Project Name: Sugandha Agra

Date: March 6th, 04

	Project Contact	Asha Contact
Name	Navin Daniel	Sumant Pal / Alpna Seth
Address	1/75 Anita Nursery & Primary School Opp. R.B.S. College Madia Katra, Agra 282002 India	32 Bow Road Newton, MA 02459
Phone(s)	+91 562-2153807	617-630-9650
Fax	+91 562 2151801
E-mail		palsumant@yahoo.com

Part I: Information about your group/organization

Please feel free to attach any additional sheets and/or information such as brochures, press reports etc.

1. Name of the group/organization requesting funds.

"Sugandha" (meaning: the Fragrance) , based in Agra, UP, India. Sugandha is registered as a non-profit society in Agra.

2. When was the group established?

November 14, 2002

3. Briefly describe the motivation for starting this group.

The motivation for starting this group was a 10 yr old girl named Sugandhita (meaning the Fragrant One), daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel. This happened after the sad and untimely demise of Sugandhita in August of 2002. The end came suddenly and shockingly. In just three days, the ebullient, smiling and loving ten-year old moved away from her parents, schoolmates and all whom she knew to her eternal abode. What appeared to be a minor attack of jaundice turned out to be fatal. She is survived by her father, her mother and her older sister. Sugandha always desired that neglected, orphaned, poor children be helped to get good education, to achieve a better life and status in society and to be self-supporting.

But before she departed, Sugandhita had filled the world of children and grown-ups around her with the fragrance of her personality. This continues to inspire all those who came in contact with her. When Sugandhita lived, her heart used to go out to the poor and the neglected, the orphaned and the underprivileged. Often, she would tell her father, “Daddy, why don’t you do something for the little children, who roam the streets uncared for? Can’t you open a small care-center for them, where they would get food and education? Promise me that you would do this.” The promise was elicited weeks before she died.

True to the promise, months after Sugandhita’s passing away, Sugandha, an organization, named after her, was founded, with the express aim of looking after the very poor, orphaned and neglected children, who had been deprived of a decent human life and the benefits of education. Sugandha is a grassroots effort to make a difference in the lives of children who have almost no hope or opportunity otherwise.

4. Briefly describe the aims of your group.

Sugandha is a non-profit secular organization dedicated to provide education, training and care to severely underprivileged children. Main aims, as registered in the charter of Sugandha, are:

To educate the destitue & under-privileged, orphans, poor children living below poverty line and to develop these children into responsible citizens, prepare them in good vocation for a decent living and to make them self-sufficient

To open an orphanage, handicapped school and school for these children

To provide food, clothes, books, stationary, other basic necessities

To provide medical aid and healthcare facilities

To provide professional training and skills like mechanic, electrician, paramedic, etc.

To improve the environment and inculcate habits resulting in clean surrounding. To create awareness about forestation, clean drinking water, personal hygeine, etc.

To provide facilities for games, sports and cultural activities.

5. Does your group have any religious or political affiliation? If yes, please describe the type of affiliation and the reason for it.

No.

6. What non education-related community development activities is your group involved in?

1) Health care facilities holding camps for needy patients- children and poor elderly persons, providing services of medical practitioners and essential medicines.

2) Training of underprivileged women for better house hold management and community development

3) Organising games and sports for underpriviledged children

Part II: Details about your educational project/s

7. List the school/s run by your group, and their locations. If you are requesting funds for only a few of several schools, please specify which one/s.

Sugandha is the first and only such school run by our group. This Center is run as 1/75/3 Madia Katra, Agra. Funds are needed for day to day operations, as well as one-time expenses for new facilities that will include a hostel and orphanage. See details in attached budget spreadsheet and Funding Requested section. While the school currently has 50 children, it will grow to support 100 children in the next three years.

8. Location of school/s Urban Rural Other

9. Specify the type of education provided (e.g. basic literacy, vocational training etc.).

1) Basic literacy - reading, writing, arithmetic, music, science, language (Hindi and English).

2) Vocational proposed

10. Please tell us about your teaching techniques (conventional vs. alternative).

(i) Primarily conventional classroom teaching

(ii) Cultural training

(iii) Sports activities

(iv) Community development

Proposed for future: Children with the right interests and aptitude will undergo vocational training that can provide long term employment potential.

11. What is the literacy rate in the local community?

It is only about 30% in the areas from where the children come to Sugandha.

The literacy rate in the state of Uttar Pradesh is 41.6% (55.7% in Males, 25.3% in Females). About 21.4% of the population graduate from high school (23.4% of Males 16.3% of Females).

Source: India Census Data and SRS Bulletin 2000.

12. Describe the socio-economic background of the children and their parents (e.g. education, occupational). If any of your students are employed, please tell us about that as well.

Every single child at this center is severely underpriviledged and come from very poor families (all well below the poverty line). Approximately 15 of the 50 children currently getting education at this center are orphans with no permanent housing. The number of children will grow to 100 in the next three years.

None of the students are yet employed as they are all very young and this school was started only one and a half years ago.

13. In addition to education, does your group provide any other services to the children in your schools (e.g. food, health care, clothing, etc.)?

The care provided at this center is holistic, including free:

1) meals

2) regular medical check ups, vaccinations and other health services

3) school uniforms

4) books & stationary, school bags

5) transport to and from their abode to school and for excursions

The children are not only taught how to read, sing and write, but also provided with means of entertainment and made to feel that they are like other children and looked after with loving care.

14. Does your school have:

Its own building(s): Yes No Number 1 small facility

Number and type of classrooms (e.g. Pukka): 1

Yes No Yes No Yes No

Toilets Playground Toys

Chairs & Tables Blackboard Library

Drinking water Electricity Computers

Laboratory Teaching aids (e.g. books/slates)

15. How many children are currently enrolled in your school(s)?

Male 20 Female 30 Age Range 3-12

16. How many staff are employed at your schools?

Teachers 2 Minimum Qualifications Trained Graduates

Other staff 4

17. Average distance the children travel to attend your school 2-3 miles approx.

18. How many children have gone through your program in the past five years and what are they doing currently? Please tell us about their future education and employment possibilities.

This is a grass-roots, start-up operation at this time, being in operation for little over a year. In this one year, the center has cared for over 50 children. All are still undergoing elementary education and no student has as yet left the Center. The school is planning to support 100 children by 2007.

After they have stabilized in this environment and received elementary education, goal is to have high quality higher education available for them locally or to arrange for job training in vocational centers. A key goal for 2004 is to secure sufficient funding and resources for a full-time residential center for the orphan kids and make such a space available for at least 15 children this year, with expansion capability in the future for 50 or more kids.

19. Do you help your students with their future education efforts after they have passed out of your school?

Our vision is to help these children be productive members of society. After completion of elementary eductaion at Sugandh (Vth standard), the goal is to get the able students to attend local English or Hindi medium private schools. Some children will do better with more of an emphasis on vocational training. In either case, it is critical to develop long term employment potential.

We are in communication with local higher education schools to arrange for scholarships and financial aid. This will be funded by donations as well as scholarships from the local schools themselves.

20. Are there any other schools (Kindergarten/Balwadi, Elementary school, High school) in the area? If so, please list the schools and the range of classes each of them offers.

There are several schools in the vicinity as Sugandha is in the heart of a big city with 2 million population. Some of the nearby schools are

1) Fateh Chand Inter College………………………. upto standard 12

2) St. Paul's Church School………………………… upto standard 12

3) Little Angel's ……………………………………..upto standard 5^th

St. Peters College (more than 100 yrs old)………......upto standard 12

21. Is your program different from that provided at these schools? Please explain.

Yes, ours is a charitable school and with absolute free education, food, clothing, transport.

22. Why are the children in your school/s not attending government/other schools in the local area?

The government schools are poor quality and unable to reach out to this sub-population that is living in extreme poverty. The children that come to Sugandh lack love and care in their environment. Outreach efforts and holistic care are essential components of the success of Sugandha so far. Government schools are unable to provide this level of care and support structure. The extra effort of getting regular attendance and retaining the kids throughout the school year is by providing them a positive caring environment, in addition to education, food, clothing and healthcare.

23. Do you try to involve the parents of the children in the running of the school (e.g. in setting the syllabus etc.)? Please specify.

No, as parents of these children are mostly illiterate

24. What are your expansion plans for the future (e.g. adding more classes or schools)?

There is an urgent need for more physical space both for day school as well as for a residential school where the orphans and abandoned children can find a permanent home. The residential aspect is essential in order to have a sustainable long-term and consistent positive impact on their lives.

Sugandha is currently actively seeking both financial and other resources for the badly needed expansion plans. These include looking for donations of land, expertise and money by interested individuals in the community and beyond. Goal is to have a spacious compound with facilities like better and more classrooms, playroom, library, sports ground, hostel for orphans, more teaching and other staff.

25. Do you have any suggestions on how Asha can be a positive influence in changing the education scenario in India?

1) Much needed funding

2) By providing guidance in methods of education and administration, based on their past experience with other such educational charitable organizations in India

3) Providing books and literature

4) Visits by Asha members offering encouragement, guidance and support

26. If possible, please provide us with the contact information of two individuals from your community who can describe the impact of your program.

1	Name	Mr. Shaheed Mohammad Advocate	2.	Name	Mr.G Das
	Address	7/50 Jawahar Nagar Khandari Chowraha Agra INDIA		Address	Das Market Delhi Gate Agra 282002 INDIA
	Phone			Phone	91-562-2158452

27. Asha for Education requires reports from its projects every six months to continue funding. Please provide the contact information for the person from your group who will be responsible for these reports.

Name	Navin Daniel
Address	1/75 Anita Nursery & Primary School Opposite R.B.S. College Madia Katra, Agra – 282002
Phone	+91-(0562) 2153807; mobile: 9897477475

Part III: Financial Details

Please feel free to attach any information such as annual reports, budgets etc.

28. What sources fund your group’s activities at present? List the sources and the current and future funding from each of them. If these funds are meant for a specific part of your group’s activities, please describe those restrictions.

Donations from individuals / well wishers of Sugandha (approx. Rs. 10,000 /month)

Donations from Anita Nursery School, run by Mr. Daniel (approx. Rs.25,000 / month). This is temporary to get the organization off the ground initially. It is expected that most of the funding for Sugandha will be based on donations from other individuals and organizations, in the long-term. Sugandha was registered as a non-profit society in 2004.

Sugandha is also in the process of getting permanent facilities to provide an orphanage and a school. The goal is also to grow the school from 50 students in 2004-05 to 75 students in 2005-06 to 100 students in 2007.

29. Please provide us with details of your projected budget for the next 3 years:

Year(s)	Recurring costs	Fixed costs
2004-05 (50 kids)	Rs. 597,000 (~$13,267)	Rs. 1,225,000 (~$27,222)
2005-2006 (75 kids)	Rs. 762,264 (~$16,939)	Rs. 960,000 (~$21,333)
2006-2007 (100 kids)	Rs. 1,022,303 (~$22,718)	Rs. 215,000 (~$4,778)

30. Salary expenditure details:

	Number	Salary Range
Teachers	2 (2004-05)	Rs. 2000 PM
Paid Staff	4 (2004-05)	Rs. 1200 PM
Volunteer Staff	10	Honorary

31. Please provide details of the fixed costs of your school/s for the next three years.

See attached spreadsheets

32. How many of your students pay school fees? Please provide details.

None at Sugandha

33. What amount are you requesting from Asha, and for what specific purpose?

Items	Amount	One time / Annual
Budget attached - exact funding amount from ASHA up for discussion