ASHA-MIT
GROUP:
Monday (Charity) Club
Flat #1, Saptagiri Apartments
83, T.T.K. Road, Madras - 600 018
India
Phone Numbers 499-4806, 499-6634
Objectives:
Established in 1970, this group focuses its efforts
on alleviating problems faced by women. Ongoing
efforts include:
i) A home for the aged and destitute women called "Vishranthi"
ii) Educating women on their rights, benefits
of sanitation, proper diet etc. ("Awareness
Project"); Helping women in distress ("Short
Stay Home"); and Family couselling and guidance ("Vimochana")
iii)Four projects relating to education - "Book Bank"
to buy books needed by poor students; "Tution
Center" to give coaching to under-privileged
children; a home for abused children called
"Malarchi" and a student adoption scheme called "Vidhya Dhan"
PROJECT :
Malarchi - a home for children who come from broken families
or who have been abused.
Vidhya Dhan - or the "Student Adoption Scheme" which provides
financial assistance to poor students
LOCATION:
Madras, India
CONTACT:
Mrs. Savithri Vaithi, Chairperson
Monday (Charity) Club
Flat #1, Saptagiri Apartments
83, T.T.K. Road, Madras - 600 018
India
FUNDING:
REQUESTED for Malarchi and Vidhya Dhan both of which are on a
per child basis. The expenditure is Rs.2000 per child per year
in the Malarchi programme. In the latter programme Rs.1000
is spent per student per year.
APPROVED for 12 children in the Malarchi project for one year.
This is a commitment of US $2040 in two equal installments. The
first installment (Baybank Boston Check No.4281) was mailed on
December 23, 1996. The second installment will be sent after
six months and will be contingent upon receit of a six-monthly
review from the organization.
DURATION:
Jan 97 - Dec. 97
DESC:
MALARCHI
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This is a home for children from families where the father has
deserted them and the mother is unable to provide for the
children. These children are taken care of by the aged women in the
Vishranthi project. These children are educated in local schools.
They have listed 16 children who are part of this programme, all of
them being girls. Some of these girls who have been severely abused
in their homes are provided shelter. The expenditure is Rs.2000 per
year for each child in this programme.
VIDHYA DHAN
-----------
Started in 1990 and is called the "STUDENT ADOPTION SCHEME". The aim
of is to provide financial assistance to intelligent students coming
from economically weaker sections of the population. All the
educational expenses such as fees, text books, uniforms etc. are
taken care of till the 12th standard. The assistance starts
from Class VII and the students are selected by the heads of
the schools concerned. A modest Rs. 1000 is spent per student per
year. A donor can adopt a student and pay Rs. 1000 annually
for six years. An one time payment of Rs. 10,000 can be made
by which a continuous scholarship is given in the donors name.
They have included the record of one student from this programme.
SUMMARY:
No limits on funding. The funding is on a per child per year basis.
COMMENTS:
They seem to be a very sincere group. The cost split up for
the Vidhya Dhan project shows that more money was spent on the
uniforms than on books. Although the two projects are not on
the grass-roots level, they manage to give education to
children who may not otherwise continue with their studies.
When the project was reviewed, Malarchi was favored over Vidhya
Dhan for funding. Malarchi is unique in its attempt to help
abused children in the projects considered so far. Vidhya Dhan
seemed an project well suited for presenting to people at concerts
etc.
SOURCE:
Ramgopal (ramgopal@centerline.com) was the person who brought this
proposal for evaluation. He visited this project and was very
impressed with the dedication of the organisers.
HISTORY:
This project was brought for evaluation in June, 1996. A summary
was posted on 18 June, 1996 by jiyer@mit.edu and was reviewed
in the Projects Group Meeting on the same day. Malarchi was
favored for funding. It was approved for funding on 10/17/96.
A cheque was mailed by Prajnan Das on DEc.23, 1996.
Summary update - Jyotsna, 12 Jan 97
STATUS:
FUNDED. Details under FUNDING.
DETAILS :
i) Mainly run by house-wives
ii) Has been an active organisation for over 25 years now
iii) Donations possible as a) yearly b) a one-time contibution
or c) general fund donation
iv) Donations are Tax-Exempt in India under 80G of Income Tax Act of 1961.
v) Membership is about 220