Dear friends, I am Vivek Nirkhe. I have been training to run a full marathon next month to raise funds for Asha for education. I am making an appeal to you to donate generously to Asha in the quest to improve education in India.
India is 70% rural. In spite of government measures to make primary education compulsory and free, a large number of children, mainly girls, don’t attend school. Most rural children miss out on early education which is critical for their development. Since 1981 Vanasthali, an NGO in rural Maharashtra has recognized that early schooling plants the love of learning and reduces the school dropout rates. Vanasthali first introduced the idea of nursery schools (”balwadi”s) in villages. Soon it became apparent that it was impossible to recruit qualified teachers from cities to teach in the villages. So Vanasthali set out to train women, often mothers of the young children, to become qualified nursery teachers. This offered the women an opportunity for earning and for self-development and kept the young children in school. Together, this has had a huge positive impact on the communities. Vanasthali now supports over 100 Balwadis and benefits more than 4000 children in the 3-7 age group.
Vanasthali is one of the many impactful projects that Asha supports and nurtures. Asha raises the funding for such projects, and Asha volunteers get personally involved with the projects, which makes a huge difference. Madhura, my wife, is closely associated with Vanasthali and is an Asha project steward for this project. I have seen the difference they have made in the lives of many young children.
Madhura and I are aiming to raise 5000 dollars for Asha. Please donate any amount you can. Whatever amount you donate, we would match dollar for dollar up to the first 2000 dollars. With Microsoft corporate matching gift, we hope we will reach the target in no time!
Thank you in advance for your generous support!