From Kalwakurthy (Mahabubnagar District, AP) to Hyderabad, Fouzia’s transformation from a meek individual to a bold and confident girl ready to take on the world is truly remarkable. She has endured many hardships in life, and is now a contented person after undergoing a CRS course at LABS. Having started as a trainee crew member at McDonald’s a year ago with a salary of Rs 1300 pm, she is now a manager drawing Rs 5500 pm. She says, “At LABS, I learnt about different aspects of customer service and marketing, which are taught only in B-schools. I owe my success to my facilitators, who kept motivating me to fight against all odds. The life skills and time management skills that I learnt from them are proving so useful at every step in my job. LABS is indeed the place of my rebirth.”

M Ayesha from Bangalore has been through many a struggle in her life. Her father died while she was still a child, leaving his family in utter penury. Her two brothers were forced into ‘daily wages’ labor, but their earnings barely sufficed. Ayesha’s education, understandably, had to be discontinued after Class X. To help her brothers, she became an assistant in a garment firm. She came across LABS at this precarious stage, and took up a course in Customer Relations & Sales. Now a Customer Service Associate at a Spencer’s outlet, she says, “My friendly facilitators helped me out my depression, and greatly improved my communication skills. I am truly thankful to LABS for putting me on my feet.”

Vamsi Krishna has every reason to be smiling. After taking training and other assistance from DRF under the Aarogya project, the daily sales at his mobile eatery have gone up by nearly 45%, from an average of Rs 700 per day to over Rs 1000 per day. Standing next to his spotlessly clean pushcart he beams, “DRF organised a special 15-day training program for mobile food vendors like me, in which we learnt so many useful things like how to prepare and serve food in a hygienic manner, the finer points of hospitality towards our customers. The cleanliness and attractive layout of my pushcart, as well as my improved personal appearance, attracts many more passers-by. I have benefited immensely from this program conducted by DRF. This rapid growth in my business is really very encouraged.”

Rajyalaxmi is all smiles as she serves out a sweet corn cup to a customer. Be it summer or winter, she loves to be at her kiosk. Not long ago, she was struggling to raise Rs 20 for renewing her bus pass. Her father, a poor farmer, could barely feed the family. Although she had a B. Com. degree, her physical handicap held her back at every step. One day, she attended a program organised by DRF for the physically handicapped. Impressed with the Corn’bytes micro-entrepreneurship model, she enrolled in it and received training in business skills, customer relations and product knowledge. She took a bank loan with DRF’s help and set up a kiosk at Habsiguda, Hyderabad. She now earns Rs 600-800 a day and says, “Thanks to DRF, people like me are able to hold their heads high and earn their livelihoods with dignity.”

Sailaj Amruthapadi, “Education was a luxury I could not afford. Being the eldest son in my family, I tried to supplement my father’s meager income, and enrolled as a poorly paid clerk in a Security company. Then a friend told me about the UPADHI LABS program. My interest in computers enabled me to enroll in the Cisco ITE course. I did well in it and got a job in Cache Peripherals, out of a fray of 25 candidates. I feel great when my CEO, Mr Davis, says that I can troubleshoot any type of problem in a printer. I am happy that I can actively apply all the skills I have learnt in my current job, and am working towards getting a CCNA certification soon. Cisco and LABS have really transformed my life.”