Minutes of the meeting held on December 03, 2005
(Minutes by Amrish)

This was a joint meeting of Asha-Princeton and AID-Princeton volunteers. 
In attendance were:

Asha for Education:

Hansa
Kavitha
Kumar
Sridhar
Shankar
Ravi
Dileep
Ananya
Subashree
Vandana Patel (first time)
Aparna Abhyankar (first time)
Preeti Kukreja (first time)

AID:

Aneesh
Brunda
Amit Kumar
Rajani
Srihari

1. After the introductions, there was a discussion on whether it made 
sense to work jointly. The general consensus was that the objectives of 
the two organizations were somewhat aligned. Asha's projects 
predominantly, if not wholly, centered on the education of children. 
AID'S projects spanned a wider spectrum. The rural library project in 
Tamil Nadu was an example of what AID is doing.

The processes for selecting projects were more or less the same.

There was no conflict between the missions of the organizations.

Therefore, it was decided to work together on a case-by-case basis. As a 
beginning, joint meetings will be held once a month.

2. Common fund-raising through a show/performance was explored. After a 
long discussion it was felt that we currently do not have the bandwidth  
to organize a concert by the Indian Ocean group.

3. Aparna Abhyankar put forward a proposal to hold a show featuring 
students of Indian origin enrolled in music and dance academies in the 
area. This is what Asha had done in the year 2004. Aparna's initiative 
was much appreciated. But the volunteers who have gone through the 
experience felt that the dollar amount raised would not justify the
amount of work required.

Hansa suggested that if we were serious about holding an event, it made 
more sense to work with Geetanjali again.

In the end, however, it was decided not to organize a major music/dance 
event.

4. Instead, both Asha and AID, working jointly, will make a concerted 
effort next year to persuade people to undergo training for running a 
marathon and raise funds through pledges. This model is being 
successfully used at many places.

5. The next Asha meeting was set for Saturday, December 17 at 4:30 PM.

Thanks.

Amrish