Posted: 12/05/2010
All of us at Asha, especially our college students, were excited to welcome Professor Susan Elliott, Deputy Vice Chancellor, and 11 other staff and professors from Australia's University of Melbourne this week.
During her recent trip to Australia, Dr. Kiran Martin spoke about Asha's success with sending students from the slums to Delhi University, and the group was eager to meet with these students in person. The possibility of sponsoring the further education of a few of these students at the University of Melbourne is currently being considered.
The enthusiastic children spoke in detail of their experiences in college and how they were improving in their studies and enjoying college life. When they began attending classes they faced a huge culture shock, but with Asha's help, they have now adjusted to college life.
‘We have become so much more confident and have emerged as winners', affirmed Vineeta, one the girls who before being admitted to college didn't even have the confidence to say ‘hi' to a stranger. The transformation has been incredible, agreed all the students, and they assured the delegation that they would now be able to adjust to the lifestyle in any college - and in any country - if given a chance.
The visitors then met the women's and children's groups to hear about how they were working towards making their slum a better place to live in. Though it was a hot day, the group went around the slum to see some of the student's homes and further understand the work Asha is doing.
Members of the group thanked the community for having taken the time to meet them, and spoke about how they were touched by their stories of success. They told the college students that they were greatly impressed by their progress and assured them that if they continue to keep up the good work, success would be theirs. The delegation had exciting discussions with Dr Martin and other members of the Asha team on ways in which Asha and the University of Melbourne could work together.
Return to more recent news articles
When Asha first came to my slum I didn't think that they could help - other organisations had been and gone. They stayed, and so I got involved and was trained as a community health volunteer. Now I have more confidence, I help to make changes in my community and I take pride in being able to help others.
Bimla, women's group president, Zakhira
