FAQ This document is a comprehensive list of questions raised and clarifications and answers that were given by us. Quick facts: Amount requested - $30,000 Location – outskirts of Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu Number of children - 250 Literacy level – 1% in the local community Project Summary: Target population: mentally challenged, orthopedically handicapped, hearing impaired children and abandoned children Sebama Foundation runs a residential school for these children. The overall aim is to promote independence, as well as personal, inter-personal & community growth among handicapped children. Sebama Foundation is providing education (State Board), living skills, vocational training. The 3 schools are till std X. This project caters to 250 children. Additional goal: Raising awareness in the local community about disabilities to shatter the common notion that disabled people are "cursed" or "possessed" & educating the parents about how to care for their special children. WAH Proposal: Funds for a school building: Requesting Rs 15 lakhs to lay the building's foundation & 5 classrooms. Total budget is Rs 45 lakhs for 14 classrooms, a dormitory and a dining hall. [Current rooms are classrooms for 250 children by day & residence by night. New building will serve as a classroom & dormitory for the physically handicapped & hearing impaired children, current building will be used as a hostel for the mentally challenged children.] Questions from Reviewers and others: 1.Concerns about the religious nature of the project: Swati & Sudhakar (WAH reviewers) : Though Brother Rayan himself is Christian & the project is run by him & few sisters, I don't think there is any reason for Asha to worry.The education & the way the children are taken care of seem secular. All the site visits that have been done until now have been specifically concentrating in this area but have not found any signs that Brother might be trying to convert these children. http://www.ashanet.org/colorado/projects/current/dsscod_project_proposal.pdf (proposal+site visit doc) http://www.ashanet.org/colorado/projects/current/DSSCODsitevisit_report2002.html http://www.ashanet.org/projects-new/documents/site_visit_2002.doc http://www.ashanet.org/projects-new/documents/258/Sebama_Foundation_sitevisitreport_April2003.doc We would like to add that : Brother Rayan is *not* a priest - he is called Brother because he is a Bachelor and because of the nature of his work. Also, he has even stopped going to the local church so that people did not spread rumors about his connection with the nearby Christian community. 2. Swati Q: The community does not seem to be that involved with the project.Given that Brother is almost single handedly running the project, I find that as a concern. Fortunately the project does want to change the perception of the community towards children with disabilities. Hopefully the project won't collapse without Brother. A: Brother has been working with the local community to educate them about disabilities through puppet shows. His work has reduced in this respect recently - but Asha Colorado is planning to step in and assist him in this respect, as we recognise the need for this to happen. Brother is already thinking about continuing this project in the long term in the event of his demise. The land is now part of a trust and cannot be sold. Brother is also thinking of training some of the children of Mercy Home to help him with running the schools. One student has come back to help with the organization. So although right now he is the primary person running the Foundation, he is slowly trying to plan for the future. Putting the land in the name of a Trust was the first step towards ensuring continuity of the project's work. 3. Q: WAH support is for one year, but the construction plan is for 3 years. So how will they get support for the 2nd & 3rd year? Our plan is to procure the complete funds of 30K through WAH for the first year. In addition, Asha Colorado is committed to looking for the remaining funds for the new building. Sebama Foundation is a project that Asha Colorado has been associated with since our first year of fund-raising. We are very happy with Brother Rayan's work and dedication to these children, as well as the progress that has been made over the last 3 years. We have been steadily increasing our involvement in this project - and are looking to expand our involvement further this year. Therefore these are some of the strategies Asha Colorado will use to fund the rest of the building over the period of 3 years. 1. Involve other Asha chapters in this effort 2. Propose this project for General Funds 3. Start our own Buy-a-Brick program like NYC/NJ for this project 4. Apply for corporate Foundation grants like Western Union, Qwest etc. Brother has mentioned that laying the foundation is the key to the building and once that is done the other rooms can be added slowly over a period of time using local donations etc. Asha Colorado agrees with this point. *WAH funding will be critical in taking this project to the next level. Although we are committed to looking for funds for the construction in every way possible - we are a relatively new chapter - we currently raise less than 20K per annum - and although there is more than 50% increase between the amounts we raised in our first year and what we raised in the second year - it will be much harder for us to look for the entire 90K requirement, if we do not get WAH funding. *One of the important points that was raised during the discussions about the current WAH model vs. a new one was for WAH to facilitate $$ for deserving projects put forth by smaller chapters - we believe that Sebama Foundation is definitely one such project. 4. Q. When did these 3 schools start running? School for the Physically Handicapped 1993 School for the Hearing Impaired 1995 School for the Mentally challenged 1999-2000 5. Q. Given that 47 students have graduated, how does the community feel about the project? Community involvement : Mid-day meal is provided by a local institution Person from Salem donating books Clothes donated by people around Managed to get some local donations for building toilets The children in the school are not from the immediate community but a little far away - villages that are 20-30 km away. SO far it has been difficult to meet and talk to parents during site visits, because the parents are all labourers, and work during the day. This is an aspect that we will try and address in the near future - perhaps during the next site visit. Brother has puppet shows etc to educate the people in the community about disabilities. 6. Q. What are the plans for expansion of these programs if needed in near future? I mean if there are more children. The new school building will hold 350 children - 100 more than the school currently has. Right now Brother is having difficulty adding children - due to lack of space as well as funding constraints - if the new building comes up, he will have space, and Asha Colorado is already reviewing expanding our involvement to the physically handicapped and hearing impaired schools in the 2003-2004 year.