Asha for Education - India

A key thread running throughout Asha's various programmes is partnership to support basic education for children. One element of this process is the coalition/collaboration represented by Asha's many chapters. Since its founding, the initiative has expanded to include over 66 Asha chapters - consisting of unpaid volunteers: 45 in the United States, 14 in India, and 7 in Europe, Singapore and Australia. These have a high degree of freedom in their activities - including the identification, research, support and ownership of projects. These Asha centres network with like-minded grassroots workers and volunteers and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), in addition to raising awareness about various issues affecting the people of India by organising discussion series, invited talks and study groups. However, there is also a good deal of cooperation among chapters and volunteers across chapters, as evidenced by the joint ownership of projects, formation of focus groups across chapters, cross-chapter discussion on issues of interest, and worldwide events like the Asha-Wide Conference, Work-An-Hour, and the Asha India Conference.

In this context, Asha works with a variety of project partners and community groups in many educational and development-related endeavours; specific projects are described, and may be searched, on the Asha website. To cite one example of a past project: Asha-Computers operated as a focus group within Asha that explored the use of computers for basic education. The computer focus group supported projects that ranged in scope from the computer centre at Udavum Karangal (Helping Hands), an orphanage in Chennai established by Mr. S. Vidyakar, to the collaboration with Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) and World Computer Exchange (WCE) to establish approximately 33 computer centres in 11 districts of rural Gujarat.

The Asha website also serves as a resource base; click here to access various types of online information related to children's education and other development work in India.

Education, Children.

Asha is run by an all-volunteer force, has a flat structure and zero overhead costs, and supports secular and apolitical projects. As of this writing, Asha has supported more than 385 projects spanning 24 states in India. In the future, Asha hopes to continue playing an important role in the socio-economic development of India by helping provide universal primary education by 2047 and by instigating at least one project in every district of India by 2010.