Ashok Pal, a Community College Initiative (CCI) Program 2014-15 alum, has made headlines in two of India’s papers. Read excerpts from the articles below.

The following excerpt was originally posted in The Economic Times.

US stint makes Kolkata street kid Ashok Pal an IT entrepreneur

KOLKATA: Brought up on the streets and railway stations of Kolkata, youngster Ashok Pal is now a budding IT entrepreneur after winning a scholarship to study at a USA community college in Miami.

Operating out of his modest rented room in Park Circus area, the 21-year-old’s start-up ” Sky Cursor” boasts of overseas clients for website development.

“I started it this year in June after coming back for a year-long course in IT at the Miami Dade College. It was during my study there that I got the inspiration and the knowhow on how to start my own unit…”

Read the rest at The Economic Times.

The following excerpt was originally posted in The Times of India.

From streets to US and hope

KOLKATA: Some of them grew up on the streets and railway platforms of Kolkata and Howrah, struggling to study and surviving on doles from NGOs. Yet they managed to study in USA and follow their dreams, thanks to the Community College Initiative Program (CCIP) run by the United States Department of State.

Ashok Pal, Zeeshan Ali, Pratap Kundu and Angela Bernedette Ryle are back in Kolkata after stints in American colleges, raring to change the lives of those around them. Ashok, Pratap and Bernadette, who were streetkids, are determined to work with underprivileged children.

Ashok, an orphan, was lucky to have been taken in by an NGO that sent him to a school …

Read the rest at The India Times.