Poor students US study windfall

Studying in the US was something Ambika never even dreamt of as she faced poverty all her life but now she is one in a group of lucky few to fly there to do a one-year course in business management.

Ambika is part of six students selected from a school for the urban and rural poor run by Deepalaya,an NGO,for a programme initiated by the US Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Community College.

The students,all part of the alumni of the schools run by Deepalaya,will along with 45 students selected from various parts of the country,undergo various courses in different US colleges.

“I want to finish my course,come back and serve my people especially in the rural India,” said a smiling Indira,who will be doing a course in nursing.

“I always wanted to work in corporate India and this would help me enter the field,” said Ambika in fluent English at a press conference here.

“None of us even had a passport. Deepalaya told us about the offer and we sat for written examination. Before we knew,we were selected. All our passports were made under the tatkal category,” said Sonu. “It would be our first trip by air and we are all looking forward to it,” he said.

“Such chances don’t come often but whenever they come,it is important to make full use of them,” said T K Mathew,Chief Executive and Secretary of Deepalaya which has been working in the education sector for the last 31 years.

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Under the Community College Initiative Programme,select individuals from countries like Brazil,Egypt,Ghana,Pakistan,South Africa,Turkey and selected nations in Central America are able to spend one year studying at community colleges in the US and earn a vocational certificate.

“This is for the first time that the US Embassy here has successfully recruited candidates for the Community College Initiatives programme,” Mathew said.