ASHA FOR EDUCATION: A non-political, secular organization whose mission is to catalyze socio-economic change in India through the education of underprivileged children. The organization was founded in 1991 at the University of California, Berkeley, by three graduate students - V.J.P. Srivatsavoy, Deepak Gupta and Sandeep Pandey - who wanted to give something back to their country of origin. They viewed education as a critical requisite for development and change, and decided to make that the focal point of their work. Since then, Asha has made great strides in providing education to children in India while continuing to remain a purely volunteer-driven, transparent organization with near zero overheads. The organization also received the highest 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, an independent evaluator of charities and non-profits for two years in a row (www.charitynavigator.com).
The objectives of Asha for Education are:
- To provide education to underprivileged children in India.
- To encourage the formation of local chapters 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, wherever possible, other life affecting issues such as health care, the environment, socioeconomic aspects and women's issues.
Today, there are 66 Asha chapters worldwide: 45 in the US, 14 in India, and 7 in Europe, Singapore and Australia. The organization has more than 1000 active volunteers and several thousand supporters. To date, Asha has supported more than 385 different projects spanning 22 states in India - in 2004 alone, Asha chapters raised and disbursed more than $ 2.7 million to over 150 projects. The annual reports and financial statements are available at the Asha for Education website (www.ashanet. org).
More important than these numbers, however, is the personal leadership that the volunteers take in carrying out Asha's activities. Involvement with Asha has produced awareness about developmental issues in India and has inspired a whole range of volunteers to get involved in other social causes. There has been an increased emphasis on the formation of more chapters in India (called Asha Centers), to draw upon the collective energy and experience of part and fulltime volunteers in India and to build closer bonds with our projects. These Asha Centers serve to network likeminded individuals, in addition to pioneering bold new initiatives in the field of education. Thus, Asha, while making a difference in the lives of underprivileged children of India, is also preparing a group of people who are more socially aware and socially responsible in their lives.
To learn more about Asha for Education, please visit www.ashanet.org or write to us at pr@ashanet.org. Asha for Education is a registered 501 (c)3 non-profit organization. All donations made to Asha for Education are 100% tax-exempt in the US.
PRATHAM: Based on the premise of "Every Child in School Learning",
Pratham began as a grass-roots effort in India to promote literacy. It was established
in 1994 by UNICEF and the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, with the
goal of universal primary education in Mumbai by the year 2000. Presently, this
goal has expanded in size and scope and has caused individuals, corporations,
and state governments within India and abroad to join together in taking this
initiative further. Pratham has extended to Pune, Delhi, Patna, Surat, Ailbag,
Bangalore, Vadodara, each site dedicated to the common goal of ensuring every
child a quality education. The Friends of Pratham within USA has generously
supported the sorority and we thank them for allowing us to play a small part
in this extraordinary movement.
CARE: It began
more than 50 years ago with the now-famous CARE packages that Americans sent
to survivors of WWII in Europe and Asia. The plain brown boxes holding food
and other essentials were harbingers of hope. Today, CARE remains a vehicle
for generosity for Americans wanting to reach out and help. As a leader in
self-help development and emergency aid, CARE helps people who have been devastated
by natural and man-made disasters, who are struggling in poor communities
to survive and improve their lives. CARE seeks to forge a world of hope, tolerance,
and social justice, where people have overcome poverty and live in dignity
and security. The organization has become a worldwide symbol of compassion,
opportunity, and hope. The sorority supports CARE's efforts to educate young
girls in the villages of India. It is believed that by educating a young girl
in a village will ensure that she will pass along that knowledge to other
children. In a way, she becomes a teacher and a beacon of hope for those who
have received an education.
Educate the Children: Educate the Children is a small, grassroots Non-Governmental
Organization (NGO) founded in 1990, which conducts educational and community
development projects in Nepal. ETC's programs emphasize developing self-sufficiency,
and helping Nepali people to acquire the skills that will help them implement
long-term, sustainable solutions to the problems of illiteracy, inadequate
nutrition and lack of economic opportunity which face their communities.
