As of September 2013, Asha for Education at UVa entered its 2nd year as a chapter and continues to fulfill its mission — spreading awareness about the importance of education and to raise funds for our Indian partners.
Chapter activities range from late night bake sales to the annual ‘Gandhi Benefit Dinner’ (co-sponsored with UVa’s Hindu Student Council). In the spring of 2013, we organized a screening of the nationally acclaimed documentary “Girl Rising,” which showcased the difficulty of acquiring and the need for quality education. This event increased Asha at UVa’s presence in UVa and throughout the greater Charlottesville community. Our fundraising efforts were captured by the local Charlottesville NBC news who chose to promote our organization. With continued dedication, we raised over $2500 for a Library Resource Center in Gompa, Andhra Pradesh, India.
In addition, our members volunteer at Johnson Elementary School every week where participants work with individual students on improving reading skills. This initiative allows members to not only understand the importance of education, but also engage in our local community. We also hold social events for members to know each other better and create a stronger bond within our group.
 |
| Executive Board |
 |
| Melanie and Shubh at the General Body Meeting |
Asha for Education UVa holds regular general body meetings that bring undergraduate and graduate students together to discuss important issues facing education system in India. From ‘Importance of Teachers’ to ‘Comparison of US and Indian Education Systems’, the discussions allow continued dialogue and inspiration to continue Asha’s work at UVa.
All the events are geared towards spreading awareness of Asha UVa’s mission at University of Virginia in hopes of funding our initiatives in India. Our membership and visibility as an organization is growing. We all are excited at how far we have come and are looking forward to a new year!
Preethi N. Varma and Lavanya Yeleswarapu
University of Virginia