" Don't be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams ".

Henna's name stands for the color of Mehandi. An enthralling and fascinating color it adorns the hand of the bride symbolic of the joy and happiness she is to find in her life. But Henna had found happiness hard to come by in the last few years. A young girl of 15 and a student of class 8 she had been through a lot of hardships since her father died three years ago. With an ailing mother it fell upon Henna to provide for the family.

To support their meager savings, Henna started working after school. She would go to people’s houses at weddings and other functions to apply Mehandi on hands of brides and other close relatives. Bringing joy with her craftsmanship and hard work (each hand takes about 1-2 hours with great attention to detail) the money she earned went in supporting her mother and younger sister.

(Henna-applying Mehandi at her home & At houses of other people)

This tiny girl studied by the mornings and worked in the evenings. Her eyes looked somber and serious but in her heart she still carried a dream: of studying further and getting a good job. She would often ask herself " Do I have a chance "? Would she get the opportunities other students had or was her life to be spent like this?
Questions no one had answers for.

Then one day her teacher walked into class and announced that the Dell & LLF Youthconnect Program would be providing training for children of the community. The students would be trained on digital literacy skills and would also pick up better communication and collaboration skills. The best was, it was all free. The teacher said it was a great opportunity because it would teach them how to access technology.

For Henna, it seemed like a dream come true. It was the chance she had dreamed off, the opportunity she had been waiting for. The program was being held in Mesco Grades School close to her house. She hurried there after school to get admission.

To Henna's utter delight she was even given a new shining computer to work upon.

Henna's experienced a whole new world here. Computers were not being taught theoretically. With each new thing the children learnt they did a project associated with it. The trainers made special efforts to make the students aware of their community and the issues regarding health and environment. Motivated by the trainers, the students were asked to look up information on them and then to present their analysis and solutions through projects using multimedia.

The children felt empowered, they were learning correctly the practical application of technology and also how to be responsible citizens. Henna felt her work would make a difference, not just to herself but also to the community. She felt excited and enthusiastic after a long time.

She used her new found knowledge on computers to make a project on Swine Flu to educate her friends and family about this dreaded disease. She collected information from a doctor on the illness, sourced newspapers and the internet for further research and then shared her presentation complete with suggestions and ways to avoid the illness using a PowerPoint presentation.

Once she became confident, Henna was amazed at how much she could access and the avenues that were open to her. She was able to download new designs for her Mehandi and could even find better techniques for application. Being innovative she made posters to put up on walls about her work and going a step further decided to use the internet for advertising her Mehandi services. Her business could now attract more customers. Prospects looked brighter for her business. She felt she was learning to be professional in her work. Thanks to program she had access to the same opportunities that other children did. She could dream again.

Today Henna desires to become a software engineer. She dreams of studying ahead and making her family comfortable again. She is very grateful to Dell and Learning Links Foundation who have enabled her dreams to come true and for giving her a head start again.