The answer is in more questions

Why should children be working in inhuman conditions at factories, garages and other places, when they should be studying? Why should children be traded like cattle for prostitution? Why should children be denied the right to education because they belong to a particular "caste", "sex" or "religion"? Why should women who can't fend for themselves (because of being mentally disadvantaged) be forced to the streets and go unnoticed by almost everyone? Why should poverty, suffering and injustice thrive so easily right in front of our eyes?

(For people who think they have seen it somewhere before, yes..I have re-stated it from my last year's runner page)

Who are we ?

Asha For Education is a non-profit organization with 0% overhead. This means that ALL the work is done by volunteers (not employees), and that ALL your donations will go to the various ongoing /future projects. Asha for Education is a secular organization dedicated to change in India by focusing on basic education in the belief that education is a critical requisite for socio-economic change. The word 'Asha' means 'hope' in Hindi.

What do we do ?

Here's a small subset of the activities we do: Funding schools for underprivileged kids, Training teachers, Vocational training for women in slums, Rehabilitation and training for children with special needs, Schools for poor tribal children, Educating children of prostitutes and backward classes, Providing educational kits and funding school rents, Efforts towards eradicating bonded labor, Schools for the visually impaired, Orphanages for young children, Schools for kids who were dropouts, Schools for the children of landless farmers and daily laborers, Schools for mentally challenged children, Training camps for young women that teach personal health and hygiene and awareness of women's rights, Efforts towards eradicating child labor.

Why are we a team ?

We are a team b'cos we are a group of 16 ppl who will run 500+ miles over 5 months to train for a marathon. Finally the goal is to run 26.2 miles!
(Want to know more about the team ? Know the team )

The program fundraising idea or 'pledge' is a novel one - it provides runners like me, the team support and training needed to prepare myself for the marathon and I in turn, raise money and awareness for Asha through my personal network of family, friends and supporters.

At least by running the marathon, I show that I am pretty serious about my intentions. Of course, the suffering or sacrifices that I have to undergo would be nothing compared to what the underprivileged kids and women go through.