EVENTS :-

1. The Ashraya AGM was held on the 6th of November 2004 at 11 a.m. We have had four committee meeting in the year under review.

The AGM was followed by our annual Diwali party and get-together of Adoptive parents. This is also our celebration of the Adoption week. Dr. Aloma Lobo, Chairperson of CARA, was our chief guest. We had 150 guests. The children were completely involved in the Magic Show and would have run off with the magicians’ rabbit if they had been given half a chance ! Gifts were given to all our staff and everyone enjoyed a traditional Diwali tea.

The Ashraya committee has now decided to have only an in-house Diwali party for the Ashraya children this year and have our adoptive family get-together in the New Year. It has been a miracle that in all these years no-one has got burnt, as the numbers of excited children has grown and we are finding it more and more difficult to control. I am sure that many parents will miss this event and be upset with the break in tradition, but we promise them to make it up in the new year with a grand get-together, sans crackers !

2. The Bi-annual A.C. Partners’ Workshop was held in Orissa from the 3rd to 6th October 2004. The first workshop’s theme was, “ Residential Care for Children Emerging Challenges and Strategies ”. This was at Toshali Sands, Konarak. Nomita spoke on “ Advocacy ” and Radhika Nambiar presented a paper on
“ Mother and Child Care Facilities ”. As always, it was the off- conference hall dialogues and interactions that were the most interesting ; sharing experiences and concerns with good friends from agencies across the country.

The next session was at the delightful Mayfair beach resort at Puri. Nomita made a presentation on “ What is going on in India ” (viz a viz adoptions). For the Social workers of all the agencies, Ingrid Sherna’s presentation on Social Work Practice, was most engaging and a good learning experience. We thank Adoptioncentrum for all the “ learning ” that keeps happening, at all the workshops, over the years, which have helped so many of us “ grow ” in the field of Adoption.

3. NDTV did a feature on “ Special Needs ” children for Adoption Week, which unfortunately did not go on air. We hope they will use the film this year.

4. The children have had a lot of exciting outings thanks to our volunteers. Surya took the older children for a visit to her home on the 1st of November, on Rajyotsava day, which they thoroughly enjoyed. Claudia repeated the treat, taking 12 children to her home on the 22nd of November. The children went to see the movie ET on December 8th as part of the Bangalore Habba film festival and by all accounts were engrossed in the film. On the 12th of December, Indiranagar Residents, Paul and Yasmin Jacob, invited 14 of our toddlers to the Indiranagar Club for their grand-daughter’s 1st birthday party. They were rapturous in their praise of, “ how well behaved the Ashraya children were ”. Karen Mehta took the toddlers to her home on the 22nd of January, to watch a movie, play in the park and have a nice tea. G.E. volunteers took the children on the 19th of March for a trip to the Bannerghatta Wild Life Park, which thrilled them no end. In May these enthusiastic volunteers, again took the toddlers and older children to Cubbon Park for a picnic and later the older children went to the Planetarium. Gifts were given to all the children and games equipment for Ashraya. Thank you Elfun. Subhalakshmi and Pushpa had a special treat, a “ Sleep over ” at Surya’s home, which they were ecstatic over and the envy of every other child at Ashraya. GAP volunteers have also taken the children out and treated them to Pizza lunches which they love. Many families have celebrated special events at Ashraya for which we are most grateful. In December the children went to a free performance of the famous dancer and choreographer, Astad Debu, dancing with children from the deaf school, which was a most moving performance.

5. The Ashraya recognition for Inter-country Adoption was renewed from 18.10.2004 to 17.10.2007. Our In-country licence is valid from April 2003 to March 2006. Our 80 G exemption has also been renewed for a further period of three years.

6. The Ashraya annual picnic and get-together of staff from all our projects, was held on the 27th of November 2004. We decided to be really adventurous and took two bus-loads of people to Shimsha and the Shivanasamudram falls, which is 120 km. away from Bangalore. The beautiful scenic views and a good Biryani lunch kept everyone in a happy mood and singing all the way back to Ashraya.

7. The Ashraya Christmas Party was held on the 13th of December. Barbara Munroe as always, remembered to send a lavish Christmas cake. Shanthi donated the eats and the Overseas Women’s Club packed gifts for each of the children. Gary Row was a very enthusiastic Santa and the children had fun singing Christmas Carols and generally enjoying the evening.

8. In response to the terrible devastation of the Tsunami that hit Tamilnad and other coastal areas on the 26th of December, Ashraya galvanized itself into raising donations of about four lakhs to be sent to ICCW Tamilnadu, for its relief work. We also wrote to the district administration offering help in our Children’s Home, Women’s Centre and Neelbagh School, but got no response.

9. Ashraya and VCA-K jointly manned an information desk on
“ Adoption ” at a Mela held by Christ College on 17.12.2004.

NEWS ABOUT THE ASHRAYA FAMILY :-

1. Nona Lewis married Orville D’souza on the 2nd of May 2005 at Mangalore. Radhika Nambiar and Usha Lekha represented Ashraya at the wedding. We wish them both many years of happiness together.

2. Our condolences to the Ashraya Treasurer and Committee Member, Ms. Sumati Satish , who lost her husband tragically on the 17th of August 2005, of a heart attack.

3. Usha Lekha got married to Ananth in Bangalore on 8th of September 2005. Ashraya staff were there in strength to wish the happy couple. It was a coming together of APSA and Ashraya in a liason of a different kind !

4. Our Women’s Centre Superintendent of six years Suma, resigned on 31.12.2004 as after her marriage it was not possible for her to manage the Centre. Tragically Suma lost her husband in a car crash on August 2005. Our deepest sympathies go out to her.

Our Social Worker Usha Lekha managed the Centre competently till we appointed the new Superintendent Mary.
On 1st June 2005. Unfortunately Mary decided to resign in November 2005 due to pressing family commitments in Mangalore. We have now appointed Manjula as the Superintendent w.e.f. 06.10.2005. She comes with a good track record, having worked in an Action Aid project for a couple of years dealing with HIV affected women.

WORKSHOPS, SEMINARS AND MEETINGS :-

1. Nomita Chandy continues to be a member of the Government of Karnataka Adoption Advisory Cell. She was asked by CARA to be on a special task force to devise some guidelines for Special Needs children.

2. Sudatta held a workshop on Adoption on the 19th and 20th of November 2004 which Radhika and Nomita attended.

3. The CARA annual conference was held in Delhi on the 22nd and 23rd of February 2005. Nomita Chandy represented Ashraya.

4. We held an excellent interactive workshop for 9 of our prospective adoptive couples at Ashraya on 20th August 2005. We dealt with issues such as childlessness, telling the child about the Adoption and post adoption issues. Dr. Aloma Lobo, Radhika Nambiar, Ulka Serrao and Nomita Chandy were the resource persons. We have decided to make these pre-adoptive workshops a regular feature at Ashraya.

5. At a meeting of Karnataka Adoption Agencies held at the Department of Women and Child Development, on 22.08.2005, it was decided to form a sub-committee for placement of children free for adoption, from unrecognized agencies, Helplines and Shishu Grihas, systematically, in recognized agencies. The sub-committee to comprise of Dr. Aloma Lobo, Nomita Chandy, Mr. Sachidanand from Anatha Shishu Nivas and a representative from the Department of Women and Child Development.

VISITORS :-

1. It was a pleasure to have so many older adoptees visit us this year. Pricilla Edin now 21 yrs. old visited Ashraya with her parents and fiancé on 03.11.2004. She had a poignant reunion with her biological mother, who had kept in touch with us all these years. Chitra Sjogren and her family visited us on 28.10.2004, along with her two siblings, adopted from Sita Bhatija’s Nursing Home and Calcutta. Rhoman Sushanth Goyenecha, now 18 yrs. old, visited Ashraya with a group of friends from college, who had been volunteering at The Missionaries of Charity, Calcutta. He felt very moved being back.

2. 25 students from Sri Devi College of Social Welfare, Mangalore, paid a field visit to Ashraya on 11.01.2005 and were given an orientation on Adoption.

3. Teri Bell from AIAA, visited us for a week in February and gave us some invaluable help assessing our Special Needs children. Kajsa and Monica Lind from A.C. Sweden, were here in September and we were pleased to take them both to Neelbagh for a visit which they enjoyed. Veronica, from CIAI, was here on the 28th and 29th of September and we had some intensive, but fruitful discussions.

Karl Sensson from SIDA, New Delhi, visited the Children’s Home on the 27.10.2004.

Scot Beale, from the U.S. Embassy, New Delhi, visited our Women’s Centre on 11.08.2005.

EXTRACTS FROM OUR VISITOR’S BOOK :-

1 “ With Shobith coming into our family, it is a real joy. This is just the beginning of a wonderful association. All the people we have come across at Ashraya are doing a fantastic job. This is truly a miracle place ”.

Sharukh and Renu Mistry
Adoptive Parents.

2. “ Wonderful to come here again and again. Progress and development in every respect. Lots of Admiration ”.

Monica Lind
Adoptionscentrum, Sweden.

3. “ It was a pleasure to be here again after 14 years. You are doing such good work here. Hope we can all visit you again sooner or later. Lots of love to you”.

Priscilla Edin
Adoptee.

4. “ Visited Ashraya today and was really impressed with the homely atmosphere in the Centre for children up for adoption. I wish Ashraya many many years of fruitful service to society ”

Ranjini Srikumar, IAS,
Principal Secretary, Women and Child Development,
Government of Karnataka.

5. “ We are so happy to have adopted from such a loving a well run “ Shelter ”. We look forward to visiting again and helping in any way ”.

Bradford Richardsson
Adoptive Parent.

“ I had very often heard about Nomita Chandy and the excellent work she is doing through Ashraya in the field of adoption. Hearty congratulations and all the best ”.

Gaurang Mehta
NAAF – Mumbai.

“ Had the opportunity to visit Ashraya and see the great work they are doing. Had a very insightful discussion on inter-country adoption. Keep up the good work. All my good wishes.

Mr. S. Krishnakumar, IAS.
Secretary, Min. of Overseas Indian Affairs.

“ Nicely maintained and run Children’s Home. Good opportunity to share the experiences of rural migrant construction labour. Very good work being done for the community in need ”.

Sunil Mor
Ajim Premji Foundation.

“ This is a fantastic facility that helps children find a home. It is been a pleasure to visit and see the dedication of the people at Ashraya ”.

Rahul Dravid
Capt. Indian Cricket Team.

“ Lovely place. The kids are relaxed and happy. The atmosphere cool and pretty. Wonderful work ” .

Neena Nehru
Artist.

“ It is a pleasure to see the happiness on the children’s faces here. They are so well behaved and bright. They are a real testimony to the dedication I can see in the Ashraya organisation ”.

Sanjay Gupta
V.P. GE Money India.

“ Well it’s amazing to be back even though I don’t remember much. I’m still in awe of the place Ashraya has shown me. You have answered many questions for me. Thank you so much for what you have done. May god bless you !! ”.

Rhoman Shushant Goyenechea
Adoptee.

“ I have watched Ashraya grow over the last 15 years. It represents a model Child Welfare Agency, which has shown through its work that adoption - whether in-country or inter-country, is the most progressive and human arm of a Child Welfare Programme. It has been a privilege to be a friend of Ashraya ”.

Parvati Menon
Journalist “ Frontline ”.

“ Well maintained. Child care is excellent. Catering to the needs of children with Special Needs. Staff are committed. Wish the institution to carry on for the betterment of the lives of children of this country ”.

Smt. G.D. Aruna, IAS
Director, Women and Child Welfare,
Government of Andhra Pradesh.

“ Amazing growth in the past 17 years. Tastefully designed dorms for children. Great out-door recreational facilities. In addition to Nomita and Shanthi, who have remained with the institution. I was pleasantly surprised to find Agnes and Thilaka, who have still remained all these years ”.

Dr. Sujatha Ramesh
Former Paediatrician at Ashraya.

“ Thank you so much for receiving me at Ashraya. Ashraya is a very clean and nice place. I learnt such a lot of things and I think I will be able to prepare the families much better in the future. It was also a very interesting trip to Neelbagh, the school and the very nice children, so well behaved. You are doing a marvelous job with Ashraya and all the different projects you run ”.

Kajsa Bergman
Adoptionscentrum, Sweden.

“ I ’ve been hearing of Ashraya Children’s Home for many years now and I’m very happy to see such a joyful place for children in need ”.

Veronica Mattuada
CIAI, Italy.

Children’s Home :-

Our In-country Adoption Programme continues to grow from strength to strength. It is true today that we barely have any healthy young children for placement in Inter-country adoption. Our local families have a strong preference for adopting the girl child. I would estimate that 8 out of 10 families want to adopt girls.

Ms. Nomita Chandy continues to be the Treasurer of the
VCA-K.

The Richardsson family, who had adopted a child from Ashraya, very generously presented us with a computer, which is for the exclusive use of our Social Workers.

We donated Rs. 10,000/- to The Missionaries of Charity, Bangalore, to buy mattresses for children. They do a wonderful job caring for over 50 mentally challenged children. Motorola was also kind enough to gift an old computer to Ashraya for the use of the children. The Overseas Women’s Club gave us a substantial donation of about Rs. 50,000/-. This was used to do up the play ground and build a “ Wendy house ” and sandpit for the children. We also bought a computer and games equipment for the Neelbagh School. Our grateful thanks to all our kind and generous donors.

The Infants and Toddlers section was repainted and fully sanitized in September 2005.

We undertook a marathon job of re-organising our filing system. We also took apart conference material from 1982 onwards and have re-filed relevant papers subject wise. Our resource center is small, but it has a lot of useful material, and books.

ADOPTION STATISTICS :-

Currently we have 51 children in the home, of whom 24 have some degree of disability or the other, or they are older children. The Adoption statistics related to the period of April 2004 to March 2005 are as follows :-

Indian Adoption - 17
International Adoption (Normal) - 3
International Adoption (Special Needs) - 15
Children demised - 3

Children returned to biological parents - 4

85% of healthy normal children were placed in Indian Adoption.

Jennifer Stephen, from The Spastics Society, comes in twice a week to stimulate developmentally delayed children. She is also training our staff to work with the children.

NEELBAGH :-

Currently we have 255 students in the school from LKG to class X (SSLC). We have got the school recognition and the examination Code up-to-date.

The President of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, met Ms. Nomita Chandy, at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 04.02.2005. He very kindly inscribed a poem to the children of the school, which says ,

“ Learning gives creativity.
Creativity leads to thinking.
Thinking provides knowledge.
Knowledge makes you great ”.

He has promised to visit the school sometime in the near future.

Our first batch of SSLC students passed out with flying colours. 87% pass percentage, with 7 out of 13 children getting a first class. The staff, under the able stewardship of Mr. Roy Joseph, have worked hard with remedial teaching and we took in the tenth class day scholars into the hostel for two months prior to the exams, to ensure that they could study without disturbance.

Two volunteers, Ms. Helen and Ms. Natalie from New Zealand and Australia respectively, were able to help the children speak and understand English better.

We are grateful to our MLA Mr. Ramesh Kumar for taking so much interest in the school. The Government dug a free borewell for the school, which in the months of drought, was a boon for us. We are thankful to the rain gods for bountiful rains this monsoon, after three years. The road to Neelbagh is also being done up, for which we are grateful to the local administration.

AMC Target Corp, a big American Corporation, gave Ashraya a generous award of $ 10,000/- for infrastructural development of Neelbagh and our new Women’s Centre project. They organized a glittering ceremony at Yuvanika, for which Wing. Cdr. Rakesh Sharma was the Chief Guest. Mr. Jaganathan M.D. India, of Target, presented the award. The Neelbagh children put on an excellent performance of folk dances. Thank you Target, for showing the way for generous Corporate giving.

The Swedish Adoptionscentrum has supported the development of vocational training in Neelbagh. We have considerably upgraded our Carpentry section and both boys and girls are enthusiastic learners. The bee keeping is literally buzzing. The present volunteer, Catherine from Australia, who is an agricultural expert, has been requested to make this into a proper vocational course. We have started the Tailoring course and again are happy that some boys also attend these classes. We hope to soon start a course in Plumbing and Electrical wiring.

EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES :-

We now have built a new basketball court and the children and staff are enthusiastic about the game. Our students have bagged many prizes at the recently held Taluk level competitions in sports, games and cultural performances. Children play Volley ball, Foot ball, Basket ball, and Cricket with great enthusiasm. They are also learning Yoga.

WORKSHOPS AND FIELD VISIT :-

We had a career guidance workshop which was very helpful to our students. 15 local resource people came and talked to the children about different vocations.

A sex - education workshop was held in January 2005 for the older students and the staff and was conducted ably by
Dr. Uttara Vidyasagar and Mrs. Jyothi Subbarao.

In November, the children of class 9 and 10 came to Bangalore for a Science Exhibition. Class 8th , 9th and 10th students visited the Planetarium and went to Cubbon Park for a picnic in June.

EVENTS :-

We celebrated our annual day on the 16th of August 2005. Nandana Reddy, a former student of David Horsburgh, now the head of a reputed NGO, Concern for Working Children, was our Chief Guest. David Horsburgh’s son Micheal and his wife Rajika were also present. All told it was an emotional home coming for all of them. The day started with the annual athletics events, with enthusiastic participation from students and staff alike. This was followed by a special lunch. In the afternoon we had the prize distribution and speech by the Chief Guest.

On the 18th of February we had our first valedictory function for our first batch of out-going tenth class students. Conduct certificates were presented to all the students and prizes to the “ toppers ”. There was an excellent cultural performance followed by a special lunch. Sumathi Subbaiah, Nomita Chandy and Radhika were present at the function. Afterwards we had exit interviews with the children and parents.

Teacher’s Day and Children’s Day were also celebrated and a Flag - raising ceremony was held to mark Independence Day.

In April 2005, “ Inside Outside ”, a well reputed design magazine, did a beautiful 5 page feature on Neelbagh focusing on the interesting low cost, eco-friendly, architecture. Building costs were an astounding Rs. 270/- a sq. ft.

OUR SPONSORS :-

We could not run Neelbagh without the generous aid of our sponsors. CIAI fully sponsors 103 children at Neelbagh and supports the computer education programme. The K.C. Mahindra Trust gives us some grants for the Nanhi Kali programme, or education of the girl child. ICARE, Australia, also gives us a general grant. We have a few individual donors and sponsors. We have to emphasize that all the children, by and large, come from families who are below the poverty line. This is also the only school of its kind dealing with the long-term needs of educating children of migrant construction labour. We have 70 such children in our hostel currently.

The new Principal Mr. Roy Joseph and his wife Binu, joined the school in September 2004. They were previously teaching in Eritrea. Mr. Joseph has done a lot of team building with the staff and the school, we are happy to say, is running well. Mr. Balaji joined as a Chemistry teacher and Mr. Raghu as a Physics teacher. Vanaja is the new tailoring teacher. Shanta and Reena are crèche teachers and House-parents. Mr. Harinath replaced Mr. Anand, as the music and dance teacher.

SITE CRECHES :-

We are currently running two crèches on Purvankara Builders sites, near Whitefield. The crèche at Shivajinagar caters to the needs of children of petty traders and remains at a fixed location. There are totally 125 children in the crèches. The fourth crèche, which ran on the Adarsh Builders site, closed in July 2005 and we are exploring the possibilities of opening it in another large construction site and have approached several Builders.

The crèche New Year party was held at Ashraya on 24.01.2005. The children had a special Biryani lunch. They thoroughly enjoyed the magic show and were delighted with the individual gifts each of them received. Mrs. Ranjini Srikumar, Secretary Department of Women and Child Development was our Chief Guest at the function.

Four of the crèche teachers visited the Neelbagh school in July 2005, along with the Social Worker Usha and had a good orientation. We want to establish the linkage between the crèches and Neelbagh so that the teachers can better prepare the children for the entrance exam. The children from the crèches continue to excel in Neelbagh.

Ambika, Creche teacher, attended the Sutradhar Workshop on pre-school learning on the 22nd and 23rd of July 2005.

Independence Day was celebrated at all the crèches with a special lunch and a colourful cultural programme, performed by the children. We invited all the Site Engineers, and the Committee Members and Social Workers went to the different crèches.

We are most grateful to Purvankara and Adarsh builders, A.C. Dalarna and Hebbel Schule for supporting this project.

WOMEN’S CENTRE :-

There are currently 21 women in the Women’s Centre . The crèche has 28 children of whom 18 are from the village near by. The Superintendent Ms. Mary, has done a great job with her outreach work and we are as full as we have ever been. She has also managed to make good job placements for the women, so that they earn reasonable salaries. Pratibha, our Creche teacher, is dedicated and looks after the children of the working women from 7.30 in the morning to 7 p.m. in the evening. We have admitted two HIV+ women to the Centre this year, and found jobs for them.

For Women’s day we organized a scintillating evening of classical music with Nadig and Party, who presented a Flute and Violin recital. The inner courtyard of the center lends itself to such events, with diyas lit around the courtyard. Our Chief guests were the Police Commissioner Mr. Mariswamy, former Minister for Women and Child Welfare, Ms. Motamma, Ms. Neena Nayak, Chairperson, CWC, Dr. Aloma Lobo, Chairperson, CARA and representatives from other Women’s organizations. The women at the Centre and our guests enjoyed the evening of music, followed by a delicious dinner.

We have had some problem with encroachment of the one acre of land we own, near the Women’s Centre. We finally came to an agreement with the local Panchayat and they gave us some additional land in lieu of the land they had allotted illegally to two individuals. We have now fenced the entire plot. On 21.08.2005 we laid the foundation stone for our proposed resource center, in memory of our late President of 22 years, Mrs. Rama Ananth. The foundation stone appropriately was laid by the Ashraya Committee Members, in the presence of Rama’s family members and the women from “ TARA ”.
Rama’s little grand-daughter very movingly recited a Shloka. After the ceremony we had a special lunch at “ TARA ”.

We continue to solicit funds for the new project. We have received Rs. 15,50,000/- in general donations in the last financial year. Gulf for Good gave us a donation of Rs. 4 lakhs, which they raised from a cycling event to the Nilgiris. Our target is Rs. 65 lakhs, to build the Convention - cum - Training Centre, which we hope to have ready for our 25th year anniversary in 2007.

OBSERVATION HOME :-

The Observation Home houses children in conflict with the law. Ashraya continues to co-manage the Home along with the State Government and the other NGO’s ECHO and BOSCO. We feel it is one of the best run Government institutions anywhere in the country. The Home Committee meets regularly to sort out various issues. Ashraya continues to run a non-formal school at the Observation Home and our teacher Sashikala has an excellent rapport with the children.

Hearing of repeated atrocities by the police against the children , we organized a Bal Panchayat at the home, on the 23rd of July 2005. This was a path breaking exercise, as the Police Commissioner, Mr. Ajai Kumar Singh heard the boys and talked to them in an extremely humane manner. He promised to take action and try and improve the situation. The Juvenile Board Magistrate has also intervened strongly in the matter. Ashraya has agreed to print posters with salient features of the J.J. Act, to be put up in all the Police Stations.

We have a resource person Mr. Manjunath Badigar, who comes in three times a week and organizes different programmes for the boys. We wanted someone to be a role model for the children, whom they could look up to. We have invited the Rotary Club of Bangalore to run a vocational training programme in Electrical wiring, as part of the rehabilitation plan for the boys. Volunteers do regular counselling and take up issues such as drug addiction, violence, HIV Aids and family problems.

Children’s Day was celebrated on the 18th of November, with a cultural programme and a grand lunch provided by Ashraya. The Director Department of Women and Child Development, Government of Karnataka, Mr. Gonal Bimappa and the Juvenile Court Magistrate were the Chief guests. The event was covered by Star News.

Tragically one of the children in the Home hung himself on 14.12.2004. It brought us all up sharply to the fact that many of these boys have come from severely dysfunctional families and many need long term Psychiatric care. Nimhans agreed to provide support. Very often it is found that though the boys long to go home, their families do not want them because of their in-disciplined behaviour. This causes a lot of trauma.

There was a training programme at NSLIU for Juvenile Welfare Board Magistrates and Social Workers, from 8th to 10th January 2005. Ms. Nomita Chandy and our teacher from the Observation Home , Sashikala, were resource persons.

We also run a non-formal school at the Reception Home for Boys, run by the State Government.

We are most grateful to Adoptionscentrum Sweden and SIDA for supporting this project.

VOLUNTEERS :-

As in the past, we have been fortunate this year to have a committed and caring group of volunteers. These people spend time with the children, listen to their stories and help with their lessons. They have organized interesting and enjoyable outings, given treats and made the lives of the children at Ashraya that much richer.

The Elfun Club- an initiative of the young employees of General Electric - has taken the children to the Zoo and the Planetarium. Eye-to-eye, an NGO, send us young people from the UK who spend a few months with us and help with the older children’s school work and a stimulation programme for the younger children. Ladies from the Overseas Women’s Club volunteer regularly and every year organize a delightful Christmas party for the children. We have ladies, who after retiring from professional careers, have chosen to contribute their time and skills to our organization. We are very grateful to all of them .

CONCLUSION :-

The Women’s Centre project has the green signal. Plans are ready and we have generated some funds and have laid the foundation stone. The inscription appropriately reads ” . Listen to the women, Listen to the many voices, Spoken and unspoken ”. We are now seeking the local Panchayat’s permission to start building.

Neelbagh still awaits a VIP for the formal inauguration. We hope to do a little more renovation work at the school this coming year and plan to set up one more vocational training programme, which will be the last one.

Inspite of a certain amount of turn-over in our staff, all our projects remain stable and are considered to be well managed.

For our 25th anniversary we are starting to plan on having an international get-together of our adoptive families and children from India, Sweden, the USA, Italy and Spain. We specially want to get in touch with adoptees who are now in their late teens and twenties.

All our Social Workers, Radhika Nambiar, Lavinia, Usha Lekha and Subhashini have done their work conscientiously, taking responsibility for some part of the adoption work and also Ashraya’s other projects. Our Committee remains hands on and is totally involved in all of Ashraya’s work

In the year ahead, our challenges lie in trying to get the State Government to release more children for adoption, who are trapped in long-term institutional care. We hope to motivate a convent to place HIV + children, now testing negative, in Adoption ; To motivate The Andhra Pradesh Government to transfer Special Needs children with CARA’s permission, as they are unable to place them in adoption. We are also interacting with the Family Court in Bangalore to try and fast - track the Adoption procedure, as per the norms in Mumbai.

We are grateful to all those agencies and individuals who partner us in our work. A.C. Sweden, WACAP, CIAI, AIAA, ICARE, and The K.C. Mahindra Trust, to name a few.

Our special thanks to our auditors Panth & Co., to our lawyer Mr. G.L. Vishwanath, our Paediatrician Dr. N.V.S. Krishnan, to all our members, staff and volunteers and generous donors, for all they do, with such dedication, for children and women in need. It is this partnership that makes Ashraya the organization that it is.