Asha - Hope

I am writing this blog post....that means I can read and write. And you are reading this post....which means you can read and write. So, we are among those lucky people in this world who are educated. Growing up, like in most Indian households, my parents placed a lot of emphasis on education. I was always told....of all the things we can give you as parents, an education is the most valuable one. It will always remain yours and no one can take it away from you. My parents worked hard to ensure that my sister and I were provided with a good education.

About a month ago, I was getting my son ready for school when the thought came to my mind that there were so many children in this world who cannot afford an education because of the circumstances that they are born into. So later I mentioned to my husband that I would like to make a one time donation to an organization that supports the education of underprivileged children. My husband looked at me and asked....Why a one time donation? Why not something on a monthly and permanent basis?....Thus began the search on the internet for such an organization and I stumbled upon Asha for Education's website (http://www.ashanet.org/). Asha for Education is an organization dedicated to the education of underprivileged children in India. What I really liked about Asha was that not only were they supporting various projects in education in different parts of India they also have chapters all over the world which I am listing below.

USA and Canada chapters (www.ashanet.org/index.php?page=chapters&c=NorthAmerica)
Alabama - Birmingham
Arizona - Tempe
California - Berkeley, Irvine, Los Angeles, Redlands, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, San Jose, Stanford
Colorado - Littleton
Connecticut - Hartford, Stamford, Yale
Delaware - Newark
District of Columbia - Washington DC
Florida - Orlando, Gainesville
Georgia - Athens, Atlanta,
Illinois - Chicago, UIC, UIUC
Indiana - Purdue
Kansas - Shawnee
Massachusetts - Boston
Michigan - Ann Arbor, Detroit
Minnesota - Blaine
Missouri - St. Louis
New Jersey - Central NJ, Princeton
New York - Cornell, Danbury, Mid-Hudson Valley, NYC/NJ
Ohio - Cincinnati, Cleveland, Toledo
Oregon - Corvallis, Portland
Pennsylvania - Philadelphia
Tennessee - Knoxville
Texas - Austin, Dallas, Houston
Utah - Salt Lake City
Virginia - New River Valley
Vermont - Burlington
Washington - Seattle
Wisconsin - Madison
Canada - Ontario

India chapters (www.ashanet.org/index.php?page=chapters&c=India)
Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad
Delhi - New Delhi
Karnataka - Bangalore
Maharashtra - Mumbai, Pune
Tamil Nadu - Chennai
Uttar Pradesh - Ballia, Kanpur, Lalpur, Lucknow, Rajatalab, Varanasi

Europe chapters (www.ashanet.org/index.php?page=chapters&c=Europe)
Germany - Frankfurt, Munich
Netherlands - Eindhoven
Switzerland - Zurich
UK - London, Oxford, Sheffield

Each chapter deals with different projects in different parts of India and they can be contacted by following the links I have mentioned above.

So, I contacted my local chapter and was informed that they had a project in West Bengal and with a monthly donation of $15 (yes, only fifteen dollars a month), we could sponsor and support all educational expenses (including teacher salary. educational materials, admission fees, rent and others) for 10 kids (yes, ten kids).

Yesterday, through the credit card donation online setup to support this particular project, I made our first donation of $15. We will be making monthly donations and I hope by doing so we will be making at least a slight change in the lives of 10 children in West Bengal, India. We have named the donation as a scholarship in my late father-in-law's name....a man who worked very hard in his life to provide his children with a good education.

By writing this blogpost, if I have inspired even one person anywhere in this world to sponsor the education of even one underprivileged child, I think then today I would have earned my education.

Signing off knowing that I was just plain lucky to be born to parents who could afford my education and this quote by Malcolm Forbes

'The purpose of education is to replace an empty mind with an open one'.