Asha for Education's Work An Hour event brings people from all over the world together to help educate underprivileged children in India.  The event kicks off on July 4th, peaks on August 15th and concludes on September 5th. 15th of August, India’s Independence Day, is the symbolic date chosen for this phenomenal coming together of the human spirit.
 
Last year's Work an Hour helped projects based on the theme of disadvantaged children - children of sex workers, street children, poor orphans, blind children etc. Details about the progress of these projects are available on the website.  These projects were supported with over $130,000 raised from more than 1,900 donors supporting the event.

Work an Hour 2006 aims to raise $160,000 by September 5th, 2006. The funds raised will be used towards projects located in the 10 poorest states or rural areas of other states.  Details about all the projects are available on the website: http://www.ashanet.org/workanhour/2006/projects.html

Natpurwa, in Uttar Pradesh, is the project that Asha-MIT/Boston has put forward this year.  Natpurwa has a 300 year history of women going into prostitution, and it is to change this that two youth from the village came forward and asked to work with Asha.  In the last four years, the work has evolved into three major components: the Right to Information movement, women’s groups and educational activities.  The villagers themselves coordinate all the activities, with about 6-8 of them taking the lead and forming the core team.  The Right to Information movement is leading to transparent and effective governance. The women’s groups are being organized to empower the women and this effort is led by a former sex-worker.  The Natpurwa core group believes that education is the key to providing girls in the village with alternatives; with that in mind they started with a primary school run in a one-room mud structure belonging to one of the core team members.  The WAH proposal is to build a pucca structure which will provide the school with much needed space and protection against the weather and also pave the way for government recognition and future expansion into a middle school.  It will also provide a much needed physical structure that will function as the center of the developmental activities in the village and surrounding areas. 
 
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 smbolically by donating one hour's equivalent of your salary or any other amount 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/2006/donate.html

Please join us in this effort to educate the children of India.   Forward this note to your family, friends, 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 zero-overhead organization.  All donations go directly to projects.

http://www.workanhour.com
http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=350
http://www.ashanet.org/mit

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