The Asha Star program began in 1995 with a small group of Asha-LA volunteers taking direct ownership of a project.  It started in response to some mounting concerns:  a) New projects translated to increase in responsibility.  b) Transient presence of volunteers made sustained impact very difficult; burnout for existing volunteers was imminent. c) A field trip to India and discussions with the project coordinators there showed when involvement was lacking, donorship dropped out within 2 years.

To guarantee long term success, we had to put first things first. Personal involvement became the highest priority; Fundraising, respected and sought in equal measure, took the second place. 

How does one translate the philosophy into practice? The answer to this complex problem was simple and rather elegant. It came from a realization that it takes only a few committed people (the Asha Stars) to tackle a small education project.  Under this vision, each volunteer takes personal responsibility in her/his project and frees the rest of Asha to work on others. Each star guarantees financial support of $300 per year towards their own project. Once committed, the stars work to take the project to self-reliance. As the teams are small, accountability is self-contained. Progress reports are posted on the web regularly, thus spreading awareness and enabling new volunteers to join the effort.  Asha Stars are not confined by group meetings or their geographic location.  They bridge the distances through commitment right from the beginning.

There was a perfect fit between the model and the ground realities. Within 2 years 40 Asha Stars emerged to set Asha-LA projects on a stable course for the long haul. 

Initially, we proposed Asha 5 (ie 5 involved owners) to be the way to go. The 5 was identified early on to be an artificial limit and was a disadvanta ge especially in handling large projects that needed more than 5 x $300 = $1500. So, we decided to called it Asha * where * is a variable. It made meaningful and poetic sense. This is how Asha Stars were born.