Join Your Local Chapter Spare a couple of hours every month, come by our meetings.Take up responsibilities that interest you – steward projects, fundraising and publicity. Donate to Asha Make a tax-deductible donation online or by mail. Double your donation if your company matches donations. You can also donate a car, computer, Participate in the annual Work-An-Hour program and contribute an hour’s worth of your salary. Support a Specific Child or Project The Asha Stars program allows a few individuals to take responsibility for a specific project. The Asha Support A Child program lets you support a child's expenses through monthly contributions. Get Involved with Projects in India To visit an Asha project, look up the contact person for the project. If you would like to volunteer in India, there are several organizations that can help. To submit a project for funding, read the project submission guidelines. Shop for Asha Buy Asha merchandise including t-shirts, diwali diyas, ceramic coffee mugs, calendars, greeting cards, stationery and more. Merchandise can also be bought online. Want to get started now! Volunteer for Images of India Asha-Berkeley’s annual fundraiser. Contact us for more information Asha does not take out administrative expenses from general donations. All administrative costs are paid for by volunteers and friends of Asha. Donations to Asha are tax-deductible. Our projects are supported by generous donations from individuals and groups like you. © Asha for Education, August 2003 For more information: Post: “Asha for Education” Anthony Hall, University of California Berkeley, CA Phone: Pramod (510) Barnali (510) Can we create more of this And less of this? Asha chapters Mission Statement: To catalyze socio- economic change in India through the education of underprivileged children. What can you do?

BTS Patha Bhavan- Sunderbans, West Bengal The school works to reduce and finally eliminate school dropouts by trying to provide an alternative to the drudgery and poor staffing and accommodation of the Govt Schools. Children are enrolled from six island villages into this school of joyful learning. This also prevent children from being trapped as labor in the trades of prawn collection, forest produce collection and agriculture. A significant feature of the BTS project is that it has been a multi- pronged developmental project involving various organizations. Abilities – Bangalore, Karnataka ‘Abilities’ is a charitable trust that helps people with disabilities in Bangalore. The trust provides disabled children and adults with vocational, self-help and computer skills. Apart from this, they also produce braille versions of educational material. Asha funds for this project have gone towards salaries for teachers, development of vocational training programs. Kokila Vilas Ashram – Sonapur, Assam In an area with a predominance of Bodo tribes and backward communities, this project runs 9 schools in Assam. The government-run schools are insufficient, so the villagers run these schools in different villages with contributions from local people. Funds have been allocated to provide some furniture, reading and playing materials to two of the schools. Asha, the Hope ASHA for Education started at the University of California in Berkeley in the summer of A few students got together to think of ways in which they could play a role in the development of 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. Since then, Asha has steadily grown in strength and number. Today, there more than 35 chapters in and outside the US. Last year Asha disbursed more than $980,000 in funds to projects in India. CAST- Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu This project is run by a group called Community Action for Social Transformation (CAST). The group runs five day care centers for the children of the local populace, a majority of whom are agricultural laborers. The centers provide the children with pre- school education, food and a healthy environment for physical and mental growth. Asha funds have gone towards teachers’ salaries, food for the children and construction activities in the centers. Sahyog- Mumbai, Maharashtra Sahyog is a school for girls in the Jari Mari Basti in Mumbai. It caters to the needs of adolescent girls who have had to drop out of school due to various societal pressures. Asha funds have gone towards supporting a formal school, an informal school, teacher training, workshops and fellowship programs at the school. Support for the school started in This project is actively looking for Asha-Stars. Asha Projects in India