Humble beginnings:
In the summer of 1991, a few students including V.J.P.Srivatsavoy, D. Gupta, and S. Pandey got together to think of ways in which they could play a role in the development of India, the country of their origin. These young people shared the belief that education is a critical requisite and an effective catalyst for social and economic change in India. Basic education became the agenda for the action group that emerged from this gathering. The group was named Asha to represent the hope that had brought these individuals together and the hope that they aimed to bring into the lives of children in India. In that summer of 1991, Asha was born at the University of California in Berkeley.
Asha Today:
Asha's focus on children's education has galvanised a number of volunteers across the globe. Today, there are over 66 Asha chapters worldwide: 45 in the US, 14 in India, and 7 in Europe, Singapore and Australia.
Volunteers in each of these chapters take personal interest in identifying education-related projects in India, and supporting them through funds and other means.
Since its inception, Asha has raised over $4 million to help finance more than 350 projects across 24 Indian states.
Objectives of the Group:
Asha for Education is a secular organization dedicated to change in India by focusing on basic education in the belief that education is a critical requisite for socio-economic change. In keeping with this focus, our volunteers are involved with and support projects that are secular and have an education-related component to them. The objectives of this group are:
- To provide education to underprivileged children in India.
- To encourage the formation of various local groups across the world to reach out to larger sections of the population.
- To support and cooperate with persons and groups already engaged in similar activities.
- To raise the required human and other resources to achieve the group objectives.
- To provide opportunities to individuals living outside India who wish to participate in Asha activities in India.
- To address, whenever possible, other issues affecting human life such as health care, environment, socio-economic aspects and women's issues.
Founded in 1995, Asha's Boston/MIT chapter is a group of dedicated working professionals and students in New England that has developed long-standing ties to people and organizations in India working to expand and improve education.
CURRENT PROJECTS
- SEED Narpanigal : This organization is run by the youth of the Karumbalai slum in Tamil Nadu. Asha's Boston/MIT chapter provides support for the after school student centers for primary school children.
- Deen Bandhu Trust: Deena Bandhu runs a school and summer camp program for underpriviledged children in the Karnataka with the help of joint funding from Asha's Boston/MIT and Silicon Valley Chapters.
- Jaher: This residential school for the Santhali tribal children in Jharkhand was initially conceived to be funded partly by the community through the fishery project.
- Kamalakar Memorial Trust: Vikas Bharati School run by Kamalakar Trust in Andhra Pradesh is a charitable school that imparts free education for poor children.
- Natpurwa: Natpurwa is a village of the Nat caste in Uttar Pradesh whose main profession is prostitution. Asha's Boston/MIT chapter, with the help of the Silicon Valley chapter, is helping support to youths from the community who are working to end this practice in the village.
- Navsarjan: This project was started to conscientize the community to fight the social and economnic exploitation of Dalits in Gujarat.
- Sahanivasa: Asha's Boston/MIT Chapter, with the support of the Seattle and Silicon Valley chapters, funds special tuition classes for underprivileged students taking Class X exams in Andhra Pradesh. This project also received support from funds raised during the Work-An-Hour program.
- Rehabilitation of Tsunami victims in Tada Mandal: Sahanivasa is actively involved in the rehabilitation process of Tsunami victims in Andhra Pradesh. This project aims at rehabilitating 12 villages in Tada Mandal which have not received any support from the govt so far.
- Seed in Madurai: Seed provides study centers in Tamil Nadu's Karumbalai slum with volunteers teaching evenings and weekends. The project features numerous clubs and extra-curricular activities to bring out the potential of every child.
- SVYM - VTCL (Viveka Tribal Centre for Learning): The Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement in Karnataka is a registered, voluntary, non-political, non-religious, social service organization committed to community development through community participation and received funding from Asha Boston/MIT, along with help from the Canada and Silicon Valley chapters.
- TEA - Team for Education and Action: Supplementing the government's education programs in 15 villages in the outskirts of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, this program attempts to improvethe quality of elementary education to prevent children from becoming laborers. This project is jointly funded by the Berkeley, Boston/MIT and Chennai chapters as well as funds raised by the Work and Hour program.
