Dear friends,

Seven years have passed since we started our journey on the Asha freeway. We have accomplished a lot in these short years. We are living proof that a group of people, united by their commitment, can make a strong impact on basic education in India. With every passing year we are gaining momentum through our remarkably creative efforts.

Take a look at our web page and notice the number and nature of projects we are working on today. About 300 of us volunteers are involved in 30 projects all over India! Together we are reaching out to children with the most challenging backgrounds. Blind children, abandoned children, slum dwelling kids, children in remote hills, tribal children, children of commercial sex workers, all receive our care. By taking responsibility for their education we are sending a strong message across the globe that there is hope for humanity.

Let us remember the driving force behind our positive results. Firstly, there is outstanding personal leadership. This tells me that Asha's heart is in the right place. Asha volunteers comprise a progressive, global team with actions that transcend borders.

Second, being an action group, we go one step beyond coming up with lofty ideas. We go out and execute them. Thirdly, the Internet: like no other volunteer generation before us we have a tool to network, integrate and direct our energies. We are riding at the very forefront of the Internet wave. Our highly successful Work-an-hour event is one stellar example that encompasses all of the above qualities.

As we welcome the New Year, I wish to give you my perspective on where we are heading. Asha is now a fast growing non-profit organization beginning to receive international attention. Next year, following the first All India Asha meeting on Dec 22nd, we will begin to work more closely with dedicated volunteers in India. This will give a tremendous boost to our ability to find and monitor projects in India. With many exciting new activities planned, the critical mass within Asha will expand. Our collective decision making that involves each Asha member will further strengthen and extend the freeway out into the future.

Thanks to every volunteer, visible and invisible, we are doing exceedingly well. Let us continue on our journey along the Asha freeway.

D P

(D Prakash, President, Asha for Education)

Volunteers are Asha's biggest assets. Hundreds of people from different parts of the US and India have made time to take some action for education in India. Their ideas, energy and can do spirit have made Asha what it is today.
 

The ghostly group at Stanford's Halloween bash.  Volunteers at Stanford & Berkeley were instrumental in setting up the Asha web site and in getting Asha for Education registered as a non-profit organization.

Volunteers perform all kinds of functions: from creating web pages to visiting village schools in India, from keeping track of finances to cooking food for events. Most importantly, they enjoy volunteering and always have fun while doing the work! Please contact your local chapter if you wish to become an Asha volunteer.
 

Melli, Srikanth and Vinay posing for a photo at MIT.  Vinay chairs the monthly meetings, Srikanth and Melli are active in the Projects & Strategy groups. Along with Seattle, MIT is one of the most organized Asha chapters. A visit to the chapter web page makes that evident. The Work an Hour program originated at Asha MIT.

Shailen, the Ashanet web whiz at Berkeley.  Shailen maintains the extensive Asha web pages and dreams up new ways to leverage the power of the Internet.

Depending on your interest and free time, you can enlist for any number of Asha "employment" opportunities. One time volunteer opportunities abound at fundraising events. We always need people to man Asha booths at events, or to help sell tickets, put up flyers and cook/serve food.
 

Aditi, Asha NYC/NJ's youngest member! She got a mention in the local newspaper for asking her friends to make donations to Asha in lieu of birthday presents. She raised $600 from this unique fundraiser.

Vidhi, Sharmila, Mohan and Murali at work during the annual India Day activities at Madison.  Volunteers sell Asha merchandize (T-shirts, mugs) and raise awareness about Asha and education at such events.

You can put your PR skills at work by being a liaison for local TV/Radio stations and print media. You can help spread Asha's message of hope to a much wider audience by doing feature stories about Asha.
    Most Asha chapters are not entirely India-centric in their outlook. They also believe in helping the local community. Computer literacy programs run by organizations such as NETDAY can help put your computer skills to use. A variety of students need training for basic applications such as Word and Excel.
    You could visit Asha projects in India and meet teachers, children, parents and administrators, thus providing us with first hand information of project activities and providing you with an opportunity to get acquainted with the project beneficiaries.
 
 

Holding the banner aloft at the annual India Day parade in New York.

The group at LA after a productive meeting! Asha LA came up with the revolutionary Asha Star concept.

 

Our relationship with some of our earlier projects was strengthened by means of continued participation and interest in its success. New methods of support were explored for child literacy activities that formed part of multi-faceted child development programs carried out by collaborating NGOs. Some of the projects involve cooperation with other social service organizations in tackling related issues of child labor and problems facing the girl child.

All the projects, irrespective of its size and geographic location, are a result of personal involvement, careful evaluation, and close monitoring by numerous dedicated Asha volunteers.
 

Located at Nedumbaram and Arungulam villages outside Madras, the CDDP project runs an evening school for children who rear cattle during the day. The children are taught basic literacy skills, arithmetic and awareness of health and environment. For most of the children, this is their first exposure to a school.

Basic Education
Enabling children to develop the skills of reading, writing and knowledge of numeracy and basic sciences formed a major goal of most of our projects. This involved development of school infrastructure, provision of supplies, educational aids, and at times designing curriculum for children. Along with education, the health and nutritional needs of the targeted children were also met by means of mid-day meals and health check-up schemes.
 

Prerana has come up with an innovative scheme to provide impetus to the process of setting up Government schools in school-less villages in Raichur district, Karnataka. The idea is to first set up schools there, enlisting the support of local villagers. The villagers are extremely enthusiastic about seeing their kids go to school and hence are willing to partly support the school, as well as pressure the Government to set up a school in their village. The project involves 12 villages and educates 2,000 children.

 
Non-formal Education
Making education relevant to the rural conditions with an optimum use of scarce resources has led to the development of non-formal teaching methods. The entire syllabus and teaching methodology is tailored to the needs of the local populace. Knowledge is inculcated not by rote but by comprehension. Classes are held at convenient to children who come from poor families in the villages (eg. families of laborers). Cultural skills like music, drama, dance etc. are also emphasized in addition to necessary reading and writing skills. The goal is to motivate the children and help them develop their talents and interests. The success of such methods of education can be seen in Asha supported projects at Tiruvannamalai-Sambuvarayar, TN and Andharmanik, WB. For spastic children, polio victims, deaf and dumb children of the Appropriate Learning Project in Bangalore, Karnataka, non-formal education also includes occupational, physio-, speech and special therapy.

 

The Vigyanvahini Project runs a mobile science laboratory to demonstrate scientific experiments to students in the rural and backward areas of Maharashtra while explaining natural phenomena from a scientific perspective and giving information on health and hygiene.

 

Facilitating Access to Education
To ensure equal opportunities of education to all, various economic, social and geographical barriers need to be overcome. For the children of tribal communities near Wadgaon, Maharashtra, a hostel attached to the school helps them to focus attention on their education, which otherwise would not have been possible given their nomadic community lifestyle. In the Lokshala Project at Hoshangabad district, MP, supported by Asha and UNICEF, local communities are mobilized to influence the government to open schools in their villages. In Kunthigram, Karnataka, SODWAC conducts tutorials to motivate girls to stay in school and also provides them informal exposure to nutrition and health care.
 

The Neelbagh residential school in Bangalore provides children of migrant families a good environment to grow in along with good education, food, medicare and a caring staff to nurture them.

 

Community Involvement  This year, the active involvement and interest of the Indian community within the US in promoting educational efforts in India was seen in a greater number of projects being supported by "Asha Stars". The "Asha Stars" concept affords a convenient method for individuals to share their knowledge and financial resources in tackling specific educational projects in India. Such projects enable a greater level of personal involvement and interaction between the donors and direct beneficiaries. This increased community involvement helps in transforming child education from a mission statement to a more potent, widespread and sustaining movement.

 

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