CHAMPAIGN-URBANA INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN AWARD

Asha for Education ("Asha"), will receive the 2007 Champaign-Urbana International Humanitarian Award in the area of Humanitarian Relief on Thursday, October 18th in Champaign, Illinois. The cities of Champaign and Urbana will celebrate their 5th Annual Awards Program at the Hilton Garden Inn.

The honor will be accepted by the volunteers of the Asha Urbana-Champaign chapter. A letter citing the award congratulates Asha UIUC for their strong international commitment and their devotion to international development and relief. The citation states "...we would like to express our admiration for your humanitarian efforts around the world. It is with great pleasure that we honor you and present you with the Champaign-Urbana International Humanitarian Award."

These awards specifically honor significant contributions to international understanding, cooperation, friendship, and development and recognizes those organizations that educate the community about the connections between the local and global communities. Asha UIUC was started in 1999 and currently supports 7 projects. These include Balia Gram Unnayan Samity, a project that runs a preschool for children in the Balia District of West Bengal; Kalyan Sangha, a project that provides learning opportunities for children and vocational training for young women in impoverished areas in the Medinipur District of West Bengal, and Chilla, a home for the children of prostitution victims in Kerala.

Asha for Education is honored to receive this award.

ASHA FOR EDUCATION RECEIVES DR. ZAKIR HUSAIN AWARD

Asha for Education ("Asha"), received the Dr. Zakir Hussain Award Dr. Zakir Husain Award in Cleveland, Ohio on July 28th. Presented at the Aligarh Alumni Association annual meeting, the award is given each year to an individual or organization involved in selfless community service in India.

Divya Sridhar and Fehmida Kapadia from the Cleveland chapter of Asha accepted the award on behalf of the organization. They were invited to attend the meeting by Mr. Qamar Khan, President of AAA, and Mr. Zahid Siddiqi, President of the Cleveland chapter of AAA. Sridhar and Kapadia, long-time volunteers, made a presentation about the organization as well as local activities in Cleveland, including a dinner gala for donors, the Notes of Hope concert series, and an upcoming concert with a cappella group, Penn Masala. Asha Cleveland jump-started their chapter in 1996 and currently supports eight projects. These projects include Sanatan Rishikul Ashram Seva Trust (SRISHTI), a formal high school for children of tribal people in the Sambhalpur district of Orissa; Vidyarabam, a trust that created pre-primary and remedial centers in Tamil Nadu in the aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami; and Prayas, a project that seeks to provide quality primary education to children in the Chittaurgarh District of Rajastan.

Kapadia said, 'Asha was very warmly received and the response to us and our work was overwhelming. There were several individuals who approached us and discussed their own work, expressing an interest to collaborate in the future.'
Asha for Education is honored to have received this award.