Education is the best hope!

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Education is the best hope. Greetings! In the quest for higher literacy rates and overall development, remote areas of the country are often neglected. While India overall, has made considerable improvements in education with average literacy rates now above 60%, there are still some parts of the country where the literacy rate is as low as 10% and less than 1 in 5 people have had any exposure to education. These are usually areas with poor access to formal education, where the nearest school is often just too far to reach. More than anything else, spreading knowledge and opportunities empowers communities. Especially in areas such as these, where the fruits of education are largely unknown, the impact of educating one person goes far beyond helping just one family, it can benefit the entire community. Work An Hour 2009 showcases three such projects and we need your contribution to continue supporting their commendable work and help them expand. 15 Projects, 7000 Children... Asha Darshan, Tamulpur, Assam Located in the remote tribal areas near Indo-Bhutan border, a community that is beset by frequent insurgency activity and lack of adequate opportunities. Supports 11 schools and 1300 students in various tribal villages. Free education, study materials and mid-day meals for students. Supports community through vocational training and support for self-help groups. To learn more. Click Here. Tribal Empowerment Project, Ukhrul, Manipur Located in Leigangching, Ukhrul district of Manipur, a poverty-ridden area largely inhabited by tribal and dalit residents. Started by Asha volunteers and a champion of tribal education T.H Joy. The school caters to 500 students from grades K-7 serves tribes of all ethnicities of 13 villages providing quality education, mid-day meals and educational material. Known for its high quality and the school's achievement in topping the number of students securing admission to the prestigious Navodaya school system in the district. To learn more, click here. Vasista Mithila Vidyalayam, Mangamaripeta, Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh Located in a rural hamlet near Mangamaripeta in Vishakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh. Community of fishermen and day traders with no fixed income. No government schools in the area. Classes til sixth standard supporting 150 students with plans to expand to higher classes. School encourages parent involvement and community participation resulting in current high retention rates. To learn more, click here. Work An Hour is in the seventh week of campaign and you can help us reach the target and continue supporting these deserving projects. $50,000 raised... $150,000 still to go...

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Empowerment begins with Education

Learn about WAH. Check out the WAH 09 video. Empowerment begins with Education.

Greetings! Education is the key to reverse oppression of marginalized groups. Education is a great source of hope and strength. Especially in deprived communities and sections, it can help bring lasting change from within. However, many belong to the first generation of learners. Introducing them to school is just a small hurdle; keeping them there presents unique and daunting challenges. Work An Hour 2009 showcases four projects that support first-generation learners among different communities and we need your support! Goal: $200,000. Raised so far: $45,000. Aasra Sewa Sansthan, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh Social worker Ajay Patel decided to start Aasra, for the marginalized communities like the Musahars, when once near Varanasi he saw a Musahar family eat the leftovers from the stret. Empowerment through education has been the Aasra Sewa Sansthan's priority, helping the communities avail their basic rights such as food, land and employment. Children from these communities are prepared to join the mainstream. Aasra supports two non formal education centers, a sewing school, and provides teachers to government schools in the locality. With all these activities it touches the lives of nearly 250 students. Chennai Balwadi Improvement Project, Chennai, Tamil Nadu To support the growth and development of pre-school children in underprivileged areas, the Central Government of India supports pre-primary education centers, popularly called "Balwadis". But the lack of proper infrastructure and effective teaching tools, plagued the efficacy of the Balwadis in the urban slums of Chennai. So Asha volunteers started this project in 2000, to improve the quality of Blwadis. Currently, Asha Chennai supports 6 Balwadis around the city, and provides for facilities like electricity, gas, educational aids and salaries and training for teachers. Sarada Kalyan Bhandar, Medinipur, West Bengal Twenty years ago, a group of women gave birth to a quiet revolution when they started an after-hours school program to motivate and educate meritorious children in Medinipur, about 150 kilometres from Kolkata. The program has grown to include about 550 children; Sarada Kalyan Bhandar has also expanded its scope of empowerment to reach other marginalized sections of society with women empowerment programs, focusing on awareness of rights and higher education. Children Project Trust, Kodagu (Coorg) District, Karnataka In 2003, an American couple living in Puttaparthy, Andhra Pradesh, were deeply affected by the plight of the street children. Keen to make a difference, Michael Galligan and Aleli Brown began placing these children in various private schools. However, upon realizing that a normal school environment couldn't provide the special care and patience required by these exploited children, the determined couple set up a fully residential educational institution. Thus began the Children's Project Trust; after moving to their new facility near Coorg in 2007, the CPT now houses 45 students. The specially designed holistic curriculum and teaching methods are designed to enable these children to become self-sufficient and independent. These projects aim to make more individuals capable of exercising their choice over their own lives and livelihoods. Help us help them, making bringers of change possible where there were just victims before. Projects: 15. Students: 7000.

Asha for Education : Work an Hour 2009

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Asha for Education

presents

** Work an Hour 2009 **

An online event to

help educate underprivileged children in India

http://www.workanhour.org

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Each year, people from around the world come together in a demonstration of great human spirit, to help educate underprivileged children in India. Work An Hour, or WAH, as it is popularly known, is a summer-long, global, online fundraising campaign based on a simple concept. Participants

are asked to symbolically Work an Hour towards the cause of children's education by donating an hour's worth or more of their salary.

In 2008, WAH raised over $150,000 with a donor base of over 1,250 participants. Work an Hour 2009 aims to raise $200,000 by September 15th, 2009 to help provide for and improve the quality

of education in Asha supported schools. The funds raised will be used to support 15 projects spread across India. Details about all the projects are available on the website: http://www.ashanet.org/workanhour/2009/projects-main.html

You can be a part of this event by donating one hour of your time to help educate the underprivileged in India. You can do this symbolically by donating one hour's equivalent of your

salary or any other amount that you may choose, to Asha for Education. You can make your donations online using a credit card (Visa/MC) or by sending a check. If your company matches donations, please include the matching donation form to double your donation.

https://www.ashanet.org/workanhour/2009/donate/us.php

Please join us in this effort to educate the children of India. Forward this note to your family, friends, and colleagues and others who may be interested in making a contribution

and thereby making a difference.

Asha for Education is a federally tax-exempt organization. All contributions to it are tax-deductible. The organization is dedicated to socio-economic change in India through basic

education in the belief that education is a critical requisite for socio-economic change. In keeping with this focus, volunteers get involved with and support projects that have an education-related

component to them. Asha for Education is lauded for being a completely volunteer-driven, very low-overhead organization. 100% of your donations made towards the projects go directly to those projects.

Sincerely,

Asha for Education and the WAH 2009 Team

http://www.workanhour.org

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Prepare. Educate. Empower.
http://www.workanhour.org

Indian Independence Day - A Tryst with Destiny

Happy Independence Day! It was an emotional moment for all Indians when Pandit Nehru heralded the birth of a new nation with these words: "Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity". Check us out on Facebook Check us out on Orkut Follow us on Twitter This year we celebrate India's 63rd Independence Day, and the significant accomplishments of the young nation - a vibrant democracy, cutting-edge science and technology, a growing economy and a free press. At the same time we are reminded that the Tryst with Destiny and true freedom as envisaged by the founding fathers still remain out of reach for many of our children. Millions of bright-eyed children start school with high hopes but end up as drop-outs, due largely to an uninspiring and dysfunctional education system, and, in several cases, the need to work to help make ends meet for their families. We, the volunteers of Asha for Education, have been working since 1991 with the belief and hope that providing quality education for everyone, irrespective of their social and economic status, is essential for creating equal opportunities for all. This is reinforced by several studies such as the Pew Economic Mobility Project, whose conclusions, though in the context of the US and post-secondary education, can equally well apply to India and to education of any level. We invite you to join us on this mission today through the Work An Hour initiative which seeks to directly address these core issues. WAH, as it is popularly known, has been running annually since 1998, and has made a difference to tens of thousands of marginalized children. WAH presents you a unique opportunity where your income from an hour or more of work can help 'Prepare' them for the challenges of the adult world by 'Educating' them in a quality environment and 'Empowering' them to take control of their Destiny. The volunteer-driven structure of Asha ensures that 100% of the donations made towards the projects reach the projects. The 15 projects that are part of WAH 2009 are a reflection of the diversity of India. They focus on innovative ways of strengthening the school systems through better infrastructure, teaching methods, adequate supplies of teaching material and well-trained teachers - all of which are critical prerequisites for ensuring that the enrolled children stay on in school, enjoy the learning experience and get a meaningful education. These are things that we take for granted and insist on for our own children. Shouldn't they be the Right of every child? So, Go Ahead. Work An Hour. Change a Life, Build A Nation! 15 Projects. 7000 Children. Goal: $200,000. Raised so far: $35,000.

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Lets support the Right to Education...

Learn about WAH & Check out the WAH 2009 video. Greetings! With WAH 2009 in its third week, we urge you to spread the word about Asha's work to as many of your friends as you can. Yesterday, the Indian parliament took the historic step of passing into law the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill (2008). Free and compulsory education is finally a fundamental right for children between 6 and 14 years of age, a right that many of us were fortunate to be able to take for granted. It will take a number of years to fully implement the Bill. In the meantime, with an estimated 70 million children out of school, of whom about 10 million are bonded labor, India has the dubious distinction of having the largest number of child laborers in the world. By supporting Asha, you can make a difference! Every contribution counts, so Please donate... Below are 2 of our projects which seek to empower the most marginalized communities in India. They serve remote areas and communities working in bondage or in hazardous jobs, where exploitation is rife and literacy rates abysmally low. To be effective catalysts for socio-economic change, these projects have to go much beyond basic education for children. They have to reach out to the communities they serve to unite them, raise awareness and promote alternative livelihoods. Legal/ human rights education, adult literacy programs, health education, vocational training and income-generation schemes are just some of the ways these projects tackle their challenges: Kamlahan-Khadarawan, Sant Ravidas Nagar District, Uttar Pradesh A school of 50 students with some far-reaching goals - to eradicate bonded labor from 11 villages in Uttar Pradesh, to fund 11 schools for the children of the villages, and to gradually change local perceptions of debt bondage through legal literacy programs, employment generation activities, and uniting the local community. Besides its strong emphasis on community empowerment, Kamlahan-Khadarawan prepares its students for the official examinations at Grade 5, so that they can enter state schools and escape the cycle of bondage. To learn more click here. Mallarpur Uthnau, Birbhum District, West Bengal Mallarpur Uthnau was established in 1996 as an NGO dedicated to the upliftment of the Santhali people. Recruited to work in local stone quarries, the Santhals face exposure to hazardous chemicals, receive below minimum wages, and lack access to healthcare. Mallarpur Uthnau runs pre-primary schools, non-formal education centers and vocational training centers for the Santhals to help with basic literacy (an abysmal 10% in the community), provide alternative livelihoods, and improve healthcare and awareness. It currently runs 6 schools for 200 students.To learn more click here. To date, WAH has raised $20,000 out of a target of $200,000 for projects such as these, thanks to donors like you. We would like all of India's children to be able to partake in the opportunities blossoming around them. Help us help them, one project at a time. 15 Projects. 7000 children. Goal: $200,000. Raised so far: $20,000. Prepare. Educate. Empower. Work an Hour. ****************************************************************************************** Want to know more about WAH 2009? Watch this video on YouTube Check us out on Facebook Check us out on Orkut Follow us on Twitter ******************************************************************************************

Contact Information: E-mail: wah@ashanet.org | Website: www.workanhour.org Mail Checks to : 'Asha for Education', Gators for Asha, 300-9, J Wayne Reitz Union, PO Box 118505, Gainesville, FL 32611-8505. Please include 'WAH 2009 donation' on the memo