
have spread awareness reaching over 1,05,000 youth about a range of social issues like harassment-free college campuses, groundwater pollution, the need for career guidance  youth rights, among others.

From data collected in 2012 of 36 students who had been regularly attending programs in our Youth Resource Centers, we saw significant shifts in young people’s aspirations as well as their circle of friends.

Changes in Young People’s Aspirations

The graph below indicates the shifts in the 4 dimensions of young peoples’ aspirations, where there was a significant change in young peoples’ motivation which includes aspiring to earn and improve their status as well as to express interests, creativity and a desire to serve society.

Changes in circle of friends

The graph here shows that our programs have helped young people move towards friendships that cross the boundaries of caste, class, gender, religion and English proficiency.
Maximum change was recorded in openness to mingle across religion.

What young people are saying about the programme

Programme 2

Livelihood Education Programme

Outcomes and Impacts of Livelihood Education Programme

1,032 students

graduated from Baduku in the last 12 years with a steady growth in admissions and interest in Baduku Courses. 

70% of our students employed or pursuing higher education in the profession for which they were trained in Baduku – A Centre for Livelihood Learning.

There has also been a steady growth in admissions and interest in Baduku courses.

Baduku has consistently focused on youth from marginalized backgrounds and has ensured a significant presence of women among our student body. Such students are then able to enter well established professions.

The impact of the work at Baduku – A Centre for Livelihood Learning does not only lie in the number of students we have reached or the number of programmes run.

Our impact can be seen in 3 ways:

1. Helped the excluded enter and grow in well established professions like journalism and college level teaching.

A significant impact has been in the field of Journalism in Karnataka. Of the total 138 Journalism students that have graduated till 2019, 40% are women and 43% are Dalit. Preference has also been given to the most excluded OBC’s, youth from North Karnataka and Muslim youth.

2. Promoted the following new professions in response to emerging social needs –

Counseling, Early Childhood Care & Education, Waste Management and Career Guidance. 

The strategy to promote new professions is to first ascertain social needs, and then train about 300 youth in each profession. We also support them after the training so that they are able to establish themselves and the profession.

The Counseling for Women’s Wellness and Justice course has 196  alumni (28 in the English Medium course and 168 in the Kannada Course).

 They are employed or associated with women’s organisations like Mahila Samkahya,  IT for Change, Sakhi,  Jagruta Mahila Sanghatan where counseling is being offered to women. By equipping these organisations with trained counselors, the profession is gradually being established.

131 students have graduated from the Early Childhood Care and Education Course since 2008, conducted by Baduku independently or in collaboration with the Karnataka State Council for Child Welfare.

47 students have been trained to become professionals in the field of Waste Management since 2017

They have been employed in newly emerging waste management enterprises and receive remuneration ranging from Rs 16,000 to Rs 40,000 per month in supervisory roles.

49 have been trained as Career Guidance professionals since 2017 and 80% of them are working full time or part time in the field. Samvada has also supported 10 young women career guides to offer career information and guidance services to rural girls.

3. Helped to change practices in professions that perpetuate social exclusion / environmental damage like Agriculture and Tourism

Baduku works with young farmers as well as others who want to work in the tourism industry, to integrate social equality and environmental sustainability into the way Agriculture and Tourism is understood and practiced.

208 young people have been trained in Sustainable Farming. Of these 74% are transitioning to organic farming and 12 of them are influencing other farmers to go the organic way.

34 youth have been trained in Responsible Tourism. They are being organized into  collectives by Sakhi in Hospet to offer  community based tourism packages to visitors coming to Hampi.

What young people are saying about the programme