Atanu Dey profiles Asha for Education.
Let me begin by sharing a story I heard the other day, about a farmer who consistently won the first prize for his fine crop of corn every year at the county contest. Peculiarly, after the contest he would give away the seeds of this prize-winning corn to the neighboring farmers. This puzzled some in the county, until someone finally asked him why he shared his good fortune. He answered, "Well, growing corn in my field requires pollen from the neighboring fields. If they don't have good corn in their fields, I will never be able to grow good corn myself. So I give them good corn seeds."
In the summer of 1991, a number of students at the University of California - Berkeley started Asha to help in the cause of basic education of underprivileged children in India. Over the years their success has proved that even a small group of dedicated people can make a difference. Their example was repeated many times elsewhere; today, there are 30 Asha chapters in the US, India, Canada, Australia and Singapore. These autonomous chapters share a common set of binding principles, including one that volunteers keep overhead costs to zero, thus ensuring that there are no leakages of funds allocated for the projects. They also examine project proposals collectively and monitor the progress of the projects very closely, maintaining a relationship of caring support.
Asha has recognized that illiteracy is a persistent link in the chain that keeps a large number of our people shackled in the poverty trap. Anyone working towards breaking that link is working towards true freedom and independence. Our people have to be literate for our democracy to be sustainable, and to the extent that we are able to empower our masses, there is hope for India. And empowering people is what it is all about at "Asha for Education".
Over the years, Asha has been quietly working to provide direction and funding to non-governmental non-profit organizations in India which provide education and hope to children.
Innovative and imaginative campaigns by Asha over the years have raised awareness of the problem and provided people with opportunities to help make a difference. There are programs such as "Each One Teach One" which make a difference one child at a time, or the supporting of day care centers in rural areas to help children at a very early stage and also programs aiding working mothers.
And once again, recently, Asha hit upon a remarkably simple and effective way for others to provide help. They called it Work an Hour for Education.On Friday August 14th, 1998, the 9 o'clock hour was dedicated by many towards the cause of primary education in India. This was the first fund-raiser organised by all the Asha chapters simultaneously. On Asha's web site, hundreds of people pledged that hour's pay to help ASHA to help children become independent. The final tally from this simple and yet profoundly meaningful scheme was in excess of $30,000, a moving pledge from hundreds of people. [In 1999 and 2000, the Work an Hour fundraiser was an even greater success, setting much higher targets of $40,000 and $75,000 respectively; in each case, the higher expectations were met]. Clearly, given the opportunity for expressing themselves, many people pitched in willingly.
Aside from the virtue of generosity, the little story I began with also holds another important lesson - that we cannot prosper unless our neighbor does too. And in a world which is rapidly moving towards becoming a global village for better or worse, some Indians living abroad realize that a child in rural India is a neighbor too. I have great hope for countless organizations like Asha, in India and abroad. The task is too important and too large for it to be neglected any further. Time to give away some of the seeds of corn we hold.
Contact Asha for Education at:
India:Asha Trust,
c/o Mrs. Uma Pandey,
A-893 Indira Nagar,
Lucknow 226 016 U.P.
USA:
Asha for Education,
P.O. Box 9485,
Stanford, CA,94309-9485
Email: comments@ashanet.org
- Visit ASHA for Education on the net.
