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The Ambelal Heinrich Memorial Trust has set up an electronic technician's and electrician's workshop that offers training places for up to 15 young people. IT training is also available for up to 15 people. Together with the AHM Trust, creating smiles is looking for sponsors to finance one of these apprenticeships:

Training:                   Electr. Technician                   Electrician                 IT Unit                     School scholarship

Duration:                  2 years                                     1 year                         6 months                3 years

cost p.m.:                  25 EUR                                     15 EUR                       10 EUR                     35 EUR

Apprentice electronic technicians and electricians receive a set of tools that they may keep after completing their training. IT training is especially popular with young women, who use it to qualify themselves for office work. Apprentices must pass several exams that test their progress through the training program. Students can use the scholarship money to pay their school fees and buy schoolbooks. They will also have to pay for school uniforms and contribute to meals. Students are obliged to submit their certificates (and records of attendance) to the AHM Trust at regular intervals.

As a sponsor, you can guarantee one of these apprenticeship places. You can pay the monthly or annual fee for the duration of the apprenticeship in question (at least one year for IT training), or pay until cancellation. You will of course receive a donation receipt every year and we will keep you up-to-date about developments in India. We are also very happy to set up personal contact to the trainees in India.

How can I become a sponsor?

Please open the PDF and print out the form. You then merely need to complete it and mail it back to the creating smiles address given. Thank you!

I want to sponsor a training program

The overall concept of this project and its individual elements has greatly impressed us. 

We are convinced that the various approaches practiced by the AHM Trust are an especially positive example of sustainable development work.  Accordingly, we at creating smiles are supporting the latest project, which helps young people obtain secondary schooling and career-related training.

Poverty, poor infrastructure, the caste system and a lack of education create a vicious circle that robs people, especially the very poorest, of the chance of a better future. As so often, children, young people and women suffer especially under these conditions. The apprenticeship places and the educational support program for children aged between 14 and 18 years old work to close a gap in the development of the community in the region. For poorer people in particular, a lack of career-relevant qualifications leads to the well-known negative feedback loop: low income, illness, no retirement provisions, poor education of children, etc.

By sponsoring an apprenticeship, you can make a contribution to helping people break out of this loop.

The various projects run by the AHM Trust are creating a sustainable process of change for the local community. Many development projects pay very little attention to youth career education programs. Yet this is the point where the problems generally begin all over again. We have the greatest of confidence in the two founders, whose energetic efforts have already borne fruit in this rural south Indian region:

Clinic for basic medical care and support for HIV-infected children and women:

In 1994, the first project was launched, a clinic to provide medical care for the very poorest members of society. Initially, combating leprosy infections was the primary aim, although success in this area means that there are very few cases today. Instead, the focus of work is now on providing care for women and children infected with HIV. The clinic also maintains a number of workshops in which women can find work and thereby earn an income. The clinic also organizes the culturally problematic work of medical education on a number of topics, most especially AIDS and contraception. Mrs. Desai still works as a physician in the clinic. Since 2001, the management of the clinic has been handled by Dr. Bruce Dejong, an American physician. The clinic is financed by organizations in the USA, UK and Germany. Later the AHM Trust also established a home for senior residents.

Women's groups and microcredit program: 

Women have been the especial focus of training programs that entitle them to receive small loans and thereby have an opportunity to achieve economic independence. The program has since proved extremely successful. The women's groups continue to organize themselves independently and some banks are now queuing up to issue loans.

Education and career training for young people: 

One key aspect of the Trust's current development work involves offering apprenticeship places and financial support for young people to obtain secondary education qualifications. The Trust's current goal is to set up 50 independent apprenticeships for the subjects of IT, electrical work, joinery, tailoring and assistant nurse. Apprenticeships take between three months and two years to complete. The Trust also aims to fund scholarships for schoolchildren to attend the three years of secondary schooling.