1)
Name of WAH 2006 Proposal: School Construction at Natpurwa
Summary
2) Total amount required (USD): $8545
3)
Chapter’s target to raise in WAH 2006 (USD): $6400
4) Cost Type (Fixed/Recurring): Fixed
5) Number of People Served: The
structure that is planned to be constructed will serve as a school and as a
community center for the developmental activities in the area. Hence many different groups of people will be
served.
(a) School: 85+ children. They are
currently of primary school age, but the goal is to get them to middle school
and later high school, probably by growing the school. It is expected that the children in
neighboring villages will also benefit as the school grows.
(b) The larger RTI activities and other
developmental activities in the area will also benefit from the proposed
structure. Specifically the women’s
groups are expected to use the structure as they develop alternative sources of
employment for the women in the village.
The physical structure will be a visible symbol of progress, giving a
boost to all activities in the area, which is expected to be all the activites
in a 10 km radius (as of now, this is expected to grow rapidly).
6)
Project Location (State): Uttar Pradesh
7) Category: Formal school and community center/base for developmental
activities
8) FCRA Approval (Yes/No): Yes
9)
Nominating Chapter: Asha-MIT/Boston
10) Contact Person: Melli Annamalai
E-mail: annam38 <at> yahoo.com Phone
#: 603-886-3332
11) Project Website: http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=350
12)
Link to latest site-visit: http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=350
13)
Link to photos of the project: On the project webpage
Info required
to transfer funds to the project:
14) Name on the Bank account: Asha
15) Bank account number:
16) Name of the bank:
17) Branch and city that DD will be encashed at:
18) Address of recipient (not bank): Gram :
Barahi (Natpurwa)
Post: Sikroriha
Sandila, Hardoi District
UTTAR PRADESH
241001
India
19) Landline number of recipient: Landline is in
20) (opt) mobile # 91-9451148061
(Neelkamal), 91-9451209863 (Guddu)
21) (opt) email of recipient
Organizational Information
22) Name of the Organization: Asha Trust
23) Date of Establishment: 1997 (work at Natpurwa began in 2002)
24) Registration Number:
25)
Tax Exemption Certificate Number
26)
Exemption End Date
27)
FCRA Number:
28)
MOA (if available):
29)
Brief long-term Objectives: Asha in this region consists of several
objectives. The objectives listed here
focus on objectives of the work in Natpurwa village:
(a) Provide
women in the village (specifically of the Nat caste) an alternative to
prostitution): through (i) education and (ii) development of other means of
livelihood
(b) Development
of a school (for the objective listed under (a) (i)), high school, and
eventually an intermediate college, specifically for girls, but also serving
the needs of all
(c) Sustain
and continue the Right to Information movement for better governance:
transparency and better usage of govt. funds, election of non-corrupt
candidates to village administrative positions, better functioning of public
services like the primary health center, govt. school, execution
of specific govt. schemes ranging from a hand pump to an intermediate college.
30*)
Blurb of organization
The
work at Natpurwa village is coordinated by people from the village. Here there is no distinction between Asha and
the people – Asha is the people and the people are Asha. 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.
31)
Background of founder(s): Neelkamal and Guddu are two youth from the
village. Neelkamal is a graduate and was
working in
32)
Number of Staff: As described in 31, this is a bit fluid depending on people’s
participation. Honorarium is being
supported for 6 people. Honorarium is
typically given after someone has volunteered with Asha for a whole and shown
that he/she is committed to staying on and interested in the work in the
long-term.
33) Annual Budget: Year 2005-2006: $6000 (honorarim for 6 people, and expenses
such as school supplies, travel, phone)
34) Previous Funding: 2002-2003: $1800, 2003-2004: $4030, 2004-2005: $4500
35) US Contact: Melli Annamalai
36) India Contact: Neelkamal, Guddu, Chandralekha
37) Previous Sponsor(s) for the Project: Asha-MIT/Boston, with recent
supplement from Asha-DC
38) Previous support through WAH: None
39) Information about the alumni, if available: N/A
40) Location and Demographic
details: Natpurwa is about 60 kms from
41)
Goal of WAH project: The larger goal of the work in Natpurwa is to (1) provide
women an alternative to prostitution and (2) To achieve change in the village through
several activities coordinated by the villagers themselves, one key activity
being the struggle for effective governance.
To help in these larger goals, the WAH project proposes to build a
physical structure in the village, which will function as a center for the work
and provide a base for the developmental activities in Natpurwa and the
surrounding areas. The structure will be
utilized for the three major components of work in Natpurwa: (1) Educational
activities (2) The Right to Information (RTI) movement and (3) Development of
women’s groups to empower women. As a
visible symbol of progress the structure wil enhance the work in the area – the
immediate tangible benefits of the structure include functioning as a school
for the children (which is currently being conducted in a one-room windowless
building), functioning as a space for RTI and related meetings, and functioning
as a space for people to stay when they visit from other villages to learn
about and participate in the RTI movement (it is such interaction between
villages that has helped the RTI movement in the area grow).
42)
Total Amount Required: $8545
43)
Beneficiaries of the project: 85+ children from Natpurwa village are the direct
beneficiaries of the school structure.
The larger RTI movement in the area (covering a radius of about 30 kms,
the whole of Sandila block) will benefit from the structure, as also the
efforts to empower women.
44)
Expected outcomes for people served by the project: (1) The
immediate goal is the ability to get a good primary school education. The villagers’ goal is extend it to the
middle school, and then high school, and eventually intermediate college (with
the help of the govt.). This will
particularly be beneficial to girls. (2)
The building will serve as a center for the right to information activities in
the area – provide space for meetings, provide space for people who come from
surrounding villages to stay, and provide a space that will belong to the
community that the community can utilize for development related activities. The
plan is to model the structure on the lines of the Lalpur and Barawan ashrams.
45)
How long will the benefit last: The usages are for a
formal school and a community center, so the benefits are potentially
permanent.
46)
Number of people reached: The school will reach 85+ children. The larger RTI movement will reach all the
villages in the area (the entire RTI movement is active in an area of 35-40 km
radius, the community center at Natpurwa will be most beneficial to the people
in the area surrounding Natpurwa, about a 10km radius initially, and is
expected to grow).
47)
Provide itemized budget for WAH project:
48)
Other sources of funding (confirmed and anticipated): Villagers will contribute
labor.
49) Duration of the project: School is ongoing, this
construction will provide a better structure.
RTI activities and women’s groups are also ongoing and will all benefit
from the structure.
50) Government Involvement: The Right to Information movement in the area gives
the Natpurwa group the ability to leverage government resources where possible.
(Past work includes identifying corrupt teachers who were pocketing scholarship
money and ensuring that it reaches the children). The plan with this school that is being built
is that govt. funds will be obtained and used where govt. schemes exist. For example, there is a govt. scheme for
building intermediate colleges for girls for Rs. 15 lakhs can be sanctioned
(this would be in the future, but this is described here as an example of the
kinds of schemes that will be used).
Such schemes for primary and middle schools are being explored.
51)
Duration of Chapter's involvement: 2002 – present.
52)
Personnel Involved: The Natpurwa team described above.
53) References: Sandeep Pandey, Vallabh Pandey
54)
Minutes with Q&A of meeting or conference call at which the project was
approved by the chapter: Refer to: http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=350