Work An Hour for Education:  In the 51st year of India’s independence, over half of her billion people are not able to read or write. On August 14th, thousands of people across the country (and the world!) will participate in a global virtual event to help improve the situation. On the 14th, between 9 and 10 AM, these thousands will donate an hour’s pay to support the cause of education in India.  The Work an Hour program is a unique way of achieving ASHA’s twin objectives: raising funds and awareness. Over the past 7 years, more and more people have realized the power of education. Their donations have changed the lives of scores of children in schools across India. Education has helped fight the evils of poverty, disease and exploitation.   The Work an Hour program is going to take these efforts a step further. This is ASHA’s first campaign on a national scale and volunteers are reaching out to thousands with ASHA’s message of hope. This will be ASHA’s biggest fund-raiser to date. Over 200 people had already donated $10,000 by August 4th.   The proceeds from this program will be used for the Ballia project. The project is being run by Dr. Sandeep Pandey, who helped found ASHA at Berkeley in 1991. Details of the project are presented overleaf.    Berkeley & Stanford, Aug 23rd,  Fremont   Contact SKI (510 649 3018) or   Mouli (408 730 1861) ASHA Berkeley and Stanford will have a booth at the Independence day mela at Fremont. The Federation of Indian Associations is organizing the event. Chicago, August,  Washington Park.  Contact Kushal (773 325 2925) The future US cricket team? You can spot budding Tendulkars and Srinaths at the cricket tournament being organized by ASHA Chicago.  Asha-ites are also volunteering at the Indo-American Center to paint the center and to teach computer classes. Indiana, Oct 3rd,  College Park Baptist Church.  Contact Kumar (317 582 1306) Taste of India! This year, ASHA Indiana is going to have a variety of Indian food, all sorts of entertainment, Indian games and Indian items for sale. Entrance is $2, the event begins at 10 AM and ends at 4 PM. MIT, Aug 21st,  Mindess Middle School, Ashland.  Contact Vinay (617 225 9828) The Thillai fine arts academy and ASHA MIT present Desh: A thematic Bharatnatyam performance which pays homage to India’s moral and spiritual legacy. Desh premiered in Madras in Dec’97 and has won rave reviews. Seattle, Aug 29th,   Mahatma Gandhi Center.  Contact Jayashree (425 868 9819) ASHA Seattle is organizing ‘Chotti si ASHA’, an event for children with painting, creative writing, scavenger hunts etc.  St. Louis, Aug 15th,   Mahatma Gandhi Center.  Contact Garima (314 863 8286) The Indian Association is organizing an Independence day celebration at the Gandhi center in St. Louis. ASHA St. Louis is putting up a food stall at the venue. Madison, July 31st,   Memorial Union,  Contact Sastry (608 250 9357) ASHA Madison is screening Baazigar at the Memorial Union, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison. The movie starts at 7:30 PM and there is no entrance fee. The screening is being used to publicize the Work an Hour program.   ASHA Project Activity:     Kaksha, Uttar Pradesh  This project aims at developing basic infrastructure in a remote school in Koundada, U.P. ASHA-Indianapolis has provided $1500 to build a roof, toilets and boundary wall in a municipal school. These improvements will benefit 80-100 school children.  Hope in the Hills, Karnataka  This project managed by the Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra caters to the Soliga tribals in the Biligiri Ranganna Hill range in Mysore district. ASHA-LA has provided $4736 to educate children for whom the local schools are too distant. The project is also being helped in its vocational training program.  Nellai Project, Tamil Nadu  ASHA Berkeley has provided $3400 to this project to establish crèches at five drought-prone villages in Tirunelveli district. The crèches will help the mothers to work and encourage the older girls to be sent to school rather than taking care of their younger siblings. Besides elementary education, the nurseries also provide nutritious meals.  Vir Prathamic Shala, Maharashtra  This elementary school in Vir village, Konkan district is run by the Vir Gram Vikas Mandal. ASHA-RTP has given a one time grant of $1500 to provide building materials for the school, educational materials, furniture and laboratory equipment.  Champa Mahila Soc., West Bengal  The society runs non-formal schools in the Basanti area of the Sunderbans. Children are taught lessons, games, paintings, songs and recitation. ASHA-Seattle has provided $1750 to cover salary, medicines and educational materials at 10 schools. This project benefits 250 children from the agricultural community.  SPOTLIGHT:   Ballia Project, Uttar Pradesh      This project encompasses schools in Reoti, a semi-rural town in Ballia district and nearby villages of Bhainsaha, Gaighat, Kusher and Dhaturi Tolla. Dr. Sandeep Pandey, one of the founders of ASHA at Berkeley, provides guidance for education and other social service activities in Ballia district.  The school in Reoti caters to about 400 students, from kindergarten to grade 8. On an experimental basis, the first class (kindergarten) is now being taught according to the syllabus developed by ASHA.   At Bhainsaha, a permanent structure has been constructed for the school with ASHA-Berkeley’s financial support. Overcoming the politics of caste, this school built with community involvement now has around 60 students, some of whom are from the nearby villages of Bhisia and Rakham.   ASHA Berkeley and Seattle initiated the Support A Child program to provide basic education, medical care, uniforms and meals to underprivileged students. The teachers and children are encouraged to develop vocational skills such as making candles, incense sticks, bed covers and cushion covers. ASHA is also setting up a laboratory at Sikshaniketan, a school in Dhaturi Tolla village.  The Ballia project is an excellent example of ASHA’s efforts in promoting community participation in educational activities, thereby furthering its objective of building a just social order and a self-reliant society.   If you would like to contribute to this project, please contact Bhaskaran Raman at 510 644 1906.

 
 
 

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