What is Work an Hour

Welcome to Work An Hour 2003, the sixth edition of Asha's largest worldwide event! Each year during the time of India's Independence day, volunteers from around the world come together in a show of great human spirit, to help educate underprivileged children in India. Work An Hour or WAH, as it is popularly known, is a simple concept. We ask you to symbolically contribute one hour of your time towards the cause of children's education by donating an hour's worth of your salary or more. All the money raised goes to carefully selected projects in India.  The projects are chosen based on a set of guidelines. A WAH projects working group thoroughly studies the candidates and narrows the field to about 10 potential projects. Asha-wide review is sought in which Asha volunteers everywhere discuss the candidates and eventually rank them. The top 4 or 5 projects get selected for WAH funding. Like all Asha projects, they are closely monitored by Asha project co-ordinators to ensure that the funds are being properly utilized and the proposed benefits are actually being realised by the children at the project. To learn more about the selected projects, please visit the WAH 2003 Projects page. To get right in and participate in WAH 2003, donate now. History of Work An Hour  Work An Hour 2002 raised over $100,000 for four projects in grossly underdeveloped areas in India. These include a residential tribal school in Kerala, establishing centers to prevent child labour in slums of Bangalore and helping out in vocational training for disabled and handicapped children in Maharashtra.  Work An Hour 2001 raised over $100,000 for some really unique projects. These include a residential tribal school in Kerala, establishing centers to prevent child labour in slums of Bangalore and helping out in vocational training for disabled and handicapped children in Maharashtra.  Work An Hour 2000 brought education to the doorsteps of the Irula tribes in Tamilnadu. It reached out to the street children of Mumbai through the efforts of VOICE. Part of the $86,000 raised helped start children's education centers in Dalit villages and kickstart a micro-credit program aimed at revitalizing development in rural areas.  Work An Hour 1999 generated awareness about the problems of child laborers near Calcutta, the blind, deaf-mute and orphan children in Anandvan, orphan girls from Tenkasi and the most oppressed sections of the society in Banda. Over $50,000 were raised to improve the condition of the children in these projects.  Work An Hour 1998 was the first online fundraising event for the underprivileged children in India. The success of this event laid the foundation of Asha Ashrams in Lalpur and Kanpur. It also brought high-quality support services to kids suffering from multiple disabilities including Polio, Blindness, Speech and Hearing impairments, Epilepsy, Mental Retardation, Autism and Cerebral Palsy. With the $30,000 raised in this event, the Asha Ashrams brought new ways of creating self-sufficient educational institutions, while ASTHA brought new hope to handicapped children in the slums of Delhi. Financials  In 1998, Work an Hour raised $31,000 and in 1999 the amount raised was close to $54,000. Work an Hour 2000 raised close to $84,000, while WAH 2K raised 102,000. Last year the event raised $90,000 . In 2003, the target is $125,000. In keeping with Asha's charter, 100% of proceeds go directly to the projects supported. Administrative expenses are borne entirely by Asha volunteers. For more fiscal details, visit the Financial Details page. For more information about Work An Hour or Asha, email us at wah@ashanet.org. Thank you for joining the efforts and contributing to the success. The Asha Family