Comments on Work an Hour 2011: WAH '07 Updates

Nartap High School and Bonpura Primary School m...

2008-08-16T14:52:00.000-07:00
Nartap High School and Bonpura Primary School monitored by Assam Center for Rural Development (ACRD)
Location: Kamrup Dist, Assam
Chapter: Asha Stamford

Nartap High School and Bonpura Primary Schools in the Kamrup district of Assam were started as venture schools in the 90’s. Bonpura primary school is situated about 50 km from Guwahati. Students belong to poor farm laborer families of people living below the poverty line. Besides attending school, the children help their parents at home and in fields. The community consists of about 150 families who belong to Scheduled Castes.
Nartap High School is about 40 km away from Guwahati. Students belong to poor cultivator families of people living below poverty line. Besides attending school, the children help their parents at home and in farm fields. The predominantly farming community comprises 250 families. They belong mostly (~90%) to the Karbi tribe which is recognized as a Scheduled Tribe. The remaining 10% belong to Scheduled Castes, other backward communities and "general category".

In 2003, Asha Stamford decided to provide support for these 2 schools. Until this time, these schools were supported primarily by local communities. Initial objective was to provide adequate resources to support the construction and extension of school buildings in Bonpura Lower Primary and Nartap High School. Since the 2005, Asha has also provided support in terms of salaries for the teachers. Ultimately, Asha has a vision of working with ACRD and the school management committees to set up vocational training. Presently, the education imparted is formal and the schools follow the state education board’s curriculum.

UPDATES ON THE PROJECT

Part of WAH funds were used for running cost for the 2 schools (e.g. teachers’ salaries, furniture), excursion for the high school students and mid-day meals for the primary school students. Remaining funds will be used for building the infrastructure of the library.

Vocational Training Program: This was one of the goals set for this year.

* The training for students was conducted in Vocational training cum Skill Development Centre at Borduar Bagan, which is another project area of ACRD. Training Program was conducted in the following programs - electrical goods repair, mobile phone repair, car repair, soft toy making, weaving and tailoring, Computer operation. In the training program, the day starts with physical exercises for two hours which has been enjoyed by the students. After the training classes the children spend their evenings with a prayer, dance, songs, recitation, extempore speech competition, acting, composing of poems/short stories/ play etc. They have been given leadership development training, orientation about Asha programs etc. It was heartening to note that the students got so attached that they shed tears before they had left for home and everyone present there became emotional!

Mid Day meal program:

* The students of Bonpura Primary School have been provided a mid-day meal regularly. The food includes biscuits, bread, fruits, chirwa , jaggery, channa etc.

Update on Teacher Training:

* Teachers’ training was completed in July. This was one of the goals set for this year.

School Premises:

* Improvement in infrastructure was made. This included repairing the broken bamboo fences in the front side of the school from bamboos contributed by the families of the students. There has been addition of books in the library other than course work which have been used by the students.

Academics & Extra Curricular activities:

* The enrollment of students has increased by 10% this year because of ASHA-ACRD intervention, the students from far flung areas as well as the nearby town where already a school exists, have also started coming to NHS.

* Annual sports week, 2007 was held from 14th January to 6th February, 2008 where events of sports like volley ball, foot ball, kabbadi, javelin throw, high jump, long jump, races etc. Competitions on quiz, recitation, extempore speech, memory test, modern songs and dance etc were also part of the events organized for Annual sports week.

Needy Illiterate Children Education (NICE):...

2008-08-13T23:42:00.000-07:00
Needy Illiterate Children Education (NICE):
Location: Narasaraopet, AP
Chapter: Asha Hyderabad

Note from the project steward: The money raised for WAH 2007 for NICE is actually to be utilized this academic year (2008-09). We are yet to receive the first installment for NICE from WAH 2007 money for NICE. So we have not yet utilized any money from WAH 2007 for this project. But the money is going to be used for the teachers salaries and partly food for the children. -Giri.

Note from WAH 2007 team: Money has been sent to Asha India in May '08, the delay was partly because of FCRA issues. It is now readily available for Asha Hyderabad to claim the same from Asha India.

TEA Trust:
Location: Chengalpattu, TN
2008-08-13T23:35:00.000-07:00
TEA Trust:
Location: Chengalpattu, TN
Chapter: Asha Boston/MIT

As part of WAH 2007, about $6700 was given to TEA trust to address some one time needs including,

* Weathering course for the roof.

* Raising the level of the play ground at the school.

* A borewell and motor for water.

The construction costs has skyrocketed in the last few years. So I think the budget given by TEA trust based on which the funds were sanctioned was at least a year old. The weathering course for the terrace was completed with good red clay tiles. But the ground filling was only 75% complete. The area near the school is now filled and thus water logging is unlikely to be a problem for them this year. The borewell and motor work could not be taken up for the lack of funds. I think some of the work was underestimated but largely the excess expenditure was because of the price rise and beyond the control of TEA trust.

What has been filled in the ground is not sand. It is mud. I am not 100% sure how it will withstand any rain. i.e. whether it will turn muddy or not. Arputham of TEA trust assures me that this will be alright. Further the longer term plan to put some sand on top of this to create a play area.

I would recommend that Asha makes up for the difference in the amounts to ensure proper completion of the work. TEA trust will probably be approaching AfE for this separately.

(Site visit by Rajaram, Asha Chennai)

The project coordinator estimates that it will cost Rs. 50,000 to finish the leveling of the playground. The chapter has not discussed what to do yet.

Institute of Social Work Primary Education Proj...

2008-08-11T16:13:00.000-07:00
Institute of Social Work Primary Education Project:
Location: Kolkata, West Bengal
Chapter: Asha Cornell

Updates can be found on ISW's project website. Please check out the links named 'Progress Report 07-08' and 'Expenditure Statement 07-08' on the right.

Project: Learn Together Teach Other
Khajurdaha ...

2008-08-09T08:57:00.000-07:00
Project: Learn Together Teach Other
Khajurdaha Nabankar United Club
Location: Khajurdaha, Basudevpur, Bhabanipur, West Bengal
Chapter: Asha Princeton

The Learn Together Teach Other (LTTO) program being supported by Asha for Education was started as an attempt to address the needs of the children in the project area. This project covers the Khajurdaha, Basudevpur and Bhabanipur villages in West Bengal. There are about 625 families with total population of 3945.

LTTO program was started in 1996 for providing basic education for 50 children. Since then, the project has grown and currently provides primary education (upto Class VIII) for 238 children. Since 2003, KNUC upgraded their primary school up to Class VIII.

Khajurdaha Nabankur United Club (KNUC) is an organization started in Khajurdaha village in Dhaniakhali block of West Bengal with the aim of bringing socially-minded men and women to address the issues of poverty, illiteracy, unemployment. The project area predominantly consists of small and marginal farmers and landless labourers with average annual income of Rs. 6000.

WAH 2007:
The main purpose of the WAH 2007 funding was to:

Complete the incomplete work at the ground floor of the school building of the LTTO programme. This included:

1. Plastering (outside, inside & roof) of the school building total 10155 sq.ft.
2. Flooring of the school building total 2430 sq.ft.
3. White washing (outside, inside & roof including Part-I & Part-II) of the school building total 15635sq.ft.
4. Fixing and Colouring of Windows & Doors total 29 Nos.
5. Sanitary Chamber for Lavatory / Restroom total 200 sq.ft.
6. Electrification.

The Princeton Chapter of Asha for Education funded 60% of the project and 40% was funded by KNUC.

The incomplete work of the school building was completed in July 2008. The latest updates for KNUC on the LTTO project is as follows:

JOB SPECIFICATION THAT HAVE BEEN DONE UNDER THE PROJECT:

• Plastering (outside, inside & roof) of the school building total 10155 sq.ft.
• Flooring of the school building total 2430 sq.ft.
• White washing (outside, inside & roof including Part-I & Part-II) of the school building total 15635sq.ft.
• Colouring of Windows & Doors total 29 Nos.
• Fitting & Fixing of windows total 11 Nos.
• Fitting & Fixing of Doors Total 4 Nos.
• Fitting & Fixing of Gate total 2 Nos.
• Fitting & fixing of Basin, Pan , Cock etc at Lavatory
• Fitting & Fixing of Basin, Cock etc at Kitchen
• Fitting & Fixing of rain water pipe
• Sanitary Chamber for Lavatory total 200 sq.ft.
• Electrification.

Aralu Belaku:
Location: Bidar District, ...

2008-07-27T08:59:00.000-07:00
Aralu Belaku:
Location: Bidar District, Karnataka
Chapter: Asha Chicago
Contact: Shankar Ramachandran (shanks_rc at yahoo.com)

Aralu Belaku is a residential home in Bidar district of Karnataka for children who are orphans or destitute, some of these children are being rehabilitated from child labour, begging, etc. Aralu is the local NGO that runs the residential home. As of 2008, Asha Chicago commits to funding the children’s food, clothing, living expenses, schooling expenses, health care and also the operational expenses of this residential home. There are currently 22 children, 2 cooks and a warden.

An important landmark would be reached in the project in 2009 when two children will complete their tenth standard. These two children would thus be the first two kids from the home who would finish school. These kids would never have been able to come this far if not for this residential home and the sincere efforts of the Aralu team.

It has also got the project steward team of Aralu thinking about higher education for these kids and future strategies for these children. Volunteers in Asha Chicago are currently brainstorming towards creating a Support a child program for Aralu Belaku. We are also looking into providing a few computers for these children, especially the older ones, to obtain some basic exposure to computers.

In 2008, we have had to do some repair towards the bathroom and toilets. There have also been two site visits to the project; both by volunteers from Asha Hyderabad. We have received constructive suggestions about the project and are communicating with the project folks on these suggestions to obtain a better understanding of the project.

To Reach You (TRY):
Location: Mudichur, ...

2008-07-27T08:53:00.000-07:00
To Reach You (TRY):
Location: Mudichur, Tamil Nadu
Chapter: Asha Dallas and Asha-Purdue (WAH)

TRY is based in Mudichur on the outskirts of Chennai and is at most an hour from most parts of the city. Asha-Dallas has been funding the construction of ground floor of TRY home, a shelter for the kids rescued from trafficking. Currently, there are a total of 11 children who stay in Chandravel's and his friend’s house and attend the nearby Government school. This home will serve as a permanent shelter for these kids plus give an opportunity to rescue and house more such affected kids (The home can house about 30 children).

The original proposal was part of WAH'2005 to fund construction work of the ground floor of TRY home. However because of tsunami related work some of the WAH funds were diverted towards the same and not all the money raised could be sent to the project partner. Due to lack of sufficient funds the construction was halted and a proposal was re-submitted to Asha in February of 2007. Asha-Dallas funded for the completion of construction of ground floor in March 2007. And after a year and half, I am glad to say that the construction for ground floor was finally completed late last month and a total of 11 children have moved in to the home in early July of this year.

A proposal was submitted to WAH'2007 to fund the construction of first floor. However, a decision was made to hold back the funds as the construction of ground floor was still ongoing and there was delay from the Project partner to get us a detailed accounting of the same. We have finally received all the required audit reports and a site-visit was also completed in February of 2008 when the construction was almost 90% done. The original proposal needed about $22000 for its complete construction. The actual amount raised through WAH'2007 is about $15000. We are currently working with the project partner to prioritize on what can be done with this money to complete the exterior construction first and then look at the interior as it is not of high priority right now since we have only 11 kids in the shelter right now.

Since the ground floor construction is complete, audit reports/detailed expense reports received and a site visit done last february, we will shortly file for WAH'2007 funds to be released for first floor construction.

Asha Dallas Contacts: Deepa Varadarajan (deepa_cad@yahoo.com), Ravi Kandikonda (ravionweb@yahoo.com), Kirti Sangar (kirti.sangar@gmail.com)

Asha Purdue (WAH) Contact: Hemalatha Jayachandran (hemalatha.jayachandran@hotmail.com)

Here is an update on Sankalp.

Sank...

2008-07-24T19:07:00.000-07:00
Here is an update on Sankalp.

Sankalp School:
Location: Gurgaon, Haryana
Chapter: Asha Dallas

About Sankalp:

Sankalp is a non formal school for the children of unskilled migratory laborers to promote literacy under the National literacy programme. Sankalp, literally means a pledge. A pledge to give opportunities to less fortunate. The programme is being run free of cost since July 1996. The project aims to provide nutrition and clothing besides education. That includes providing a mid day meal and medical facililities. Besides literacy the school also is trying to provide extra curricular activities. Sankalp has also started a fund called "Meghna Barse" for providing medical treatment to the children, such as recent support for a 12-year old girl who suffered severe burn injuries and heart surgeries for 2 children.

Purpose of the Bus:

WAH 2007 supported Sankalp to realize its dream of expanding the reach of education to slum locations that are further away from their schools, by partially supporting the funds for a bus. Sankalp had a student from TIS do a survey of the jhuggi which is the proposed site for the Sankalp on Wheels project. In this present colony in the study report, out of the 150, 135 children are not attending school. Out of this 135, 51 are boys and 84 are girls. They are children of richshaw pullers, rag pickers, drivers, domestic help, labourers, mostly migrated from West Bengal. In addition to this potential slum location, the bus will also be used to transport children that have completed 3rd grade at Sankalp, to the Govt. school.

Bus progress update from Sankalp:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The chassis of the bus has been bought from Eicher Motors at a cost of about Rs 6.5 lacs. The chassis is now with the body builder for customisation, the bus should be ready in a month or so. The total capital cost of the bus will work to Rs 10 lacs approx, this has been funded mainly through your contribution as well as funds that was pledged to us through the Vodafone Marathon. We also have a couple from Phoenix who have contributed Rs 1 lac towards this.

We are in the process of talking to donors to fund the running of the bus. Will keep you updated on developments on this end.

As far the running of the project goes we have identified two possible slum settlements where Sankalp on wheels will operate and one construction colony from where the children can be picked up/ dropped to. We have a volunteer who is doing a survey in the three areas.

We are also interviewing potential candidates to be the project officer for Sankalp on Wheels.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Latest Update:

Sankalp is finalzing on the exteriors of the bus.

Do let me know if you have any questions.

Best Regards,

Neena

Vikasana Bridge School:
Location: Bhadravathi, ...

2008-07-24T19:04:00.000-07:00
Vikasana Bridge School:
Location: Bhadravathi, KA
Chapter: Asha UFlorida & Asha Seattle

Vikasana is based in Tarikere taluk of Karnataka. Project is about 7-8 hour journey from Bangalore (Shimoga/Tarikere). Asha UFlorida & Seattle have been funding a bridge school in Bhadravathi for 25 children between grades 2 and 7. It is a residential school for children of migratory workers. The area is one of the greener places surrounded by drought ridden regions. People migrate to this area to work in the steel mills or as agricultural laborers. Consequently their children are also pushed to labor.

Vikasana has been involved in a variety of community issues in that area. They started with an initiative in agriculture by working with the local land owning farmers to propagate all information they had learnt about agro-farming. Use of vermi compost, mixed farming, fruit orchards, organic farming methods, animal husbandry etc. The Govt. of Karnataka has funded their initiative in setting up a Farmers Resource Center to impart both theoretical & practical knowledge. While being involved in this, they also decided to pay attention to the plight of landless laborers, particularly their children.

They brought out a proposal to start an organic farm to help make the bridge school partially sustain in about 5 years time. Funds were raised through WAH 07. The original proposal needed about $48,000 for its complete execution, including the cost of 6 acres of land, construction costs etc. About $27,500 was set as WAH '07 target for land purchase. The actual amount realized was close to $16500. This shortfall lead the NGO & the chapter to decide on whether we would like to mobilize all the $48,000 before sending funds, or rescale the project to a pilot program. The chapter & the project partner agreed & decided to do the latter.

While these discussions were being held at the chapter and a new budget requirement formulated at Vikasana, Asha Seattle had to cease funding for Vikasana's recurring expenses. The last site visit for Vikasana was done in Dec 2006. Due to defaulting for more than a year on that aspect, and many other difficulties in communicating within Asha, we had to wait until a new site visit was completed and a report was made available before any funds could be sent to the project partner.

The latest update:

1) Site visit for Vikasana was completed on July 8th 2008
2) UFlorida decided to send $1000 as a stop gap measure
3) As soon as a report is available, the new budget will be sent to Asha Seattle to release funds for recurring expenses
4) Chapter will shortly file for WAH '07 funds to be sent to Vikasana for land purchase, bore well, & seed money etc. to begin a pilot program in organic farming.

Thanks
Meenakshi

Comments on Work an Hour 2011: WAH '07 Updates

Nartap High School and Bonpura Primary School m...

Needy Illiterate Children Education (NICE):...

Institute of Social Work Primary Education Proj...

Project: Learn Together Teach Other
Khajurdaha ...

Aralu Belaku:
Location: Bidar District, ...

To Reach You (TRY):
Location: Mudichur, ...

Here is an update on Sankalp.

Sank...

Vikasana Bridge School:
Location: Bhadravathi, ...

Comments on Work an Hour 2011: WAH '07 Updates

Nartap High School and Bonpura Primary School m...

Needy Illiterate Children Education (NICE):...

Institute of Social Work Primary Education Proj...

Project: Learn Together Teach OtherKhajurdaha ...

Aralu Belaku:Location: Bidar District, ...

To Reach You (TRY):Location: Mudichur, ...

Here is an update on Sankalp. Sank...

Vikasana Bridge School:Location: Bhadravathi, ...

Project: Learn Together Teach Other
Khajurdaha ...

Aralu Belaku:
Location: Bidar District, ...

To Reach You (TRY):
Location: Mudichur, ...

Here is an update on Sankalp.

Sank...

Vikasana Bridge School:
Location: Bhadravathi, ...