Nestled in the heart of the walled city of Delhi, lies Chandni Chowk, a market that owes it’s origins to the Mughal dynasty, today a bustling trading center. Its crowded streets, winding lanes and Mughal architecture attract visitors from all parts of the world, but deep within the cobbled streets, life seems to have stood still for centuries for some of the residents.

Farha & with her siblings

Farha Nabed’s father earns Rs.1500/month making envelopes and lives in the Kala Mahal area of Chandni Chowk, with four other siblings. When Farha turned 15, she was taken out of school after class 8th because the second shift in her school was for boys. Fearing a bad name, her parents did not allow her to study with boys. The dreams she had been silently but carefully nurturing came crumbling down, but she was not allowed to communicate her angst.

Sufia, Nazia, Sania , Neelopher, Rukhsana, and many others, all young girls like Farha, have also met similar challenges - categorized by gender, bound by traditions, burdened by economic pressures, despondent young women forced to drop out of school and help mothers with household chores.

Then one day Farha heard that Awam welfare Organisation (AWO) a local NGO was implementing a computer training. She heard that many girls like her, had attended the training program and had not only learnt computer skills but other skills that had changed their lives in many ways. Without telling her parents, Farah and her sister went to find out about the training.

The computer training program was the Intel ® Learn program that was being implemented by the NGO for community children like her. This was an after-school program and the curriculum was very attractive and exciting. The sisters also interacted with some children who were undergoing the program and they heard only praises – the activities are full of fun, the teacher is more a friend and guide, children work in pairs and the whole batch works as a team. The girls were very excited and were ready to enroll immediately, but like many others were scared of their parents’ reaction. They contemplated sharing their fears with the trainer.

The facilitator who had been specially trained to understand and deal with such situations, smiled as she saw the apprehensions written all over their faces - she had encountered many such queries earlier. When she had initiated the program in the community, she had realized that parents, teachers and other community members needed to be convinced about the benefits of the program. She approached the community to share details and encourage parents to allow their children to join the program. Flyers were distributed and posters were put up at strategic places.

This first step was the biggest challenge. Most parents were reluctant both about a new technology course and about allowing their girls out of the house, but the confidence and the conviction of the Trainer had managed to convince them of its positive impact.

The facilitator stepped towards Farah and her sister with a smile and offered suggestions on how the children could convince their parents and how their parents could coordinate with other parents for understanding the benefits of the program. Armed with the information, the girls managed to convince their parents to visit the centre. The facilitator managed to get the approval of the parents to allow their daughters to join the course.

As days passed, the girls took in information like parched plants and within a few weeks learnt all the computer skills mentioned in the curriculum. Bubbling with enthusiasm and very keen to learn, they also learnt about problem solving skills, communication and presentation skills and most importantly their learnt how to work in a team and as a team. Through technology driven projects that the children created on real-life issues in their community, they became aware of the necessity of hygiene, cleanliness and community problems and understood how to logically deal with them.

This program is fantastic. It really helps me to think well about my life. I will restart my study now. – Sufia (a learner)

Working with their peers – both boys and girls, they learnt to work as a team for identifying real-life problems and to actively seek solutions. They worked hard for creating the multimedia project and harder on their presentation skills for showcasing the project to their peers, parents and neighbours.

As their fingers gained speed on the keyboard they seemed to be adding new vision to their life.

It was only during the Showcasing that we came to know the real purpose of the program. This is a unique program which gives freedom to think about yourself and you can do something meaningful for yourself and your surroundings - Farha’s parents.

The showcasing was probably one of the most memorable instances of their lives. Attended by parents, siblings and other important community members, the girls glowed as their families watched with mouths open, their multimedia presentation on the need for a children’s park in the community. Girls’ who had till now no more value than doing the cleaning and the cooking, suddenly seemed to be showing their families things on the computer they had only seen in movies.

One of the first showcasing sessions was conducted in the presence of an august gathering where Mr. Kapil Sibal, now minister for Human Resource Development, Government of India, was the chief guest. He had been very impressed with the children showcasing their project which was about the requirement of a children’s park in the community - “Intel has introduced a computer training program for the children in Chandni Chowk. In this program, they will learn not only Computer Literacy, but other important skills, which will help them to be successful in future workplaces”.

One of the first showcasing sessions was conducted in the presence of an august gathering where Mr. Kapil Sibal, now minister for Human Resource Development, Government of India, was the chief guest. He had been very impressed with the children showcasing their project which was about the requirement of a children’s park in the community - “Intel has introduced a computer training program for the children in Chandni Chowk. In this program, they will learn not only Computer Literacy, but other important skills, which will help them to be successful in future workplaces”.

Both Farha and her sister are now planning for a bright future ahead. They are confident that they will be able to help their parents understand the importance of higher education. Farha wants to be a doctor while her sister wants to complete higher education and get a respectable job for herself. In fact the first thing they did was to convince their father to allow them to continue school.

The Intel Learn Program is being successfully implemented for the past year and over 230 children , 60% of them are girls have already been trained in Chandni Chowk.

There is an old proverb which says - If you educate a boy, you educate an individual; if you educate a girl, you educate a community. The Intel Learn Program at Chandni Chowk is indeed a step in that direction.