Soul Collective

Even though most of the founder members are working in different software companies,they continue to be connected to Prayas’ activities. The idea for the initiative was born when 23-year-old Nikhil Pathare,a student then,asked ten of his friends to visit his native village with the aim of providing the students there computer literacy and career guidance. “I belong to a rural family from Bhambora in Karjat. When I initially came to the city,I faced a lot of problems,which any student coming from a rural background naturally will. Thus,the idea of helping people like me took root,” says Pathare. In 2008,these eleven friends visited Karjat on their own expense. “We visited about four to five schools with our laptops and showed them how the machines work. We introduced them to basic computer functions and also talked to them about the different kind of career opportunities one has today. We received a very good response,” adds Pathare.

The friends decided that they will visit Bhambora and Parner every year,and help out the students. The group was initially provided financial help helped by the University of Pune. Since then they have a built steady flow of donors,including companies like Capgemini,Cognizant and Persistant. With the help of these donations,the group is planning to donate 20 computers in both Parner and Karjat. “Last year,we donated computers in five schools. This year,we are planning to donate a few more on August 15 in these two areas,” said Jaydeep Pathare,founder secretary of Prayas.

The primary aim of the group is to make needy children more self reliant. “We want these students to be aware about their personal rights and spread awareness about the government’s educational policies. We have also been providing them personality development and career counseling. There are so many educational institutions in these areas where a lot of social work is being done,but no one really gets to know about it. We will try to help these people by designing their websites,so that their work can reach out to more people,” says Jaydeep.

The group has received tremendous response,and many of the volunteers are students of various colleges that come under the Sinhagad Institutes. “We had put up notices about Prayas at the colleges. Within the first few days we got more than 500 applications. Today,all the volunteers are actively involved in spreading the message that we believe in,” says Jaydeep.