Asha for Education

Project Brief: Seed provides study centers in slum areas in and around Madurai with volunteers teaching evenings and weekends. There are numerous clubs and extra-curricular activities to bring out the potential of every child
Project Type: Tuition Centers (description)
Primary Focus: children from slums (description)

Secondary Focus: creating resources

Area: Rural
Supporting Chapter Contact: Boston

Status: completed - sustainable
Project Steward: Melli Annamalai
Project Partner(s): S Vikki
Other Contacts:
Project Address: , 375 East street,Karumbalai,Madurai,
Tamil Nadu  625020
Tel: 91 7667484643
Stewarding Chapter: Boston

Seed believes in bringing out the potential of each child by individual care and attention. So many children from among the urban poor drop out because of lack of support at home and in school. Seed provides the critical support necessary for the children to realize their potential and succeed - compete on par with children from more advantaged classes.

Children who are eager to learn and have already shown the potential by working against several odds are part of this support program. The children typically are in the local government schools to begin with; with the support of the study center, their learning vastly improves, and depending on their interest and potential they are moved to private or govt. aided schools (which are perceived as better). In some sense the goal is to do what a middle class parent would do - send their child to the best school they can afford and which is accessible and which the child can do well in.

The study centers provide a place for children to come and study on evenings and weekends. Apart from the simple advantages of good lighting (not available in every home), it provides a space for volunteers (many of whom also come from disadvantaged backgrounds) to teach. In addition the study center is the is the hub of all activities Seed is involved in. It has a library, recently added some computers, and has several active clubs. The journalism club, the 'En' club (En means 'Why' in Tamil, is the name of the Science club), the drama club, the debate club all thrive with the activities of the eager children. Various workshops related to these clubs are conducted throughout the year exposing the children to whole range of activities including tasks like organizing an event. The structure and activities of Seed enables the potential of each child to be realized. Some are great organizers, some are excellent debaters, some are budding scientists.

Seed celebrates local festivals in all religions and cultures that are relevant to the area. They learn about the history and background of each festival and the reason for the celebration. Many educational tours have been conducted to nearby places - to historic temples, museums, forests which provide a source of learning not often available to children in India. One of their long tours was to Kerala. These tours really open a child's mind. The children for the most part had rarely been able to travel out of Madurai before.

Oct 2020 ISP Proposal
Aug 2019 Site visit
Jan 2012 Financial Report 2011
Dec 2011 Annual report 2011 Part 2
Dec 2011 Annual report 2011 Part 1
Jan 2011 Expenses from June 10 - January 2011
Aug 2010 Site Visit Report
Aug 2010 Expenses from June 09 - Mar 10
Sep 2009 Site Visit 09
Apr 2009 Expense Acctg
Dec 2007 Site Visit Report
Jul 2007 Expenses for April 06 - July 07
Jun 2007 Students at Gap Year College
Dec 2006 Photos
Jul 2005 Photos
Nov 2003 Boston Meeting Minutes
Jul 2003 Page one of Karthi fellow application form
Jul 2003 Karthik fellowship app page 5
Jul 2003 Karthik fellowship app page 4
Jul 2003 Karthik fellowship app page 3
Jul 2003 Karthik fellowship app page 2
Jun 2003 Seed Update
Nov 2002 Seed activities 2002
Nov 2002 Thanksgiving letters from the children
May 2001 Seed Update
May 2001 Seed first Anniversary celebrations
Apr 2001 Seed Update
Dec 2000 Seed Update
Dec 2000 Seed Update
Dec 2000 Additional needs proposal
Aug 2000 Seed Update
May 2000 Intial proposal