Minutes of Asha Seattle meeting on 03/03/2005.

 

Venue: Steven’s Court, UW.

 

Attendees: Parna, Srijan, Shayon, Venky, Ravi, Deb, Sree, Lakshmi, Vibhavaree, Ravi, Sunil, Rajit, Swati, Akshay, Vani, Mohan, Arindam, Tapoja

 

 

  1. Geetanjali post-mortem:
    1. Ticket prices could be higher.
    2. A cheaper hall could have been reserved.
    3. We should plan a ‘Thank you’ party for the band and performers.
    4. A mail will be sent on Asha Seattle to search for someone to take it up.
    5. We still have to throw a party for Allgorhythms and marathon runners.
    6. Maybe we can combine it into one ‘Annual thank you’ party.
  2. Astha:
    1. The second proposal approved in July 2004 for three years.
    2. We have been funding them for a long time.
    3. This proposal was roaming on Asha wide for a long time.
    4. It will cover the helpline, workshops, teacher’s training (part of information counseling unit).
    5. There have been around 900 calls received by Astha since 2000.
    6. We will send them non-recurring portion now and ask them further questions, send one year’s recurring funding.
    7. We should go back and review it for the next two years.
    8. Akshay while in Delhi tried to get through them on phone. They have been irregular with communication.
  3. Tsunami update:
    1. There will be a conference call on Saturday, somebody could attend.
    2. While Sunil is away, Vani will cover up.
    3. A prospective donor specific proposal was discussed. Rajit has volunteered to help Vani for this donor-specific proposal.
    4. We haven’t received any updates from Andaman and Nicobar islands, donate a boat campaign, Kerala forum.
    5. Money collected by TIE, they are not a fund-raising organization, and forwarded all of it to Red Cross.
  4. Jeevan Gyanodaya (Akshay):
    1. Follow up on Jeevan Gyanodaya, construction project.
    2. The government wanted modifications for school building after the kumbokonam fire.
    3. The proposal is about building additional classrooms and building a hostel.
    4. They got back to us with answers to the questions. Their needs are urgent and want money before April.
    5. Akshay suggests sending about 65 % of funds this year and then 35% near year.
    6. Two abstains, and rest Yes (3 left).
  5. Asha Cricket:
    1. Vishwa has contacted us to organize a cricket tournament for Asha.
    2. Possibilities of the event were discussed, and it got a unanimous nod. Sree has accepted to coordinate.
  6. Hari Bist proposal:
    1. We received proposal from Prof. Hari Bist (retired IIT) and we have learnt that he’s approached all Asha chapters, also presented by Asha SV. There was a conference call attended by all Asha chapters contacted by him. On the call, it was decided to start this as a support a child proposal, and support some 15 children. Right now, Asha SV is looking into it and will be a point of contact with Prof. Bist.
  7. Pragati (Akshay):
    1. It is situated in urban area, Gurgaon, the city plan didn’t account for any schools for lower-income.
    2. The next closest school is located 10 km away.
    3. This school recognized by Haryana govt. and caters to children of low-income groups from slums.
    4. It is well-organized and staffed.
    5. They want to provide holistic approach to education.
    6. They have mid-day meals provided, milk, medicines, dental and eye-checkups.
    7. The school is under tents, and requires help.
    8. They are looking at making it a sustainable effort.
    9. The school has up to 4th grade. Some portions of the budget were not clearly understood.
    10. Akshay has taught for 10 days; it will be better to segregate site-visit, proposal evolution from volunteering.
    11. Akshay will question the proposal further, trim down the requirements, in the meanwhile get another volunteer to visit the project.
  8. Vidya Vriksha (Lakshmi):
    1. We had sponsored a Braille printer, and had planned to support their recurring expenses for one year. There were some 500$ left, which we were planning to send it to them.
    2. They have requested for a Palm-pilot to demonstrate in front of local support/government the use of local languages by downloading this software for speech output.

 

 

 

<<Asha-SeattleHome