Thank you for visiting WAH 2009 – London Chapter page. Asha is a no overheads charity striving to raise money and help groups in India that are directly involved in children's education. One of our biggest fund raising venture is through WAH (Work an Hour) initiative. We urge you to symbolically contribute at least one hour of your time towards the cause of children's education by donating at least an hour's worth of your salary or more. Please do extend your support to make this project a big success. Your donation could help provide good quality education to numerous children in India!

To commemorate WAH's twelfth year of online fundraising, Asha for Education is highlighting projects in India involved in providing Quality Education to their students. The theme for this year WAH initiative is: Quality of Education - Prepare. Educate. Empower

You can donate through Justgiving. It is quick, easy, totally secure and the most efficient way to raise funds for WAH. Please select a project of your choice from the list below and mention the project in the comments section. If you would like to donate by check, please send your monies to:
Asha for Education
100D, Breakspears Road
Brockey
London SE4 1UD

The projects selected for this year’s WAH initiative are as follows:

1. Asha Darshan – Assam - Asha Darshan started as a proud and humble effort to impart educational upliftment in a poverty-ridden, rural Assamese area through infrastructure improvements and alimental assistance.

2. Olcott Memorial School – Chennai - A school for the poor that the rich may envy”- is how GoodNewsIndia described the Olcott Memorial High School (OMHS) , a unique free school founded in 1894 by Colonel Henry Steel Olcott, with the vision of bringing about social change through the education of the underprivileged.

3. Gramin Siksha Kendra – Rajasthan

4. Vasista Mithila Vidyalayam – Andhara Pradesh - Located near the picturesque coastal town of Vishakpatnam, Vasista Mithila Vidyalayam (VMV) is a school that caters to the children of around the Mangamaripeta village called Mangamaripeta. VMV was created and is operated by our project partner, Circle of Goodwill, a charity that operates several schools in and around Vishakpatnam.

5. Tribal Empowerment – Manipur - Tribal Empowerment (TEP) is a quintessential Asha project that owes its start to the efforts of a group of Asha volunteers, who along with a dedicated champion of tribal education Mr T.H.Joy, took up the challenge of starting a school in the remote tribal village of Leingangching in Manipur back in 2003.

6. Kamlahan-Khadarawan – Sant Ravidas Nagar District, Uttar Pradesh - For a school of 50 students, Kamlahan-Khadarawan has some far-reaching goals: to eradicate bonded labour 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.

7. Aasra Seva Sansthan – Vranasi, Uttar Pradesh - Since 2002, the Aasra Seva Sansthan has been trying to bring real economic and social uplift to backward and outcast communities(Musahars) in Varanasi, in chief through improved access to education.

8. Children’s Project Trust – Karnataka - For the past 7 years, the Children’s Project Trust has helped provide residential living and education to destitute and street children, offering them a chance at a future that would otherwise have been impossible.

9. Arogyaseva project – Thane district, Maharashtra - Arogyaseva as the name suggests is about taking care of the basic problem of malnutrition, followed by illiteracy among young children in the tribal areas approximately 150 km from Thane, Nasik and Nandapur districts in Maharashtra.

10. Chennai Balvadi Improvement Project – Chennai - Asha Chennai is involved in a project to improve the quality of education provided by Balvadi (pre-primary education centres).

11. Project Build – Thiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu - Project Build is an effort to facilitate educational opportunities for children of brick kiln workers.

12. Ashraya – Kollam, Kerala - In a state where only 10 percent of over two hundred thousand physically and mentally challenged children receive any sort of institutional care, Ashaya looks to empower underprivileged girls who are mentally or physically challenged, train and provide them with the tools they require to thrive.

13. Shikshana Gangotri – Kolar, Karnataka - Shikshana Gangothri (SG) is a school project covers the rural district of Kolar in the state of Karnataka, about 68 kms from Bangalore.

14. Mallarpur Uthnau – West Bengal - Mallarpur Uthnau was established in 1996 as an NGO dedicated to "uthnau" (upliftment) of the Santhali people and sustainable development of the region with the primary goal: to stop the exploitation of the Santhals by the local stone quarries.

15. Sarada Kalyan Bhandar (SKB) - Medinipur, West Bengal - SKB’s primary mission is to empower the women, youth and children of rural India by educating them and providing medical and nutritional care.