|
|
|
Organization Description
The Vivekananda Ashram was founded in 1951 but went into
hibernation until it was revived about 5 years back under its present coordinator
Mr. Prasanta Ghosh. The organization is running an ashram for 14 boarders
and a day coaching center for poor children of the surrounding villages.
It works in the village of Adisaptagram, in the district of Hooghly, about
50 km. from Calcutta.
Project Description
The Vivekananda Ashram runs a boarding house for 14 children
in grades 4 through 12. Many of the boarders have lost one or both their
parents. These children go to the schools in the nearby areas and the Ashram
provides for all their expenses. In addition, the Ashram runs classes during
the day for about 150 children from the surrounding areas. In these classes,
the students are assisted in their studies by voluntary teachers. The area
where the project operates is rural and many of the students are first
generation learners. If it were not for the Ashram, the boarding students
would possibly not have come into the sphere of education at all, and among
the day students, many would have found the general school curriculum so
daunting that they would have dropped out of school. It is in this regard
that the project has been very successful. The day school was started with
78 students in August, 2000 and it has already grown to more than 150 with
a constant demand for a fresh intake.
For 2002, the project's basic budget requirement is Rs. 92,000
($1,916 @ Rs.48/$). In addition, there is a proposal for meal for 160 day scholars
and an educational tour for the 14 boarders ($1,576), and providing text books
to 60 of the day scholars and nominal salaries to 16 teachers ($2,550). This
gives rise to a total requirement of $6,042.
Construction proposal : The project would like to
build a permanent school building for running the day scholar program and
also construct a boundary wall around the compound to prevent encroachment.
The costs for these two activities are Rs.4,53,578 ($9,449) and Rs.3,87,995
($8,083) respectively.
Asha-Zurich has approved funding for part of the school building construction.
It is going to send a total of Rs. 2.5 lakhs (= 8,000 swiss francs) in three
equal instalments in Nov, 2002 and Feb and May, 2003.
[
Project Details]
Type of Education
Formal
Student:Teacher Ratio
166:16 (day scholars)
14 boarders who go to nearby school
Photographs
 What's new?
- Asha-Zurich is funding part of the building construction with 8,000 swiss francs = Rs. 2.5 lakhs
payable in 3 instalments. The three instalments are expected to be sent in November 2002
and February and May, 2003. The project people in India are all ready to start the building
construction as soon as they receive the first instalment. Vivekananda Ashram was the first project
taken up by the Zurich chapter and they have been very successful in generating local interest - both
of individuals and organizations (such as the Rotary Club of Zurich) in the project. Their fund-raising
efforts have been on a roll and with the support, the Ashram will be able to partially solve the
space crunch for their day scholar program. If you see the current site visit's photos (from August, 2002),
you will see what the space problem is.
- Proposal for building & boundary wall construction : With
the day scholar program having grown to above 160 students, there is need for a school building.
Also encroachment from the neighbors into the Ashram compound is causing problems. The project proposes
to build a new school building and a boundary wall around its land. (Last update: March 11, 2002)
- Update from India : Recent happenings at the Ashram including finally a solution
to the water problem, educational trip for the boarders (Last update: Feb 28, 2002)
- Question-Answers about the project (Last update: Feb 28, 2002)
- Proposal for the year 2002
- Addendum to the proposal . This talks about providing tiffin to the day scholars (Rs.74,880) and an educational trip outside the village for the boarders (Rs.795).
- Proposal for salary to teachers
and books to some day scholars . The total amount is Rs.96,000 for the teachers' salaries and Rs.26,400 for books and stationery to some of the day scholars.
|
|
|
