Asha- Fellowship Program

1. Asha- Fellowship Program Program evaluation (2000-2005) and suggested modifications

2. Objectives of the Fellowship Program Most common partner for Asha in India are the project groups • Some individuals would like to experiment with an idea before forming a project group • Such individuals play a key role in questioning aspects that affect grass roots change, and contribute immensely to Asha’s learning on these issues Objective of the Asha Fellowship Program is to support people of high integrity who are trying to address a social issue of the community and need support.

3. Asha fellowships • Sandeep Pandey, Mahesh, Aradhana (Asha India), Siddamma (Bharati Trust), Dr.Subbaramiah (MICDA), Ravi Aluganti, Hameed Manjeshwar, Anu and Krishna. • Regular fellowships: Hameed Manjeshwar (Asha-SV), Ravi Aluganti (Asha-Seattle), Dr.Subbaramiah (Asha- Delaware), Anu and Krishna (Asha-Princeton) • Irregular fellowships (support not regular) : Mahesh, Aradhana, Siddamma, Sandeep Pandey

4. Hameed Manjeshwar (2002-ongoing) [Improvement of Government schools through Community participation] Who: 13 yrs of experience in the development field. Development jounalist->research on possibilities of change in govt schools->5 yrs of field work with Srujana. Aim: Starting of a project to improve efficiency of govt schools by involving the community. Fellowship helped start the Maku Madhura Kalike project to work with 15 villages government schools in Ragi Cluster. Story so far: • Programs for Community • Child rights awareness programs • Gender sensitivity programs for college students.

5. Hameed cont… • Programs for teacher and children • Teacher training and empower teachers to seek training material from government and DIET. • Science exhibition and creativity programs. • State level advocacy and policy changes • Preparation of SDMC resource manual and framework for 1st to 5th standard at state level. • Preparation of supplementary material for schools in local languages. • Workshop for government officials on education to influence policy makers on making education effective and giving trust to education of girl-child. This was achieve by creating a network of NGOs.

6. Dr. Subbaramiah (2003-ongoing) [Land Reforms] Who: A doctor by profession, serves in Govt hospital in Putur. Founder of MICDA, NGO undertaking development of underprivileged community including educational projects. Worked with Govt land reforms to get around 760 acres of cultivable land for 400 families. Issue: Powerful landlords filed cases against all the families to grab the land from them. Support was required for 2-3 yrs to work full time on resolving the cases and facilitating complete settlement of the 400 families.

7. Dr. Subbaramiah cont… Story so far: Jan 2004: All pending cases to grab land dismissed in court. Through 2004: Continued efforts to make Govt agencies follow up to allocate the land. Nov 2004: Meeting with CM to bring to his attention to the issues of the people. March 2005: District collector, revenue forest officials visit the area and start working on allocation of land.

8. Siddamma (2004 – ongoing) [Community development] Who: Trained sociologist and teacher trainer. Participated in teacher training program (CRY), created the Bharathi Trust to work on improving the conditions of the Irula tribals. Also founded the unorganized workers union to provide stability for daily laborers. Aim: Work with Irula community and unorganized workers and develop confidence and self sufficiency by creating a resource center to experiment vocational skills e.g. organic farming, dairy, bee keeping, etc.

9. Siddamma cont… Story so far: • Resource Center • Identification land and fundraise for the requirements. • Work with unorganized communities to understand their livelihood needs. • Bonded Laborer Struggles • Led the struggle to improve the living conditions of over 10,000 Irula bonded laborers in rice mills in Red Hills (30 km from Chennai). • Lobbied with policy makers and the Govt to address this issue. • Successful release of over 200 bonded laborers and initiation of project freedom for released children. • Policy changes for better living conditions of the laborers. • Tsunami Efforts • Organized the Irulas to support each other in their time of need. • Lobby with the Govt through NAPM on requirements of the people. • Work on livelihood options of the affected communities.

10. Short-comings of the program • Irregular disbursal of funds and follow-up • Lack of clarity in responsibilities of the chapter and the fellow • No process to track disbursal of funds. • No safety net for fellows. • Myopic view of fellowship process leading to a project • Lack of public domain information on fellows, the decision making process

11. Ongoing Program Revision • Requirement of a fellowship steward at the supporting chapter. • Requirement of a visit with the fellow (either one-on-one or at Asha India meetings). • Articulation of roles of fellow, steward and chapter in a fellowship. • Safety net for fellows.

12. Suggested program modifications • Three categories - • Individuals outside of Asha with a vision • Individuals associated with Asha proposing innovative ideas • Individuals working on vital administrative and logistical tasks in India (administrative, site visits, project evaluations, etc) • Proposes (1) and (2) to be supported by asha fellowships and (3) supported by a separate program asha-corps. • The guidelines apply to all fellowships being considered across Asha. • Guidelines can be modified based on experience of chapters and interaction with the fellows • Fellows focus group will be responsible to hold the discussions on a regular basis.

13. Suggested program modifications • Increased fellows support amount - $1500 - $6000 p.a + $800 (depending on actual costs) for travel, stationery, phone calls, etc. • Requirements from chapters to consider supporting a fellowship: • Identify a steward for the fellowship. • Have funds to support the program for 2-4 years. • Two or more chapters can jointly review and support a fellowship.

14. Suggested Process • Two tier system: nomination, followed by review. • Nominations submitted to the chapters and/or the Fellows Focus Group (FFG). • Chapters and the fellows focus group(FFG) work together in managing the program (May 2005 version). • Chapters notify the FFG on receiving a nomination • FFG maintains a list of nominations in the central database for chapters interested. • Chapters notify FFG on the chapter’s decision of supporting the fellow (see suggested review process) • FFG cannot review or decide on supporting a fellowship application. Continued involvement of the fellowship group to track the program and help chapters in times of transition or lack of funds.

15. Suggested Review Process • Chapter(s) reviewing a fellowship application should at the minimum use the nomination form, application form, any reports submitted by the nominee, evaluation spreadsheet. • Before approval, another person besides the nominator should meet with the fellow. • Chapters reviewing fellowship for the first time (includes chapters that have had a volunteer turnover) should review the fellowship with a chapter currently running a program and/or the FFG.

16. Role of Chapter/Steward • Steward - point of contact between chapter, Fellow and Fellows Focus group. The steward should be a member of the Asha Fellows group. • Timely fellowship disbursements, frequent communication with the Fellow, receive and review progress on the Fellow’s work • Maintains the documentation, and updates the Fellows Focus group on a regular basis (at least once in 3 months) • Participate in the annual review of fellows conducted by the Fellows Focus group • Give inputs to the Fellows group on updating policy, guidelines, etc • Hand off check-list and documentation when stewards move away from the chapter • Read through the Asha-Fellow program document

17. Role of FFG • Formulates uniform guidelines, policy and process for the program • Conduct annual discussion of currently supported fellowships to ensure • Supported fellowships are within guidelines • Documentation is complete • Chapter is maintaining constant communication with the fellow • Funds are being sent regularly • In case of discrepancies, the fellows group has the final authority to make recommendations and suggestions to handle the fellowships going forward • Organize annual meetings of fellows in India, with support from other chapters. • Review policy, guidelines and processes every 3 years with feedback from stewards and fellows

18. Role of Fellows • Maintain constant communication with the chapter and submit Annual reports • Contact Asha Fellows focus group in case of concerns/issues • Wherever possible, meet with Asha volunteers and attend Asha meetings (chapters, national, etc) • Submit accounts for non-stipend funding if any (travel, stationery, etc) • Participate in annual peer review of other fellows work. • Give inputs to Asha projects based on experience from their work

19. Where do we go from here? • Interested volunteers become part of the Asha Fellows Focus Group can contribute time and ideas. They can also help maintain the current set of fellowships • Current nominations that can be considered by chapters • Asha Fellowships • Asha Corps • Shall this proposal be placed on the ARC for an Asha-wide decision? • Feedback