The Anganwadi Project

Now you can donate directly online!! 

http://www.givenow.com.au/architectswithoutfrontiers

Sydney architects without frontiers and their friends met on Wednesday 9th December for the Anganwadi Shakedown - Indian inspired festivities to raise building funds for preschools in Ahmedabad, India.

The event aimed to raise the $2500 needed to build one slum school but to our great delight the rowdy raffle, cover charge and fabulous silent auction helped to raise $3500! Thanks to cheerful volunteer labour, the funky Cafe Lounge was transformed into a tantalising taste of India, with flowers, incense, hanging lanterns and hindu deities adorning the already colourful venue, generously supplied by Cedric, the bar's owner.

The relaxed evening was complimented by Coco's spicey Indian music, a delicious beef curry, a host of amazing prizes and the generous good vibes of guests and sponsors (now listed on www.anganwadiproject.com).

Thanks especially to Jane (AWF) and Jodie (Bholu) for inspiring us, to Wendy and Sarah for superb organisational skills and to Meeray and Bel for supplying breathtaking artwork. Event organiser Jillian will be heading to India at the end of December to start work on anganwadi preschool number 10. If you are wondering 'angan-what?!' check out www.anganwadiproject.com.

By Jillian Hopkins ( AWF Voilunteer - Jan 2010- April 2010)

Kudos to our next volunteer, Jillian Hopkins who held the Anganwadi Shakedown last Wednesday and  raised a GRAND TOTAL: $3187.60  (that's $687 over target!), well done to Jillian and a BIG thank you to everyone who came on the night. 

 A big THANK YOU also to our sponsors:

Cafe Lounge, 277 Goulburn St Surry Hills www.cafelounge.com.au
BLUE Hotel, Woolloomooloo  http://www.tajhotels.com/sydney/
Dinosaur Designs www.dinosaurdesigns.com.au
Dance Central www.dancecentral.com.au
Chee Soon & Fitzgerald www.cheesoonfitzgerald.com
Monument Magazine c/o Text Pacific www.monumentmagazine.com.au
State Theatre and 'Merchants of Bollywood' www.statetheatre.com.au
Cambodia House www.cambodiahouse.com.au   
tix4nix www.tix4nix.com.au
Journeys Bookstore, Annandale www.journeysbooks.com
Yulli's, 417 Crown Street Surry Hills, www.yullis.com.au  
Malabar, 274 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst www.malabarcuisine.com.au
Moti Mahal, 229 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst
Govinda's Restaurant & Cinema, 112 Darlinghurst Road, Darlinghurst www.govindas.com.au
Indian Palace Restaurant, 235 Darling Street, Balmain www.indianpalace.com.au
Meeray Ghaly, artist
Belquis Youssofzay, artist

Our next volunteer , Jillian Hopkins, is about to head over to India in January and is holding a fundraiser to help raise money for the schools and the builds. Please join us if you can, the invitation is open, the more the merrier!

Architects Without Frontiers and Bholu invite you to join us for:
ANGANWADI SHAKEDOWN
Festivities and fundraising to build pre schools in India......

Wednesday 9 December
From 6pm @ CAFÉ LOUNGE
277 Goulburn St Surry Hills

Angan-what?! Anganwadi are pre schools in the urban slum community of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, designed by Architects Without Frontiers Volunteers and constructed with local labour. Each school provides children with a daily meal, health checks and education. In partnership with Indian NGO, Manav Sadhna, and Sydney based founder, Bholu, we have already built 7 of the planned 66 anganwadi.

Anganwadi Shakedown! Your $10 cover charge and a percentage of drinks purchased will help us raise the $2500 construction cost of one anganwadi. Details of door prizes and Indian inspired entertainment to follow closer to the date.

Here's a thought......what about your company/ family donates funds on your beloved's behalf ( no matter how small) to the Angwandi Project and pop the news in a Christmas card to all your clients, employees, friends or family ? We can supply you with high res photos of the children, the schools and their development throughout the year.

Don't we all have more than enough materialistic things in our lives, how about giving a present to those who need it the most....

Drop us a line if you are interested.....awf@bholu.com

There are many ways you can help if you are not an architect and able to donate your time as a volunteer to our program. Most of all we need funds to continue rebuilding these anganwadis, but also to keep them maintained and operating.

You can donate money directly towards the building ( a little goes a long way) or you can sponsor an anganwadi of your own which will provide the teachers and caretakers salary, building maintenance and a meal a day for each of the children. ( see below)

If you have some skills/advice or experience you can share with us with regards to sustainable building and ideas for our project, please do not hesitate to be in contact with us. awf@bholu.com

Only the children from wealthy and middle class families can afford to go to a formal pre school in India. Over 18% of children do not get any formal education at all and children from these poor families are often lack the proper nutrition. More than 43% of children in India are malnourished.  Proper care, hygiene and discipline are also lacking in these children.  It is proven that a child given a chance to attend a preschool will more likely to start formal primary education.

Manav Sadhna currently operates 75 preschools – nutrition centre in Ahmedabad. They serve over 3500 children and 700 mothers every day. The subsidy they receive from government for each center is R/s 1900 a month. The cost of operating a quality (nutritious food and proper supplies) center, however, is R/s 3000.

 For only R/s 1100 ($30 AUD) a month ($360 AUD year) any one can adopt a center (minimum for 1 year) and pick the name for that center. The total budget includes rent, the salary of a teacher and caretaker, a nutritious meal for 50/60 kids everyday and the monitoring supervisor’s salary.

After a detailed survey, a location is selected and a room is rented for the center.  One trained teacher and one trained caretaker (divorced/widows given the first chance) will be providing education, personal hygiene and nutrition to over 50 children every day. In the Manav Sadhna kitchen, fresh and nutritious food is prepared and distributed hot to each centre every day. The health and weight of these children rapidly improves just after 3-4 months of attending the centers. Periodic health checkups, immunizations and parent meetings are also arranged.

At the end of the year, it is made sure that the child starts a formal primary education in the 1st grade. Manav Sadhna is a nonprofit charitable trust, registered in Ahmedabad India and IL USA and is proud to be working with Bholu in Australia on supporting this project.

As a donor, you will receive once a year, a hand written progress report of your adopted Anganwadi and a photo of the centre and the children.