ANNUAL UPDATE FOR 2013 Lakshmi Kumar and Keerthi 09/04/2013 Balavihar

Mission Holistic education and English training for lower middle class suburban children studying in government schools and small private schools. Private schools Non formal learning through activities such as yoga, theatre, arts, crafts, games, fields trips, and emotional healing. Library to encourage reading and supplement learning. Government schools English training to help cope with academic English curriculum as well as reading, comprehension, writing and conversation.

History Started in 2007 by Chitra Krishnamurthy, shortly after visiting the Seattle chapter. Chitra akka’s passion is non formal education and she worked in Vikasana (with Malathi) for nearly two decades. Funded entirely by Asha since the beginning. Serves about 430 students studying in 3 govt. schools, 2 private schools, from 1 st grade to 10 th grade.

Organization Structure - 1 Chitra Krishnamurthy, Program coordinator Plans programs and activities, trains staff, designs learning materials, procures books for libraries. Manages relationships with schools, and conducts outreach programs. Krishmamurthy (Chitra’s husband), Yoga Teacher Yoga and craft classes at three schools. Drives Chitra and staff on car/motorcycle to the schools. Tulasi Yoga, craft classes and library management in two schools. English classes in government schools. Manjunath Theater sessions at two schools and field trips. Sharada Rao English classes, reading sessions, yoga, summer and dussehra camp. Usha English classes at a government school. Annapurna and Kalyani English lessons, puzzles, games, craft classes.

Location Bangalore, Karnataka Govt. and private schools in western suburbs near Vijayanagar Amarjyothi nagar govt school. Kaveripura school Luminary school (private) Andhrahalli Pinewoods school (private), KGS layout Nachiketa Manovikasa Kendra (private center for evening classes for govt. school children from Marenahalli) Garage library in Basaveshwaranagar.

English training Government schools 50 children from Classes I to V Alphabets, spelling, reading, writing Help students learn English academic syllabus. Nachiketa Manovikasa Kendra children of classes V to IX, from Marenahalli govt. school and Navajivana govt. aided school. Evening classes Monday to Friday for 1.5 hours with snacks provided by Nachiketa Trust Reading, writing, conversation, and story telling. Drama and Theater Pinewoods school, Luminary school, and Nachiketa Kendra. Around 25 students practiced for 15 sessions and performed a 45 minute musical play on history of Kaveri, in both Kannada and English. Activities -1

Yoga and Pranayama Pinewoods school: 25 children Luminary school: Teachers trained to conduct “Fun Yoga” designed by Bihar school of Yoga Libraries Pinewoods school: 220 students from classes IV to IX Luminary school: 78 students from classes V to IX Coordinator’s house: 25 govt. school children borrow books. Basaveshwara nagar: Garage library serving around 20 children. Story telling classes conducted in all locations to cultivate reading habit. Children seem very engaged with library, particularly during summer and dussehra vacations. Video library at Pinewoods school and Luminary school. Educational videos played using a projector donated by Bash. Around 30 students borrowed videos. Activities - 2

Arts and crafts school, Luminary school, Nachiketa Kendra, Nivedita School, Amarjyothi Nagar govt. school. Kundan decorative work (50) Mexican Weaving (40) Jewelry making (50) Clay models (120) Origami (100) Needle work (25) Wall Luminary school (24) Wall school (10) Field trips Educational and fun trips to experience the world beyond their classrooms and neighborhoods. Savandurga – 50km from Bangalore, guided rock climbing adventure for Amarjyothi nagar govt. school students. Bannerghatta zoo and butterfly park – near Bangalore for Nachiketa Kendra govt. school students. Consultant volunteers PowerPoint workshop by a Seattle student for 100 students. Activities - 3

Finances Annual expenditures: INR Annual income Asha Seattle funding: INR Local donations and library fees: INR No accumulating savings They do not ask for funding until all donations from the year are spent Funds sent through Covenant Center of Development (CCD). Balavihar’s Palash Trust did not get FCRA approval as the minimum balance required for new approvals is INR 1M (10 lakh rupees)

Asha, Seattle Involvement

Sl. No.Item 1Asha funds more than 90% of annual budget of the project. 2Project began in 2007 after Asha Seattle’s approval and funding. 3No other Asha chapters are involved. Bash and Jayashree have visited the project and made personal donations. 4Chitra Krishnamurthy is the person running the entire program.

Asha, Seattle Involvement Contd. Checklist contd. Sl. No.Item 5If the organization runs out of multiple locations, which locations does Asha, Seattle support? 6Asha Seattle supports all activities of the project. 7Relate all the activities supported by Asha, Seattle to the overall activities of the organization. 8If individuals are supported, how many are supported? What age group? 9Annual budget approved by Asha: INR on September Percentage of orgs total budget which is supported by Asha, Seattle: > 90%

Asha, Seattle Budget ItemAmount Current Fiscal Year (Rs) Amount Previous Fiscal Year (Rs) Salaries2,34,6002,73,600 Facility rental and administrative expenses Library and learning materials24000 Fields trips (new) requested but wasn’t funded due to 4% budget limit Local transport expenses (new) requested, was paid out of pocket and from leftover rental/admin expenses, local donations requested for outreach programs last year, but not Total approved, requested

Budget details Salaries (INR per month) Chitra Krishnamurthy: 8000 Tulasi: 4000 Manjunath: 2000 Krishnamurthy: 2000 Annapurna: 1200 Kalyani: 1000 Usha: 750 Total: INR Local transport Petrol for travelling between the schools: INR 3450 per month Field trips 3-5 trips per year Expenses include transportation, food, entrance fees, and tour guide fees. Estimated at INR per year. Library books and learning materials: INR 2000 per month x 12 = INR per year. Facility rental and administrative expenses Audit report fees Rent Estimated INR per year

Updates for 2013

General Partner Updates New Balavihar Center in a garage in Basaveshwara nagar Library with 100 books Story telling sessions and craft conducted for three months for 20 students from class V to IX. Five teachers trained at Luminary school on Fun Yoga for children, by Bihar School of Yoga. 20 students and 3 teachers attended art workshop at The Valley School. Non formal education activities and fields trips introduced for govt. school children. PowerPoint workshop by a Seattle volunteer who learned about Balavihar from Asha website.

Updates for Asha, Seattle Funding increase Chapter approved funding increase to INR Successes Remarkable improvements in reading, spelling, and comprehension in govt. school children. Student participation and engagement and support from schools has increased every year. What didn’t go well Funds sent was approx. INR 6000 less than approved budget amount, due to USD-INR conversion error by the finance team. The shortage is nearly 50% of the budget increase approved. This has happened repeatedly, so the finance team’s exchange calculation process should probably be changed.

Site Visit – September 2012 Half day site visit by Lakshmi Kumar to Amarjyothi Nagar and Kaveripura govt. schools Amarjyothi nagar Anganwadi children sang rhymes in English and Kannada. Class I and II students assembled words and read their text books. New English textbooks were difficult for them but Balavihar training has resulted in big improvements in reading. Kaveripura Class III and IV students also read their English books and answered a quiz by the teacher. Greater difficulty in reading than lower level students but the training is helping them cope with it. Overall Starting language training earlier seems to work better. Children are a lot more engaged in Balavihar’s English classes than their class teacher’s lessons.

Audit Report Indian law requires all partners to have an audit report every year. Highlights from last years audit report (Form 10B). A sample audit report, from a project, can be found at new/documents/745/auditreport2008.pdf.

Survey Results Include the results of the annual survey.

Process Checks ItemStatus Approved Budget (during 2012) Approval TypeRecurring Amount(s) disbursed last fiscal year Amount Utilized by the project last fiscal year Approx Last Site VisitSeptember 2012 Current Primary StewardLakshmi Kumar Current Secondary StewardsKeerthi Status of the web pageNot updated Status of the yahoo databasesNot up to date

Pictures Latest pictures from the project. BalaVihar ?authkey=Gv1sRgCP6pnpq3_MXO Ng

Resources

Questions?

FAQs Some FAQs at Asha, Seattle meetings. o How many rs are we spending per kid per year? o Does the amount being spent on infrastructure items (building schools, repairing roofs, etc. ) look reasonable? o Where exactly is the partner located? (especially for remote projects. Be ready to locate the project area on a map) o What is the graduation rate of the school? o What is the student to teacher ratio in class rooms? o What is the girl to boy ratio in the school? o What are the line items in the budget? o Why is the partner asking for more funding for line item N? (You will be asked this if there are changes in the budget line items) o Community opinion of the project. o What went well, what didn’t go as expected, what can be done differently.