Conference Theme and Motivation 

The theme for this conference in the 12th year of Asha was consolidation. We felt it was time to reflect and think about what we had done well, and what we could do better going forward. One of the key things we wanted to do was to improve decision making within Asha. We also felt a need to connect with recently concluded conferences (Bangalore, Timbaktu, Princeton) so that we could continue a single thread of thought as a group. Finally, all of us felt a need to connect a little more with activities at Asha India so that we could work together closely and more efficiently.
One (unnamed) volunteer said it well:
".. after all people just don't come to a conference to argue and fight, we also come here to learn something.." - circa 2003

Schedule at a Glance 

Abstracts 

T111. Registration and Breakfast

Please make sure you register and get your labels, conference agenda etc..
Registration Contacts: (i) Priya Suryanarayanan (ii) Nidhi Chaudhary
The picky twins at NYC/NJ, Tara Bhandari and Bhawna 'Thats a W' Ojha have put together a fun ice-breaker (details awaited :)).
Location: Lobby outside the main auditorium

T112. Overview of Day 1

General information on proceedings: Specifically:
- Introductions
- General Outline of Day 1
- Time Management, Session Management
- Food Arrangements, General guidelines
Location: Main Auditorium

T113. Asha World Today

A summarization and consolidation of various Asha chapters and activities for a better understanding of what is happening in Asha as a whole.
Nature of the session: Presentation + some discussion  
Presenters: (i) Melli Annamalai
Reading: (i) Asha World Today (ppt)
Duration: 45 minutes
Objective:
(i) briefly summarize Asha-world wide activities today.
(ii) touch upon points where where we (worldwide Asha chapters) are in harmony and points where we aren't.
(iii) Mention key points in working together, these can be in mind during the rest of the conference and will be concretized on the third day.
(iv) Attempt to understand where Asha as a whole is going today (what do we mean by socio-economic change, where are we headed?). This last point is the discussion point. The goal is not to lead to a decision per se, but to lead to a better understanding of what we are all thinking.

T114. Asha Strategy

There has been a lot of discussion on Asha's goals, but never a discussion on Asha's strategy, i.e. how we will achieve these goals. While it is true that Asha's goals aren't very specific or well defined, all volunteers do agree with Asha's general direction. This session will address the issue of how we can even go ahead in that general direction. We will explore Asha's strengths, weaknesses, differences from other groups, etc. and come to a better understanding of Asha as an organization. Based on this understanding we can devise Asha's strategy, which in turn will help refine our goals into more explicit short term goals.
Nature of the session: Presentation & Discussion  
Moderator: (i) Prithvi Prabhu
Reading: Asha Strategy Case
Duration: 1.25 hours
Objective: 
(i) Understand how Asha adds value in India and what's unique about Asha
(ii) Devise Asha's strategy based on this understanding
(iii) Come up with short term tactical goals that will help Asha reach its long term goals

Poster Session on Media Kit and Asha Database (Lunch Break)

Media Kit
Nature of the session: Poster
Presenter: Minali Balaram
Reading:
Duration: 5-15 minutes
Objective:

Asha Database - Find out what is the Asha Database. Central repository of information on projects, chapters, funding, volunteers, donations, stars, documents, and more. Some stats - the DB currently contains 35 entities, 61 relationships, 434 attributes, n342 projects, 51 chapters, 1026 documents
Nature of the session: Poster
Presenter: (i) Shailen Mistry
Reading: Asha Database (ppt)
Duration: 5-15 minutes
Objective: Share information on the Asha Database
(i) Understand how the Asha DB adds value for chapters and as an organization
(ii) Discuss with chapters on how to use the DB
(iii) Come up with a list of needed modifications and features

T115-1. Projects Review Process

To develop project metrics to assess the impact of Asha's funding towards accomplishing its mission of catalyzing socio-economic change.
Nature of the session: Presentation/Group Activity/Discussion  
Moderator: (i) Ajay Dalmia (ii) Milind Mehere
Reading: Project Metrics (ii)Mission and Metrics (pdf) (iii) Project Metrics (pdf) (iv) Presentation (ppt)
Duration: 1 hour
Objective: 
(i) Gain buy-in on the broad category of measures
(ii)Gain buy-in on the metrics under each cateogory of measure
(iii)Outline a process to standardize and roll-out project measures and metrics across chapters

T115-2. Publicity/Fundraising: Best Practices

The purpose of this session is for chapters to share their successful publicity practices with other chapters, so that other chapters can leverage these methods. Nature of the session: Presentation followed by Q and A  
Moderator: (i) Jayashree Janardhan: Towards a sustainable donor base (Seattle)
Moderator: (ii) TBD: TBD (Silicon Valley)
Moderator: (iii) Bhawna Ojha: Corporate Sponsors and Targeting Media (NYC/NJ)
Moderator: (iv) TBD: TBD (Colorado)
Reading: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv)
Duration: 1 hour
Objective: 
(i) For chapters who have effective publicity methods to share these with other chapters.

T115-3. Operational Expenses

All chapters of Asha are required to submit annual operational budget to Admin Working Group. I will share our experience with collection of this data for year 2002. Asha's current policy on Operational Expenses is posted on http://www.ashanet.org/library/op-exp-baseline-doc.html and will be updated every three months based on the discussion with Asha treasurers, chapter coordinators, and admin working group (includes any interested volunteer).
Nature of the session: Discussion 
Moderator: (i) Sirish Agarwal
Reading: (i) Current Policy (ii) Reading 2
Duration: 1 hour
Objective: 
(i) Summarize and analyze the current Operational expenses and revenues data obtained from Asha chapters
(ii) Formalize procedures for collection of this data in future
(iii) Identify the procedures for assuring Asha official policy is known and followed by all chapters

T116. Organizational Structure within Asha

Asha has grown over the past 12 years with almost no formal structure, no written document, and very few hard and fast rules. Its philosophy has been that we will do the ‘right’ thing. This is one of the things many of us love about Asha. As we grow however, there have been some issues/incidents that make some of us feel that articulating some of guidelines will make things easier. I believe now (if I may extrapolate based on emails I get and discussions I see) that there a group of volunteers believe the current mode of functioning – no structure or written guidelines is best, while some others feel it is too chaotic, and some basic structure, and some articulation of some of guidelines will be helpful in making Asha more efficient, and more able to focus on the work instead of organizational issues that come up. I think it is a good idea to discuss these two different sets of thought at the conference. It has led to frustration in both groups, and a discussion might help clear things.
Nature of the session: Discussion (document will be circulated on mailing lists beforehand)  
Moderator: (i) Melli Annamalai
Reading: (i) Presentation (ppt) (ii) For Strucuture (Melli, ) (iii) Against Structure (Shyam, )
Duration: 1 hour
Objective: 
To have a discussion on whether we need a more formal structure, and if so what that structure should be. The issues that will be touched upon are:
(i) Constitution and bye-laws - should some of our unwritten guidelines be incorporated into the constitution or as a document that is in some form binding on our work?
(ii) Roles of various office-bearers (at the Asha-wide and chapter level)
(iii) Elections of office-bearers: for example, should they represent different components of Asha (projects, publicity, fundraising), should asha-wide nominations be by chapters ?

Poster Session on Asha as a Lobby Group and Time Management (Tea Break)

Lobby Group
Nature of the session: Poster
Presenter:
Reading:
Duration: 5-15 minutes
Objective:

Time Management and Asha - Do you ever feel like Asha is taking up all your time? Do you need help on how to manage your time doing Asha work? Then this presentation is for you. It will cover how to manage your time better. Methods of time management for email, prioritization, task breakdowns, and planning/organizing will be covered.
Nature of the session: Poster
Presenter: (i) Shailen Mistry
Reading: Time Management and Asha (ppt)
Duration: 5-15 minutes
Objective: Manage your time volunteering for Asha better
(i) Learn how to manage your email, set priorities, and set aside a specific time for Asha tasks
(ii) Use time management methods like "pizza slices"
(iii) Discuss time management, where volunteers spend the most time, what tasks need to be done, and how to be more productive

T117. Decision Making

There has been a lot of lamentation of the fact that decision making within Asha is a long and laborious process when it does occur, and in most cases we actually don't end up making a decision. Asha's culture of being non-hierarchical dissuades people from strongly stating their views on topics and moving the group towards a decision. Efforts have been kicked off to address this issue. This session will share the results of these efforts to devise a better, more efficient decision making process for Asha while balancing our culture of being non-hierarchical.
Nature of the session: Presentation  
Moderator: (i) Prithvi Prabhu
Reading: (i) Decision Making Proposal (ii)Forms 1. Initiation 2. Decision 3. Delegation
Duration: 1 hour
Objective: 
(i) Share the recommendations of the decision making yahoogroup for Asha's decision making process
(ii) Gain buy in amongst the attendees for the process

T118-1. Technology and Development

We will begin with a brief review of the learning curve in Asha over the last 12 years to get a perspective of where we started, where we are today and where we are headed. We will examine the direct and indirect technology-based enablers that are needed to facilitate the long term objectives of Asha. Case studies from 7 years of experience in asha-computers focus group will be presented highlighting insights obtained through Udavum Karangal, SchoolNet, World Computer Exchange, n-logue partnerships. Large scale projects in the horizon will be discussed including networking of over 200 Asha supported projects in India, eMentoring 300 kiosk operators in rural India, development of Asha India IT infrastructure and establishment of Asha Media Labs.
Nature of the session: Presentation and Q & A  
Moderator: (i) D P Prakash
Reading: (i) A Great Indian Dream (ii) Reading 2
Duration: 1 hour
Objective: 
(i) A summary of Asha's efforts in using technology in its projects, achievements and lessons learnt.

T118-2. Asha and Secularism

Asha will work with only non-sectarian groups having no religious and political affiliations and which do not discriminate on the basis of caste, creed, religion or sex. In the light of this Guideline of Asha we will attempt to examine our relationship with secularism as a value in the context of two events. The first concerns the controversy that was generated after Sandeep Pandey's statements when he got the Magsaysay Award last year and second concerns a recent report against an Indian American Charity. Both these events produced a lot of negative publicity for Asha and have forced a lot of us in different chapters in Asha to rethinking the relationship between funding projects in India's education and secularism. This session is not an attempt at challenging Asha's relationship with secularism but an attempt at strengthening our commitment to secularism.
Nature of the session: Presentation & Discussion  
Moderator: (i) Ashish Chadha (ii) Melli Annamalai
Reading: (i) Discussion on Communalism (pdf) (Stanford) (ii) Diversity (pdf) (iii) Groups with Religious Affiliations
Duration: 1 hour
Objective: 
We will NOT get into the intricacies of the above two events but will use it as a pretext to discuss issues that have emerged from these controversies:
(i) Asha and projects we fund
(ii) Asha and type of education we support
(iii) Asha and politics of violence

T118-3. Who is an Asha Volunteer

Recent political events have led to several non-Asha volunteers hijacking our lists and claiming to speak on behalf of Asha. This has harmed our reputation for being apolitical and above petty infighting. This session will discuss the need for making a decision on who is and isn't an Asha volunteer. Initial discussions on the process for "certifying" volunteers will also be held. Again, this is an issue where we need to balance effectiveness with our culture of being non-hierarchical.
Nature of the session: Discussion with Action Items  
Moderator: (i) Nilanjan Adhya
Reading: (i) Motivation and Problem Statement
Duration: 1 hour
Objective: 
(i) Understand the need for this session
(ii) Define the roles and responsibilities of an Asha volunteer
(iii) Devise a process to officially "name" a person as an Asha volunteer

T222. Overview of Day 2

General information on proceedings: Specifically:
- Lessons from Day 1
- General Outline of Day 2
- Time Management, Session Management
- Food Arrangements, General guidelines
Location: Main Auditorium

T223. Working with Projects - External Perspectives

This session will make an attempt to present an understanding of the context of two stakeholders in the development process - the village community and civil society institutions - in order to critically reflect on the roles defined/expected of the latter. This in turn will help to provide a framework for locating "best practice techniques" of various development associations/projects within the socio-political dynamics of the communities within which they occur. In this context, we also need to consider the relationship of the donor (in this case, Asha) with the organization seeking funds. In short, from the other side of the table. Nature of the session: Presentation and Q & A  
Moderator: (i) Swati Sircar
Presenter: (i) Poonam Abbi
Reading: (i) Topic Overview (ii) Micropolitics of Development (iii) Empowering A Civil Society
Duration: 1 hour
Objective: 
(i) Understand the issues faced by the people at ground zero
(ii) The reality check
(iii) Closer look at the civil society institutes

T224. Publicity - Internal Standards

(i)Current logo is good for "an action group for basic education in India", but does not encompass our mission of bringing about socioeconomic change through the education of underprivileged children in India". We need something to repesent us for the next couple of decades. Idea to have a discussion on the features that the logo must represent on the publicity egroup - then contact a few design schools, or colleges in the US/India to come up with 3 final designs that we can choose at the conference.
(ii)Tag-line voted for in Sept 2001 different from current tagline (plus Seattle, Stanford etc. are using their own versions of the tag-line, while other chapters continue to use "an action group for basic education in India) - maybe we can come up with more keywords after we define socioeconomic change and then close this discussion.
(iii)Consistent messaging will be based on the tag-line, mission, as well as how we feel we want to depict ourselves as an organization - zero-overhead/mininal overhead, zero-hierarchy/minimal hierarchy, etc.
Nature of the session: Workshop/ Panel Discussion/Presentation followed by decision in conjunction with the web team  
Moderator: (i) Minali Balaram
Reading: (i)
Duration: 1 hour
Objective: 
(i) Standardization across Asha for Education on logo, tagline and messaging

Poster Session on Asha Akshar (Lunch Break)

Asha Akshar
Nature of the session: Poster
Presenter: Radha Ganesan
Reading:
Duration: 5-15 minutes
Objective:

T225-1. An Ongoing Publicity Strategy: Outreach and New Initiatives

This session outlines proposed future initiatives to increase Asha's outreach.
(i) Milind Mehere: How to involve high-school students
(ii) Netika Raval: Ongoing asha-wide publicity - Multimedia effort - Asha film - Hi-res pictures - $$ for publicity
(iii) Karpagam Thyagarajan: Organizing events at Asha chapters overseas
Description of the types of events Asha-London has organized. This topic will also try and talk about events organized by other European Asha chapters. Suggestions for ways to increase collaboration (events/publiity/projects) between European and US chapters.
Nature of the session:
(i) Presentation followed by discussion (ii) Discussion and action items (iii) Presentation
Reading: (i) (ii) (iii)
Duration:
(i)15-20 minutes (ii)15-20 minutes (iii)15-20 minutes
Objectives: 
(i) Involve student population across the US in Asha for Education's activities
(ii) The purpose of this session is to formulate an ongoing asha-wide publicity strategy to increase awareness of what exactly we do, increase participation, etc. This session will be a moderated discussion. (PR throughout the year - not just when we have an event)
(iii)The purpose of this presentation is to try to bring about more coordination between chapters in the US and Europe in organizing events/publicity etc.

T225-2. Working with the Government Schooling System

The reach of govt. schools is well known amongst Asha volunteers. 90% of the population is within one mile of a govt. primary school. But we also know well the problems with govt. schools. Poor infrastructure, poor quality of teaching, poor teacher-student ratio, are just some of the problems. To bring about large scale change in education in India, we have to improve the working of government schools. It would be impossible for an NGO to match the reach of the government (there are 45,000 govt. primary schools in the State of Karnataka alone). Instead of replicating the system, we should try and improve the system.
It is not that the govt. has done nothing. There have been several good policies and initiatives. But these don't achieve the expectations because of a variety of reasons, which vary from region to region, from school to school. A group such as Asha can identify at the microlevel the problems with a given govt. school and work to fix them. Many state governments have instituted schemes in the last few years to make such interventions workable.
The adopt-a-school program of the Karnataka govt. is one such scheme. A couple of chapters are working such projects in Karnataka, and the presentation will go into detail into one of them. Asha-MIT/Boston and Asha-Madison along with the Vivekananda Foundation have adopted 72 govt. schools in Chamarajanagar district (called the Viveka-Asha Yojane) and Asha-SV is supporting Swami Viveka Youth Movement (SVYM) to adopt the all the 320+ schools in H.D. Taluk in Mysore district. Some interesting lessons are being learnt and will be shared with others during the session. Some other initiatives in Karnataka are Siskhana, and Citizen's Initiative for Elementary Education , which will also be discussed. We will also discuss initiatives in other states.
Nature of the session: Presentation (20-25 min) + Discussion (35 min)
Moderator: (i) Melli Annamalai
Reading: (ii)Presentation(ppt) (ii)From Asha-10(pdf) (iii) Effective Government Schools (iv) Can Neelamma Finish her Schooling
Duration: 1 hour
Objectives: 
(i) Understand the importance of improving the goverment schooling system
(ii) Examine progress in a couple of such projects
(iii) Discuss other initiatives that can be undertaken

T225-3. Working with Projects - Internal Perspectives

This session will address the various aspects of interacting with our partner groups. Being in Asha means you are continuously learning & growing. That's thanks to our close ties with our projects. We have established Asha as a partner in development rather than just a source of funding to the groups we work with. How to keep it that way & make it better & more effective - that's what we are going to discuss.
Nature of the session: Presentation and Q & A  
Moderator: (i) Swati Sircar
Presenter : (i) Swati Sircar (ii) Prasanna Pendse
Reading: (i) Presentation (ii) Reading 225-3
Duration: 1 hour
Objective: 
(i) To share best practices
(ii) Identify problem areas in working with our projects today & how to fix them?
(iii) To share personal experiences in interaction with projects

T226. Feedback from Chapters

The chapters will briefly discuss their activities, their problems, what help they would like from the rest of Asha.
Nature of the session: Discussion  
Moderator: (i) Yash Warke
Reading: (i)
Duration: 1 hour
Objective: 
(i) To hear from relatively small and new chapters, and satellite chapters.

Poster Session on Micro-credit and Self Help (Tea Break)

Micro-credit and Self Help - We have observed while working with our project partners that we often need to initiate economic/income generation activities in the communities for sustainable development and the ability of the community to avail of the education opportunities. This poster gives a glimpse of some of efforts within Asha.
Nature of the session: Poster
Presenter: Sundar Kumar Iyer on behalf of Kadirvelu Sundaram
Reading: : Self Help Group (ppt)
Duration: 5-15 minutes
Objective: Describe methods of micro-credit and self help for projects in India.

T227-1. Chapter Coordinator Practices

A follow up session from the East coast conference, this session aims to share best practices in chapter coordination.
Nature of the session: Presentation followed by discussion  
Moderator: (i) Shyam Raghunandan
Presenters: (i) Shyam Raghunandan (ii) Prasanna Pendse
Reading: (i) Best Practices (ppt)
Duration: (i) 1 hour
Objective: 
(i) Discuss chapter coordinator best practices in terms of goal setting, volunteers, etc.

T227-2. Webmaster - Best Practices - Presentation

This session will cover ways that your chapter could, and in most cases, "should" use the potential of the web and everything that goes with it to help your chapter, your projects, and your donors.
Nature of the session: Presentation followed by Q&A  
Moderator: (i) Shailen Mistry
Reading:
(i) Website Standards
(ii)Projects Database
(iii)Projects Template
Duration: 1 hour
Objective: 
(i) If you are the webmaster or on the web-team at your chapter, you really should come to session. But any volunteer interested in finding out how your chapter can harness the potential of the web, please do attend this session.

T227-3. Projects Distribution and Prioritization

Currently we receive many more projects than we review and fund. Should we prioritize based on some criteria - such as region (states with acute need), immediate nature of the need (man-made or natural calamity), small and community based groups, etc. One specific example of prioritization is earmarking a small percentage of general funds for education related needs in the aftermath of a calamity (for example after the Gujarat riots there were some proposals for rebuilding of schools, we sometimes get proposals from Kashmir, we got school rebuilding proposals after the earthquake) - it is sometimes not appropriate to put them in the general queue.
Nature of the session: Discussion  
Moderator: (i) Ashish Chadha
Reading: (i) Reading 227-3 (i) Presentation (ppt)
Duration: 1 hour
Objective: 
(i) To evolve some guidelines on how to priortize projects at an asha-wide level

T228-1. Fundraising - Events and New Ideas

Provide a primer on how to plan/conduct big events, novel ideas for small fundraisers to get going especially for smaller chapters.
Nature of the session: Presentations followed by Q and A/Discussion  
Moderator: (i) Shyam Raghunandan/Prasanna Pendse
Presenter 1: (i) Badrish Krishnan: Asha Quiz at CNJ
Presenter 2: (ii) Shyam Raghunandan: Large-Scale Events
Reading: (i) Presentation 1 (ii) Presentation 2
Duration: 1 hour
Objective: 
(i) How can chapters that are starting up move towards large successful fundraisers.
(ii) Understanding metrics for good fundraisers

T228-2. Projects Distribution and Prioritization

Currently we receive many more projects than we review and fund. Should we prioritize based on some criteria - such as region (states with acute need), immediate nature of the need (man-made or natural calamity), small and community based groups, etc. One specific example of prioritization is earmarking a small percentage of general funds for education related needs in the aftermath of a calamity (for example after the Gujarat riots there were some proposals for rebuilding of schools, we sometimes get proposals from Kashmir, we got school rebuilding proposals after the earthquake) - it is sometimes not appropriate to put them in the general queue.
Nature of the session: Discussion  
Moderator: (i) Ashish Chadha
Reading: (i) Reading 228-2 (i) Presentation (ppt)
Duration: 1 hour
Objective: 
(i) To evolve some guidelines on how to priortize projects at an asha-wide level

T228-3. New Initiatives - Project Directions at Asha

This session will cover the following initiatives  
Moderator:
(i) Radha Ganesan: Asha Akshar "Asha-Akshar" is unique in that it gives individuals like you and me the opportunity to make an immediate, tangible difference, in our own house. You will see the results of your efforts to eradicate illiteracy very directly: Take responsibility for the education of just one underprivileged child you, or your family, know-your servant maid's child or your car driver's child or the child of a rag-picker in your street or a wandering child from a slum nearby... In essence, you are pledging that you'll do your part to eliminate illiteracy from your own backyard. This is the vision of Asha-Akshar - very simple personal responsibility yet you make a profound difference.
(ii) Jayashree Janardhan: Learning Network Initiative The Learning network comprises groups and individuals in India who have come together to share, learn and disseminate their resources and knowledge. The network members are actively seeking and implementing methods and philosphies to make learning more effective, meaningful and joyful to the child. The network seeks to find ways in which problems with the existing education system can be overcome. The groups participating in this network work in different areas impacting the education experience of a child in school including innovative teaching/learning methodologies, differing philosophies on what education should accomplish, increasing community participation and ownership, working within government structures, creating educational resources etc. Asha for Education is one of the participating members of this network. This network was initiated at the "Alternatives in Education" in January 2003, in which 20 groups participated. This conference was organised by Asha.
(iii) Ajay Dalmia: Computer Shipments to Gujrat The Yale chapter successfully helped with shipping computers to SEWA in rural Gujarat. The computers have reached and SEWA is now in the process of rolling them out to villages. The presentation will cover the effort and steps involved in this.
(iv) Madhavan Narayanan: Books for Schools Recently volunteers of Asha worked with Tulika - a book publishing and resource center to coordinate sending books to 23 projects in India. Books were selected across various publishers in India and sent to the groups taking into account language, age group, special requirements, availability. Since then similar efforts are taking place. The presentation will describe what went into this effort and its effects and how similar efforts may be tried out.
(v) Jagdish Chander: Asha-Special The end goal is to trigger a chain reaction that brings large scale socio-economic change for persons with special needs in India. *Connected action* among persons with disabilities is being attempted perhaps for the first time. Each zone has a coordinator and each zonal project has a theme driven by ground realities. The asha-special focus group is coordinating this project worldwide. Work is in progress to cooperate with NGO partners wherever possible and initiate new ventures wherever necessary. Three visually impaired Asha volunteers are actively involved in coordinating this work, bringing tremendous awareness and making Asha an increasingly disability-friendly space. The presentation will also cover JAWS - an accessibility software for persons with visual impairment.
(i) Reading 1
(ii) Reading 2
(iii) Reading 3
(iii) Reading 4
(iii) Reading 5
Duration: (i) 15 minutes each
Objective: 
(i) Explore some new ideas and initiatives being implemented by Asha volunteers from different chapters

T333. Bhopal - The Struggles For Justice

Mr Sarangi has been involved in supporting the Bhopal activists since the day of the disaster in 1984. He is the administrator of the only clinic in Bhopal specifically designed to address the long term health impacts of the Bhopal survivors. The Sambhavna Clinic offers a unique combination of Allopathic, Ayurvedic and yoga treatments to patients. Mr. Sarangi’s work is the inspiration for the upcoming book by Dominique LaPierre, Five Minutes Past Midnight in Bhopal. Mr. Sarangi was a member of the first Bhopal delegation to come to the United States in 1989, where he attended the Union Carbide shareholders meeting. Nature of the session: Keynote Talk  
Moderator: (i) Melli Annamalai
Reading: (i)Bhopal: The struggle of the gas-affected continues
Duration: 1 hour

T334. Working with Asha India

Asha India chapters encompass a wide range of activities. It will be useful to understand these to see how best to work together as one entity. Some suggested modalities for working together:
(1) Site visits - what they can do and our responsiblities
(2) Working closely with a project
(3) Merchandise
Nature of the session: Informal Discussion with Q and A  
Moderator: (i) Shankar Srinivas
Participants: (i) Shankar Srinivas (ii) Sundar Kumar Iyer (iii) Melli Annamalai (iv) Subhashree
Reading: (i) About Asha-India
Duration: 1 hour
Objective: 
(i) To summarize various ways of effectively working together with Asha-India

Poster Session on Asha Stars (Lunch Break)

Asha Stars - To be able to make a significant difference on the ground, we need to work with dedicated and visionary grass-roots workers over a long term towards specific goals. The Asha Stars Projects are projects that make a difference. Asha needs to initiate and facilitate such projects across the country. Our target is to have at least one Asha Stars project in each district of India. A possible strategy is discussed in this poster.
Nature of the session: Poster
Presenter: Sundar Kumar Iyer (SKI)
Reading: Asha Stars Projects (ppt), Asha Star Info, List of 32 Asha Star Projects and 10 Zones
Duration: 5-15 minutes
Objective: Learn more about how Asha Stars works and the current status of the Asha Stars program.

T335-1. Asha Stars - Discussion and Future Directions

The focus of the discussion is to see how we can strenghten the zonal. I expect the zonal coordinator or someone nominated by them to present briefly any significant work done in the group and/or one example of zonal resource they plan to development which will be useful for Asha work - especially in setting up and supporting Asha Stars type project - in that particular zone.
(i) Sundar Kumar Iyer
Nature of the session:Presentation followed by moderated discussion
Reading: (i) Asha Stars (pdf, 350k)
Duration: 1 hour
Objectives: 
(i) The action item expected to come out of this meeting is a list of resources we can build for each zone and get them implemented by the next conference.

T335-3. Other Initiatives by Volunteers

These talks will cover some topics that volunteers are also involved with, as efforts not necessarily part of Asha.
Presenter:(i) Jayashree Janardhan
Nature of the session:Presentation followed by moderated discussion
Reading: (i) Water and Community Rights
Duration: 1 hour
Objectives: 
(i) Increase awareness of other issues.

Informal Sessions

Friday

Saturday

Recap of some recent conferences

Sunday

Monday

Guidelines 

Types of Sessions

a. Main sessions with everyone participating
b. Parallel sessions with about 30-40 people each
c. Informal sessions with a small group discussing a common topic of interest

Format of Sessions

a. Presentation/Information dissemination
b. Decision based on general consensus/vote or pending based on votes from missing chapters
c. Discussion followed by action items to be followed up

For Moderators

Moderator Guidelines (pdf)
NOTE: The time alloted for session includes start-up time for latecomers (plan for 5 minutes) and time to collate action items (recommend 5-10 minutes). Please plan accordingly.
NOTE: Please ensure that you have a minute-taker for your session, and a time-keeper. Please send shyam_raghunandan@yahoo.com, a note with who is going to take minutes for your session. This will help collating the post-conference items.
NOTE: Please note that keeping time is crucial. We are paying for the hall by the hour and we should close each session on time. Moderators are requested to keep this in mind at all times.

Format of Posters

Posters are to be assembled on the day on the conference. However you need to prepare for them ahead of time. Most likely we will use card-boards which can accomodate 6 to 8 A4 size pages. So plan your layout accordingly. Bring the print-outs along with you so that the only task left will be to paste them to the board. The purpose of the posters is to share information with everyone or introduce a new idea and not to make decisions or start debates. The following items may achieve these goals:
- A brief summary of the topic and the benefits of the idea.
- What has been done so far and where.
- What needs to be done.
- Contact information.
- References if any.

Previous Conferences 

Asha Summer Meet, 2003
Asha Alternative Education Conference at Bangalore, 2003
Asha-India Conference at Timbaktu, 2002
East Coast Conference at Princeton, 2002
Asha-10 Conference at Berkeley, 2001
Asha Conference at Boston, 1999
Asha Conference at Phoenix, 1997 (Action Items, doc file)