Successes

Thousands of people have benefited from Asha's work over the years; here are the stories of just a few. 

Illiterate woman becomes a doctor within her community  

When Asha began working in the Chanderpuri slum colony, the staff visited many people's homes to assess the needs of the community. One of the women they met was Rehmat Jahan, a woman from an extremely poor family with no education who barely ever left her home in the slum. Asha's staff were sure she had potential and asked her to work with them.

Although she was illiterate, Rehmat attended Asha's training sessions and realised that she could be useful within the community, like many others who had volunteered as Mahila Mandal members. Others in the community were surprised to see her metamorphosis from a shy, timid woman to a person who started to speak up for the rights of her people. Rehmat received further training in communication and lobbying skills and was nominated vice-president of the Mahila Mandal.

Inspired, Rehmat opted to train as a community health volunteer and midwife. Within six months, she was an active CHV and a trained birth attendant who was providing health care services for three hundred families.

Now, Rehmat works in liaison with the Asha clinic at Chanderpuri and encourages the slum's pregnant women to attend the antenatal clinics for check-ups. She is trained to identify high-risk signs and refers such patients to nearby hospitals. She monitors immunisation and growth of children under the age of 5, identifies malnourished children and gives advice on nutrition to their mothers. She has thrived on the opportunities provided by Asha and has risen above her illiteracy to become a leader within her community.

Women's group overcomes police extortion efforts

Kanta, a lane volunteer in Rajiv Camp slum, was getting a collapsing wall repaired on her house when a local policeman noticed and saw it as an opportunity to demand money from her. Familiar with police efforts at extortion, Kanta refused him as she was not constructing a new house but simply repairing it. Constable Rajkumar continued to harass her and turned up again the following day, becoming verbally abusive and making threats. 

That evening, he had Kanta's husband arrested and locked up in the police station. Kanta approached the Mahila Mandal (women's group) within her slum and explained what had happened. The women discussed the issue and the group's secretary accompanied Kanta to meet the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP). 

The Mahila Mandal had been in regular contact with many local officials and the police and had generated lots of goodwill in the sector due to their social work; the ACP Mr Ram was also aware of their actions. He arranged for Kanta's husband to be released and the corrupt policeman was reprimanded and visited sent to Kanta's home to apologise.

She repaired her house without paying a single rupee to the police and was full of praise for the Mahila Mandal. She believes that her involvement and hard work as a lane volunteer was rewarded by the outcome of this incident and is proud to be a part of the association. 

Slum residents influence government to end water shortage 

The Mayapuri slum had experienced a severe water shortage for 20 days, with no water coming from the area's central tap or its tanker. The community's men and children were unable to wash before going to work and school, and the women struggled to cook for their families because they had to walk for miles before they could reach any water.

The problem was discussed by the women's and children's groups at a meeting of lane volunteers. The President, Vice President and Secretary of the women's group, assisted by other volunteers, decided to write an application to officials at the Water Board. They then visited the Water Board office along with concerned men from the slum. The officials were shocked at seeing the vast number of people affected and then visited the Mayapuri district to assess the severity of the issue. They acted quickly and running water was re-established, leaving the community delighted - not only had the problem been solved, but they had been the solution.

Community children go to aid of elderly woman in slum

The children's groups (Bal Mandals) of Dr Ambedkar Basti, Rajiv and Ekta Vihar slums meet every week to discuss what they have seen and done within their areas of responsibility that week, and they also carry out field visits. On one such visit, they visited an old woman named Sakina. She had four sons who refused to support her and so she was left helpless and living alone. The only way she could eat was to ask different neighbours for food.

After calling a meeting, the children decided that through the Bal Mandal collections they would get food for Sakina. The treasurer withdrew some money from their account and bought two kilograms of flour for her. The children agreed that every month they would do the same thing, and have provided food for Sakina for many months. Recently, there was not enough money in the account to buy the flour but the children found another way to help. Each of the sixty children brought a small bowl of flour and a tablespoon of daal from their homes and their contributions meant that there was enough food for a month.

The children now call her Sakina Amma meaning "Mother Sakina" and have a great relationship with her. They are happy to help and are proud to know that their actions have provided the basic survival needs of someone in their community.