E.J. Manimaran straps on his back pack and leaves his house most days around 5:30 am. He walks fifteen minutes to the closest bus stop. He rides fifteen minutes to the urban train station. From there its only twenty minutes by rail to his job as a copy editor for a large publishing company. His specialty is editing or translating business training manuals.
If he works hard and fast, E.J. is able to leave his cubicle around 2:30-3:00 in the afternoon. Three days each week, E.J. says that’s when his real work begins.
Depending on the location, E.J. travels another hour or two by bus, train, auto rickshaw, or motorbike to reach a slum or rural area near the city. In his backpack he carries 4 to 6 laptop computers, often with a small projector. His destination is usually a church or rented store front. For the next 3-4 hours there he will teach eager young people basic computer knowledge and skills.
Two or three students will crowd around each laptop, patiently waiting their turn to apply E.J.’s lesson for that day. They are excited and happy. This is the only way they have ever been able to actually touch a computer and learn a skill which could change their life and the lives of their families.
It will take a month or a little longer, working three nights each week. At the at the end of this simple course, E.J. will provide each student a L.I.O.N. India state certified graduation certificate. With this proof of their new training, every student will be able to get a job.
Only a few weeks earlier, such a job would only be a dream for them or their families. Now they will be able to earn each week as much or more as their parents.
On those nights it is a long ride home again for E.J. He will face another early morning. But if you ask him, he will tell you that he is very happy. This is his most important mission for the last five years. He is a L.I.O.N. leader. He knows that in Jesus’ name he has encouraged and equipped others out of poverty and into the hope of a new life!
During 2018, E.J. and his team conducted L.I.O.N. basic computer training in 12 locations for young people living in extreme poverty. The total number of their graduates this year is 84. L.I.O.N. has such teams currently active in only four strategic areas of India: Chennai, Dhanbad, Kolkata, Ludhiana.
It is our goal to double that number in the coming year.