Running with Asha
Asha for Education is a volunteer run organization aiming to catalyze socio-economic change in India through education. The objectives of the group are:
- To provide access to education for underprivileged children in India
- To promote universal education and decrease child labor
- To support grass roots initiatives in deprived and marginalized communities in India
- To address, whenever possible, other issues affecting human life such as health care, environmental and socio-economic issues, women's issues, human rights issues, etc.
As a part of Team Asha this runner has committed to meet the above objectives through your support. Please read the runner's personal statement below and use the donate button on the right to make a contribution to the runner's objective.
Chandra Devarkonda
Why I run…
My childhood friend Raja is my running inspiration. Although he lost his father when he was about 4 years old and grew up poor, he stayed the course. He and I loved running long distances, sometimes with pebbles in our hands as that made it much harder. He had little food to eat, far little by way of any nutrition, but always knew that running will keep him going. He wore shoes far longer than they were unfit for running. Many times he ran barefoot. He simply shrugged off the thorns and small stones that poked the souls of his feet and the many blisters, such was his determination. Through middle and high school, he ran or played hockey. I ran with him and played soccer. As we grew, we realized there is more to running than the miles, the shoes and other running goodies we splurge on now without hesitation. The challenge of running well enthralled us. Each time we tried to do a little better than before. Sometimes we could, sometimes we could not. Raja did far better and went on to win national competitions. That gave him the confidence and me the inspiration that translated to other challenges in life. Each day, each new hurdle felt more surmountable than the one before.
Raja’s daily determination to run, compete and win inspired me to stay the course. I was never as good as he was, despite living in far better conditions. Yet, I shared the same love for running as he did. I have that same love for running now. I want to use running as a way to raise the resources to support those same under privileged children. Which child will not love to run and play? I want to use running to inspire those unfortunate to know that there is a way out in life, that there is no need to get astray, that running or anything related to running is the best drug there can be, the best love that can be had, the best outlet to channel their energies. But I also want running to help these children. As a runner, I want to use the time and energy I spend running to generate the funds that will aid these children.
…with Asha…
Fortunately, today there is Asha for Education. Asha has been inspiring such needy children for many years raising the capital world-over through it’s passionate volunteers and innovative programs and channeling them to support primary and early-college educational trusts. One of its current programs is to raise funds through Team Asha for Runners preparing for upcoming marathons. I am part of the Dallas Chapter and running to raise funds to enable Asha support Sarva Vidya Trust based in Chennai, India. This trust helps girl children from small villages in Tamil Nadu to pursue diploma programs in nursing. You can read more about SVT at http://www.ashanet.org/projects/project-view.php?p=1012. I plan to run the Dallas White Rock Marathon and need to raise at least $40 per each mile of the 26.2 mile race. These funds will directly pay for the children’s tuition and books.
…and how you can help?
I sincerely hope that you will help me and, in turn, help the children at Sarva Vidya Trust, realize their educational goals. You can help this cause by making a donation using the Donate link on your right side of this screen.
Thank You and Enjoy Your Run !
