Service group brings ‘hope’ to India’s needy
By Nancy Hsu
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Chetan Panwala’s been to India several times. He’s seen crowds
of people lying on city sidewalks, poverty in the villages and
beggar children deliberately mutilated to invoke sympathy from
those with a little money to spare.
But instead of sitting around and complaining that the
government isn’t doing anything, Panwala and 20 other UCLA students
are taking action.
ASHA-L.A., Hindi for "Hope," is a 3-year-old student action
group that aims to root out India’s poverty by providing a basic
education to young children.
"India has a lot of problems," said Panwala, a graduate student
studying molecular biology. "It’s vastly overpopulated. As a
result, there’s a lot of poverty and a lot of under-education. That
just tends to perpetuate their problems. People from the villages
come to the cities for opportunities and they’re unable to find
work. We go to the villages so they will at least have an
opportunity to solve their problems."
For less than $15  the price of a T-shirt  ASHA-L.A.
members estimate that a child can be educated for a whole year.
"The money is so little, but it makes such a big change," said
D.P. Prakash, one of ASHA-L.A.’s founders. "We have a project that
costs $7 per year. It’s a mind-blowing thing."
ASHA-L.A. now hosts four overseas projects. Each receives
anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000 a year.
Project Helping Hands in Madras, one of India’s larger cities,
pays school fees for 100 abandoned children and assists them in
purchasing textbooks, uniforms and school bags.
Project Rise and Shine in Punjab provides stipends for 60
children who have lost parents in political and religious
conflicts, so they can continue their education.
Project Orissa, the largest of ASHA’s programs, helps 500
children by supplying schools with textbooks and blackboards. In
December 1993, ASHA helped repair one school’s leaky roof and
provided money for the hiring of six teachers.
"A teacher’s salary is $20 per month," Prakash said. "That’s a
lot in India. We spend $20 here on movies."
Lastly, Project West Bengal helps 363 children go to school
after a long day’s work in the rice fields.
"Some of these areas are so poor, if you don’t work, you don’t
eat," Prakash said. "We give them a cup of milk, sweaters to keep
them warm, books, blackboards and teachers."
Members make sure the money is being put to good use by visiting
the sites themselves. They also receive reports from administrators
in the field.
Though intent on helping people in India, ASHA-L.A. members said
they don’t neglect the local community either.
"In order for us to help our friends back home, we do things
here," said Enisha Narang, a third-year psychobiology student. "We
do things called serve-a-thons. We ask friends and family to
sponsor our hours and that money goes directly to our
projects."
Some of their more recent serve-a-thons include assisting
organizations such as Heal the Bay by planting trees and Project
Angel Food by delivering food to AIDS patients. The group also
holds teach-a-thons at East Los Angeles elementary schools where
they teach students there about India, its clothes, food and
culture.
ASHA-L.A. has seven sister chapters in cities across the country
working on 20 different projects all over India. The national
organization has been successful in educating thousands of needy
youngsters, Prakash said.
ASHA began in April 1991 after four UC Berkeley graduate
students from India asked each other how they could help their
poverty-stricken homeland, Prakash said.
Those four students electronically mailed notices to other
campuses saying they wanted to educate youngsters in the villages
of India. When Prakash saw the message, he started talking to
friends at UCLA and USC who are also from India. In October 1992,
he and three others registered as a campus club.
Since then, the group has grown.
"We’re kind of like one big happy family," said Narang. "It’s a
human thing. You don’t have to be Indian to help."
ASHA-L.A. meets Wednesdays from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. every 2nd,
4th, 6th and 8th week at Boelter 5249. For more information, call
Enisha Narang or Mary Mallavarapu at (310) 824-9865.