It is 5:00 pm and Santhosh C has finished tailoring 50 cloth bags. He places them in a cardboard box and is hurrying to get home to Madukkarai. “It is a long trip and I cannot be late,” he says, unfolding his white cane. Santhosh, a former bike mechanic, lost his vision in an accident 10 years ago. He now works at Chandran’s Yuva Foundation, an NGO at Podanur where he gets free skills training. “After I lost my sight, I could not find work; it was the worst time of my life. But the foundation changed all that and I earn a monthly salary. I know now that my life did not end with the accident. I am still capable of doing a lot.”

Chandran’s Yuva Foundation was started in 2014 and registered as an NGO in 2017. “I wanted to do something for society for a very long time. When I discussed this with my cousin, Sivanesan C who also had a similar interest, he was also ready,” says S Sasikala, the NGO’s chairman and CEO. Sivanesan is the founder. “Chandran is the name of my father and this NGO was created in his memory,” adds Sivanesan. Initially, they approached organisations for the visually challenged and started tailoring sessions for 10 people.
 

But it was not a smooth ride in the beginning. “It was hard to convince them that they could do it. Only after a few months could we gain their trust. After that initial phase, word spread and people started to come to us.” Now they make frocks, tops, kurtas, skirts and handbags that they sell in exhibitions in the city.

Around 300 people have been trained by the organisation in the past five years. “The training is free. Most have started their own businesses now. In addition to the visually challenged, we also offer a two-months baking class for hearing-and-speech-impaired people, where they are taught to make cookies, cakes, breads and buns. We have an online radio called Yuwave Online Tamil Radio where anyone can listen to our RJs,” says Sivanesan.
The NGO has tied up with 10 bakeries around the city to which they supply their products. “Cakes are made only for special orders. Trained volunteers assist the trainees and workers in the kitchen and with the stitching,” Sasikala adds. Last year they began training women prisoners in the Coimbatore Central Prison to make jewellery, pickles and key chains. “We conduct three sessions in a week. Last month, a student asked me if she could continue the training once she is out of the prison. She said she wanted to be an entrepreneur once she is released.”
The foundation provides free lunch to patients and caretakers in the Coimbatore Medical College and have a counter for free clothes for the needy. “We feed around 150 people every day through this initiative. We have kept donation boxes in Pannaiyar Biriyani, Noothuku Muttai, Momolicious, Sugar Jar, SSVM World School, Sankara College of Science and Commerce, Bishop Appasamy College of Arts and Science, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International School Of Textiles and Management, Royal.
Sheraton Apartments, Royal Skyline Apartments, Sreevatsa Gardens and Priya Mansion. We select the clothes and then wash them before putting it out. During festivals we also give new clothes,” Sivasankaran says. The duo plans to build a primary health centre and a school in the future. “We want to provide healthcare and education free of cost. We hope to do it in the next two years,” she says.