ASHA: Meeting Minutes (6th May)

[Subramanya Sastry <sastry@cs.wisc.edu>]

Minutes for meeting on Thu, 6th May, at Dr.Ashok Bhargava's house
(4806, Waukesha St.) between 6:45 - 8:45 pm
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Attendees: Chandru, Murali, Param, Subbu, Venky (Ganti), Vidhi, Vinod,
           Ashok and Devi Bhargava, Madhusudhan and Sudha Joshi

[ PS: Apologies for the long minutes.  This was a very interesting and
       very fruitful meeting.  Accordingly, the minutes are as lengthy
       - Subbu ]

o Started off with a discussion about Asha, its goals, strategies, guidelines:
   -> Subbu, Murali & Vidhi provided Dr.Ashok Bhargava with an update of what
       has been going on with Asha thus far - what we do, the projects we
       support and the issues we are grappling with.
   -> Dr.Bhargava mentioned that his sister who is working in the area of
       education would be here and we could use this opportunity to speak with
       her and get a better idea of the ground realities in India.
   -> He also told us that he could get us in touch with people in IDS who
       had tackled many of the same issues as us much earlier (project
       guidelines, decision making, goals, etc.) and that it might be useful
       in that we might learn from them.  He mentioned the possibility of
       speaking with Dr.Anita Deshmukh in this context.
   -> The need for work in Asha to be as much of a "self-upliftment",
       educational and satisfying experience as much as anything else.
   -> Mrs.Devi Bhargava talked about the work that they were involved with
       and the personal satisfaction they derived out of it.  She talked
       about the development of ICA (Indians for Collective Action),
       the projects they funded and the fundraising activities they were
       involved in (dinner get-togethers that raised money).
   -> The need for mapping out our goals and strategies more clearly:
       o Raising awareness: Vinod mentioned that there was this idea of
          making presentations at schools.  Dr.Bhargava thought that this
          was a very good idea and would be very useful.  Mrs.Bhargava
          mentioned that many schools have established programs that would
          provide us with a framework to make presentations.
       o Getting more people from the Indian community involved with Asha:
          Murali (and others) mentioned the need for the Indian community
          involvement because of the transient student population.
          Dr.Bharagava felt that it is important to get their attention
          at one place for an extended period of time for this to happen.
          He mentioned the possibility of having an "Awareness Day" on which
          we get together Indian families at one place (he volunteered his
          house) and then talking, discussing with the group about Asha and
          its activities.
       o Mrs.Bhargava mentioned that we should co-sponsor (as in put in effort)
          events with the ISA and, this would prove useful in the long run.
          For example, the India Nite can prove to be a good fundraising event
          for Asha provided Asha people get involved with their activities and
          put in the effort.
       o Need for getting the 2nd generation Indian population involved with
          Asha.  They are very enthusiastic, have lots of energy and have good
          contacts with the Indian community.
       o Need for focussed fundraising: Decide on project first and target
          people next.
       o AIA has an organization directory and it is imporant to get Asha
          listed in there.  The Bhargavas told us that they had difficulty
          getting our contact info (till the newsletter reached them) and
          it was felt that many people had similar problems too.  In this
          respect, the newsletter has proved useful.
   -> There was a lot of other discussion, all of which will be too long to
       be part of this minutes.. 

o Immediate plans for the summer:
   -> Focus on the Work-An-Hour '99 event.
   -> Very soon, all chapters will be involved in discussing, reviewing and
       voting on projects that will be chosen for the event.
   -> Set up tables at the movie screenings at Rocky Rococo.  Have information
       ready about the projects that will be funded.  Get people to fill out
       cards to get them to commit funds for these projects.

o The discussion group (that Dr.Parameswara Rao set up when he was here):
   -> After some discussion, it was felt that Asha and the discussion group
       be kept separate.
   -> The group will have discussions on issues that have a wider focus than
       just education and people other than those with Asha will be involved.