Asha for Education -- Projects Asha’s core activities center around projects. Identifying, researching, owning, funding and sustaining projects. Projects we work with have a focus of education -- education of underprivileged children. Primary education, secondary education upto class Xth, vocational training are all supported by Asha and our partner projects.

Asha partners with organizations running projects in India. These NGOs (non-governmental organizations) are running the projects. Asha is working with them, funding them, sharing our learning's, and forming long-term relationships with the projects. In recent years, Asha volunteers have helped initiate projects through guiding and supporting the local community. Partner Groups

India’s Population – 1,027,015,247 # of Males – 531,277,078 # of Females – 495,738,169 Tribal Population – million (8.08 %) Scheduled Caste (Dalits) – 138 million (~16 %) Number of Villages in India – 638,365. Total rural population – 742 million Total village population – 623 million. Some Stats

Why Educate? Education is a tool, what is the return we are seeking?

Progress & Happiness More and better job opportunities for the children. Freedom to pursue what the child desires. Increased levels of confidence amongst the children and the adults. Better understanding of their rights and responsibilities. Education subconsciously widens their horizons. Children having better opportunities than their parents is one sign of development. Why Educate?

Most projects are associated with one of the following communities. Communities of Dalits. Tribal communities Rural neighborhoods & villages –Bonded and landless laborers –Migratory labor Urban neighborhoods –Street children –Slum dwellers –Domestic servants Children of commercial sex workers Mentally challenged or physically handicapped children. Communities Supported

Non-formal education centers. –Day / Evening classes –Bridge classes Residential schools. Tuition centers Working with Govt. Schools. Support-A-Child (SAC) projects Types of Projects

Recurring expenses include –Teachers / coordinator salaries. –Books, notebooks, stationary for children. –Teachers training –Medical / Healthcare expenses –Rent and other recurring expenses. Non-Recurring expenses include –Infrastructure building or maintaining –Libraries Project Expenses

Receive Proposals Discussion on proposal Site visit Chapter discussion Further Q/A with project coordinator Chapter discussion and vote. Project Approval Process

Upon approval of the proposal, we cultivate a long- term & trusting relationship with the project staff. Identify a project steward Require six-monthly project reports Annual site visits by Asha volunteers Regular contact with project coordinator through / telephone or snail-mail. Relationship where we at Asha can learn some from the project and also share some of our learning's to the project coordinators and teachers. Project Interaction

Vocational Training Health Care Infrastructure Value Education Support community initiatives Conferences to bring together similar projects – shared learning's. Beyond Primary Education

VOICE – A project in an urban setting. Mumbai, Maharashtra. Aviram – A project in a rural setting. Lohardaga, Jharkhand. Projects – Case Studies