ANNUAL UPDATE FOR 2012 Kannan C. Iyer Guest presenter: Anouradha Bakshi, project director 6 Jun 2012 Project WHY

Mission Project WHY was conceived to answer a series of queries: Why do children from underprivileged backgrounds perform poorly? What could be done to enhance their performance? What skills should be taught to them to better their employment options? How could this be achieved in a replicable community driven model? Project WHY set out to create a model whereby quality education support in underprivileged areas, could be spearheaded by parents even if they were illiterate. The idea was to empower the community to pool its resources and run a sound support programme for its children.

History Primary function: after school support center Est 1998, started as English speaking class in 2000 with 40 children, now serves 900 children Director : Anouradha Bakshi attitude comes from the top and the top here is service oriented. Serves south Delhi area urban slum residents Hires slum residents for teacher, transport, food, etc. Keep the employment local

Organization Structure Primary : Anouradha Bakshi, Founder Other : Rani : Project Coordinator, in-charge for Pwhy Dharmender : Womens Center Director Both are Pwhy Alum Shamika, Project Coordinator (Anou’s daughter) Other teaching staff with minimal hierarchy – all from slums Non-teaching staff and vocation teachers Board includes 9 members other than Anou, many of them prominent Delhi citizens

Location NEW DELHI

Activities GIRINAGAR - GOVINDPURI - OKHLA Early Education: 1 creche at Govindpuri Primary outreach: Okhla, Govindpuri, Giri Nagr Special children: 1day care at Govindpuri Junior Secondary Okhla Classes VI to X Senior Secondary Giri Nagar Classes IX to XII Computer centres: Giri Nagar, Okhla Other activities Cine Club and Library, Print shop Profile of community served: Migrant Labour from Bihar, UP, Nepal and other states Parents are self employed, daily wage earners, street vendors, part time employees in factories, sweepers. Average income: 3000 Rs Average family members:6 MADANPUR KHADER - Women centre Primary outreach Classes I to V Secondary Outreach Classes VI to IX Vocational activities Stitching and Tailoring, Beauty classes Computer Centre Children: Main centre: ~600 Women centre:~300 Staff: Main centre: 29 Women centre: 15

Finances Limited to Education budget in remaining slides Sri Ram Goburdhun Trust also provides other services Expenses under these heads: Education (Project WHY) – classes, staff, computers, learning aids, transport for kids/staff Boarding school for 8 kids - SAC Medical expenses for slum kids, adults Nutrition programme Clothing support (mostly from Europe, now cash sent for local purchase) Bldg maintenance for owned buildings and other infrastructure items purchase like cooler Other expenses Rest of the heads expense limited to support or support raised on ad-hoc basis as needed For ex, if someone needs heart surgery, funds raised specifically for this from network and personal pleas

Finances

Other organizations support Enfannes Indiennes, EUR 2000/mo Dried up in 2010 summer but started again later in 2010 after 5 months break Now add EUR 500 for Utpal for boarding expense Project WHY Germany, EUR 1900/mo Also support EUR 110 for boarding school Omprakash Foundation Misc, random donations collected and forwarded Shortfall ~10-25% every year – significant time spent on fundraising to cover shortfall; risk network exhaustion and donor fatigue – this is not sustainable.

Asha, Seattle Involvement

Asha Seattle supports ~20% of Project WHY’s annual budget Asha support used for educational expenses including staff salaries, educational aids, transportation, etc % of total expenses covered by Asha comes down every year, not even keeping up with inflation With Asha Seattle since 2006 Dallas and Vancouver did some grants in 2005, Vancouver supported since 2007 as well Key contacts : Anouradha Bakshi, Founder Rani, Project coordinator & Dharmendra, Womens Center Director send monthly reports

Asha, Seattle Involvement Contd. One-time partial funding for Planet WHY (Rs 20 Lakhs) social enterprise planning a commercial activity, motel, to support Project WHY activities; this will also house residential foster care unit. Project still looking for funding and sponsor Land appreciated from Rs. 80 lakhs purchase price to Rs 1.7 crores est value now Project WHY SAC for 8 children to attend residential school, in cooperation with Asha Canada. Barely covers costs – shortfall covered by personal pleas and fundraising Asha Seattle contribution is sporadic and sparse

Asha, Seattle Budget ItemAmount Current Fiscal Year ( ) (Rs) Amount Previous Fiscal Year ( ) (Rs) Seattle – Project Why Planet Why00 Project WHY SAC???

Updates for

General Partner Updates English classes stopped for some months as teachers left for personal reasons difficult to find new teachers as such teachers have to come from a higher social strata. International volunteers filled the gap. Looking for 2 English speaking teachers. Organised 6 workshops on self esteem for class VI to VII children of Okhla and Khader Workshop on mental health in collaboration with RML Hospital (for community members) Photography workshop for 8 students of Khader ( why.html) Dance Workshop for students of Okhla and Khader Workshop for parents on Right to Education

General Partner Updates Workshop on Jan Lokpal Bill Workshop of sexual awareness (for girls) 15th August celebration ( celebration.html) Special section shifted to another building across the main building. They now have more space and have begun new activities. Gave up rented premises and closed one of the early education centres. Moved primary to main building. Appointed a new secondary teacher for Okhla as the number of children is now 75 Appointed 2 special educators

General Partner Updates - Successes Project why children top their respective classes. Some selected for the Medhavi exam that secures scholarships for secondary school. Saifin passed the exam and is now a scholarship holder. 3 more children were admitted in boarding school one being Meher the burns survivor Anita a project why student since class I passed her XII and is now teaching secondary classes at pwhy while studying for her BA The 2 stitching teachers are our old students 3 women have started their own beauty parlours, one in Khader and 2 in their villages, many work in parlours and some work on call. Many of our stitching students have got jobs in boutiques, export houses etc. 10 have startd their own tailoring units in their homes.

General Partner Updates - Concerns Funding remains unstable Asha Seattle, Enfances Indiennes, Project why Germany are the only stable sources now This secures about 75-85% of the needs for education programmes. The balance comes from one time support, answers to SOS calls etc. Project Director aging and still primary fundraiser Spending lot more time on raising funds Sustainability plan not taken off Succession planning in thinking stages Force majure risks as usual - project may get smaller with govt action, slums razed Womens center - on rent, nearby bldgs getting demolished for apts or guest houses, can be asked to vacate Mitigation / Action plan : move to Planet Why land and serve children in that area.

Site Visit Report Last site visit in Dec 2010, by Kannan. Will get next one done by Aug Monthly reports from project uploaded quarterly to Asha project website. Annual audited statement, annual report and annual Budget uploaded to Asha project site yearly.

Audit Report Audited financial report expected Jun Audit report uploaded to project site

Process Checks ItemStatus Approved Budget INR , May 2012 Approval TypeRecurring in 2011; new process for 2012 – annual. Amount(s) disbursed last fiscal yearINR (May and Nov 2011) Amount Utilized by the project last fiscal year INR Last Site VisitDec 2010 Current Primary StewardKannan C. Iyer Current Secondary StewardsMegha, Meera Venkatesh Status of the web pageNot updated since May 2011 Status of the yahoo databasesUp to Date

Primary Okhla, Khader and Govindpuri

Secondary Khader, Okhla

Computer Centres Giri Nagar, Okhla, Khader

Women programmes

Project Photographs Saifin, the scholarship holder Special section

Resources/Contact Website : Blog : Book by Anou on Utpal : Call Anou anytime at : skype: projectwhy To schedule visit to Project Why for any Asha volunteer/donor/guest.

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.