ASHA-MIT

GROUP: SODWAC

Quick Index: [Address] [Objectives] [Affiliations] [Constituency] [Annual budget (94-95)] [Activities] [LOCATION] [CONTACT] [PROJECT] [TARGET] [LOCATION] [FUNDING APPROVED] [FUNDING REQUESTED] [IMPACT] [COMMENTS] [HISTORY] [STATUS] [DETAILS] [*************PREVIOUS PROPOSAL SUMMARY by Premi*****************]

Address:

 
Society for Development of Women and Children
271 "Ramleela", MS Road, V. V. Puram, Bangalore 560004, India.
                

 

Objectives:

 
1) Forum for discussion & action on the  subject of development
   of women and children (esp. health & social development).   
2) Non-formal education of women and girls (in particular) and 
   of boys below 12 years of age.
3) Creation of awareness & improvement of nutritional & 
   health status of women & children; improvement of their 
   sanitary environment and as a result, of the community in 
   general.
4) Improving the earning capacity of women by offering training
   in appropriate vocational skills.
5) Exploring other plans for benefit or advancement of women
   as may be decided by the Society
6) Other things necessary...

 

Affiliations:

  
No religious affiliations. Inspired by Swami Vivekanada's ideals.

 

Constituency:

  anybody irrespective of caste, creed & religion.
Target population --- 
1) women of reproduction age (18-40) - 		200 women/yr
2) preschool children -- 			1000/yr.
3) School going children & adolescent girls - 	10-15/year

 

Annual budget (94-95):

  Rs. 1,24,888 

 

Activities:

 	
1) upgrading a creche
2) Nutritional education of women & children
3) Nutritional supplement for preschool children, 
   pregnant women at risk & nursing mothers.
4) Antenatal & post natal care for women.
5) Care given to infants  & children
6) Prevalence of low birth weight and follow-up
7) Preparation of educational materials, advice to 
   women and demonstration of simple, apppropriate 
   technology.

  
 

LOCATION:

  
Villages in north and south of Bangalore (lists ~ 45 villages)
Bangalore district, Karnataka, India

 

CONTACT:

  
India address- 
	SODWAC
   	Society for Development of Women and Children
    	271 "Ramleela", MS Road, V. V. Puram, Bangalore 560004, India

US Contact-
	Sreenivasulu Guduguntla
	5 Judith Lane, # 12, Waltham, MA 02154, USA
	(h) 617-894-2428
	(o) 508-952-7425
	    
 

PROJECT:

  
Reenforcing school education for girls and informal exposure 
to Nutrition, health and family welfare.

(1) The teaching standard in rural areas is not very high
and the drop out rate for girls at class 5 is very high.
Girls who continue on to class 6 and 7 need extra attention 
to help them cope with their studies.  This project provides
after school help/tutorials to motivate these girls to cope
with their studies and stay in school.

(2) They plan to arrange regular coaching to supplement
school teaching after school hours (3 days each for
classes 6 and 7).  The syllabus will remain the same.

(3) Nutritional supplements will be provided since
a lot of these girls are malnourished and suffer from
nutritional deficiences.

(4) Informal education on health care, hygiene and nutrition 
will also be imparted  through practical suggestions to ensure
that their daily meals are nutritious, exposure to the
issues of family welfare etc.

(5) At present, these tutorials are given for short durations
when the girls request it.

(6) Facilties will be obtained locally (dont know what this
means exactly but I am assuming it is the building)

 

TARGET:

  40-50 girls between 11 and 15 years of age.   

 

LOCATION:

      
Kunthigrama village, Bangalore District    
This area has a high illitaracy rate and a high proportion
of the population is below the poverty line.  Attendance 
in school is improving for children but very few girls 
continue in upper primary school (classes 5,6 and 7)


 

FUNDING APPROVED:

  $1000 for 2 years in two installments of $500 every 6 months.

 

FUNDING REQUESTED:

        
Rs. 35, 800 for 24 months. (aprox. $1000 for 24 months)

Breakup        Year 1          Year 2          Total


Teacher (1)     9000            9600            18600
Materials       3000            1700            4700
Contingency     1500            1500            3000
Support to
Students        4500            4500            9000

Total           18,000           17,800          35,800

 

IMPACT:

        
The areas in which this project will have an impact are
literacy, health, culture, self confidence in these girls, 
increased participation in the community and a 
positive attitude to life in general.  They also see an 
indirect impact  on employment in the future.

 

COMMENTS:

      
5/15/97 (Aparna)
This is a new project that focusses on young girls
and education.  Looks like they do good work with
womens welfare (care for pregnant women, education
on health and hygiene etc.).  I agree with
their motivation for starting this after-school tutorial
sessions for the girls.  I personally think
that this extra effort could go a long way in motivating
these kids and helping them stay in school and even if
they dont go further to college they are more aware of
the importance of education both formal and practical
(health, nutrition etc.) and this could be a positive 
influence in the community at large both in the present
and the future.

We have funded these after-hours tutorial sessions
before (SHARE) and I dont think it could hurt to fund
more project attempting a similar project.

The funding requested is very reasonable ($1000 for 2yrs)
although I am not sure what some of the categories mean.

One concern could be that they are targeting only girls
of that age for these extra help sessions.  Does this
conflict with our policy??

They have a balance sheet audited by a chartered accountant
but I am having trouble interpreting it.  Maybe we
can look at it briefly at the meeting.

I think we need to visit this project.  This can be done
easily since it is in the outskirts of Bangalore.
Even though the project hasnt yet officially begun, we
can check out the general impact and validity 
of the organization.  We have a contact in the US
(sreeni) who has worked with SODWAC and it might help
to have him come to the meeting and answer questions.

The project can be easily monitored  since they are going
to start these tutorial sessions with our funding and
we can evaluate how well they are functioning, where the
money is going and the impact on the kids.

Aparna (May 10, 1997) after projects meeting

1.  Everyone thought the project was good and that there was a need
for a project like this to motivate young girls to stay in school
and do well academically as well as boost their confidence and
make them aware of health, nutrition and family welfare issues.  These
girls could potentially have a positive influence in their homes in the 
present and in the future.  An all girls environment is probably a good way 
to make them express their opinion without inhibitions and build up their
confidence.

2.  The point that was brought up was how the organization planned to overcome
the problem of parents not wanting the girls to go to school.  If they dont want
girls to go to school, how is this after hours tutorial going to help.  Are
there steps that the organization is taking to convince parents and give them
incentive to send the girls to school??  We can clarify this at the visit or ask
the contact Sreeni about it.

3. Amount requested is reasonable and we can easily evaluate the impact
of this project.

Projects Meeting (14 March 1998)
Approved for funding.  Will use money donated by Mr. Michael Witt since
he wanted the funds to go toward womens/girls issues. Aparna
will write to sreeni and Dr. Bhavani.  First installmennt will be
sent by end of March 1998 ($500).  Second installment will be sent
after 6 monthly status report.


 

HISTORY:

  
Proposal arrived in mail in Dec 96-Jan 97, no date on letter.
(propsal is in Asha-MIT format)
Summary - Premi, 19 Jan 97

SHELVED in Feb 1997.  Aparna asked sreeni for a diff. focussed proposal.

Second focussed proposal received May 1997.

Aparna summarized (May 15, 1997)
Discussed in Projects Meeting, May 20, 1997
Aparna visited in Dec 1997.
Discussed in projects meeting after visit on Match 14 1998.  Approved for funding.

 

STATUS:

    
Approved funding for $1000 for 2 years.
First installment sent on 4/4/98 by Aparna.
 

DETAILS:

  
1) Founded 1990
2) Four full time employees
3) Council (I guess board of directors) includes Professors from
   IISc & Bangalore univ etc.
4) Past funding from
	- Royal Netherlands Embassy, Delhi
	- Russel Scientific Institute, Warli, Bombay
	- Food & Nutrition Board of India

 

*************PREVIOUS PROPOSAL SUMMARY by Premi*****************:

 

FUNDING- 
Requested amounts (for 30 months)

Year 1	1,13,000 Rs.
Year 2  1,20,840 Rs.
Year 3    66,840 Rs. (6 months only)
	------------
Total	3,00,680 Rs.

First year budget

Supervisors (2)		28,800 Rs.
Field Assistants (2)	19,200 Rs.
Office assistant (1)	12,000 Rs.
Travel			12,000 Rs.
Materials		 4,500 Rs.
Stationary		 5,000 Rs.
Contingency		 4,500 Rs.
Educational support	15,000 Rs.
Demonstrations		12,000 Rs.
			----------
		      1,13,000 Rs.
		      -------------
		
DATES- ASAP. 30 months.

DESC- Education of women & girl children

Focus will be on
	* Education of women of reproduction age & making them aware 
	  of their vulnerability -pregnancy, strain of care of infants
	  and children.
Other areas
	* Basic knowledge, rights of women & children under the 
	  constitution, labor laws, their role in panchayat 
	  administration etc.
	* Education in related areas of sanitation, environment, 
	  family welfare including family planning, prevention of 
	  diseases like TB, AIDS etc.
Approaches
	* Animators interacting with rural folk.
	* exhibitions, folklore modes.
	* small scale demonstrations
	* Local facilities are used.
Impacts 
	Mainly in health and status of women. Girl children's
	school attendence will improve. Women's informal ed. enrollment
	will increase.

SUMMARY- 
Increasing awareness of rural women & support of education of 
rural girls (mailnly health/nutritional/social ed.) 
200 women/year, 1000 preschool kids/year, 10-15 school kids/yr.
Approx.  3000$/yr. For 30 months.

COMMENTS- 
Premi(18 Jan 97)-- We must discuss what kind of education Asha
should restrict itself or should it restrict itself at all?

Premi (18 Jan 97)-- They are having funding problems currently.
Is this sustainable? Should we expect them to tell us how
they are going to sustain themselves?

We need more detailed info. on what exactly is the nature
of activities with each of the three constituency groups.
How much does each part cost? If Asha is interested in the 
pre-school kids part, how much will that cost?

Healthcare --- medicines/doctors/nurses etc......how do they 
get those services.....is not shown in budget?

How much is healthcare and how much education?

----------------Broader question for discussion ------------
Should Asha fund projects dealing with health education 
and not BASIC (3R's) education?
------------------------------------------------------------

Amounts are large (3000$/yr.)

Other Asha chapters may be more interested.

SOURCE- 
We were sent a proposal from Mr. Sreenivasulu Guduguntla
(US contact for the organization)

STATUS-
Shelved Jan, 1997
Aparna has written to Sreeni (sreeni@casc.com) informing him
that the project proposal is too broad at the moment.  We need
a more specific proposal focussing on one of the constituencies
and primarily dealing with basic education preferably.