You can read plenty more about
ASHA elsewhere, but to help readers of this blog briefly understand the background, here's a brief summary of the charity that we're volunteering for. The Greystones group of volunteers is pictured below with Dr Kira Martin, the founder of the organisation.
The story is an inspiring tale: Dr Martin, was sent to the slums to treat an outbreak
of cholera back in 1988, as a young paediatrician. She set up a
treatment table under the shade of a tree in the slum, and she soon
realised that much more help was needed than just medical care. She
noticed that the women were not allowed out and about: they stayed
indoors, while the men went to work. She decided to meet some of
these women, and then she set about empowering them as active members
of their community. She chose several women from each laneway, and
they had to check in on all the other families along their street
every day, and then to report any problems to ASHA. She taught these
“lane volunteers” about basic health care and diet, and they then
went on to educate the other women in their area. The lane volunteers
began meet regularly as a group called the “Mahila Mandal”(Women's
Association), which over time became a recognised voice speaking on
behalf of the slum residents, negotiating with the slum lord (the de
facto boss of the slums) and government officials, working to improve
intrastructure such as drains, power and road surfaces.
Dr Martin also realised that finances
were a challenge for slum dwellers, so she negotiated with local
banks to allow them to open “zero” bank accounts without the
usual need for identification, utility bills, credit record etc. This
allowed the women to save in small amounts, and to take out loans and
to set up small businesses: the “lane volunteers” kept an eye on
repayment schedules to ensure that people didn't fall behind, and to
date, the repayment record of ASHA loans is dramatically better than
the national average in India.
Dr Martin could also see that slum
dwellers saw no possibility of ever escaping their circumstances: to
change that, she started to set up educational support schemes for
the children in the slum. The Indian government does offer free
primary school education nearby, but ASHA follows this up with
homework-club type post-school classes, as well as supporting them
financially through secondary school, and in recent years, even
through university. Thanks to ASHA, since 2008, 600 slum children
have passed through university, and many are now working in
white-collar jobs – a situation that was previously unimaginable.
Dr Martin started in one slum, but was
so successful that ASHA now runs similar schemes in 55 slum colonies,
serving 400000 people (around 10% of the total slum population in
Delhi.) The organisation is ambitious and successful, with the
focussed aim of bringing about lasting improvements in the lives of
slum dwellers.
We've now arrived in Delhi and are settled in: watch this space for regular blogs about how we get on.
