Delhi: Youth road show

Under the regional activity of the WSIS YC, the Indian campaign toward awareness generation among the youth on the importance of ICTs was also held in Delhi (National Capital Region) on 11th November 2005. Datamation staff was able to mobilize between 500-1000 participants for the event. A day before the event, announcement was made in the area about its happening and our participants from the Khichripur ICT center went around spreading the word. These participants were in the age group of 18-30 yrs., a mix of both boys and girls. Under the event, an awareness camp was organized in Khichripur area of North-East Delhi. This was done in partnership with a local NGO of the area – Chetnalaya. The event was organized in a public park. The camp was formally inaugurated by the Chairman South Zone MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) at about 11:00 a.m. Some other key community leaders were also invited to provide some encouragement to the participants.

Various stalls were set up in the park, ranging from computer training stall, health stall, CD module stall, and anemia camp stall (to check hemoglobin level of the visitors). In the backdrop of these, cultural programs were going on to attract the community. This methodology was adopted to draw attention of greater number of people from the community. Distribution of certificates to the students of the computer course at the Khichripur ICT center was also organized so as to inform people about its merits and prevalent usage of computers in their community by the youth. A stall for the sale of handicrafts was also set up to allow people to know that the products made are with the help of the computers, in terms of designing and patterns.

Datamation’s ICT experts via the computer stall disseminated information about the importance of computers and the role they could play in the income generation of the participants. There was large-scale distribution of posters and handouts on the issue of youth empowerment via ICTs. Most of the visitors / participants showed keen interest in joining our ICT center, and tapping its potential for gainful employment. As these people were also familiarized with various CD based modules on vocational and life skills through the CD module stall (hands-on-training was provided), these people showed keen interest in learning from these and trying to use them for income generation purpose. Lunch was organized for the participants at the park itself and the event went on in full swing till about 5:00 p.m. The event was well captured in the digital camera. The will and determination on the faces of these youth highlighted that the event was successful in making these people aware of the potential of ICTs.