Online fundraiser from the Association for India's Development

: The problems that confront India are so complex and varied that they require a multitude of different efforts towards solving them. There are many excellent fellow organizations that are focused on issues like education, literacy, plight of deprived children and are part of this great struggle for an improved life for the underprivileged in India. The Association for India’s Development (AID) lends its shoulder to this struggle with a focus on ‘poverty’ as a whole. AID believes that in any given region in India, the causes for poverty are many and most if not all of the causes are interconnected. Some of the causes are more pronounced in some areas. For example, in some places in India a lack of basic health care is the most important cause of poverty, in some areas severe environmental degradation is the reason for poverty, in some others, it is because of lack of opportunity for women to contribute to the family income. Current Fundraising Campaign - One for AID

OneForAID is AID’s campaign to utilize the power of the web to bring people together for a common cause. AID hopes to raise or exceed a goal of $50,000 through this drive that will run from December 2001 through the end of January 2002 — commemorating India’s 53rd year as a Republic on Jan 26th. Over the last 10 years AID has supported over 150 efforts with groups and organizations working to strengthen the poor and marginalized sections in India. These efforts span the areas of health-care, literacy, education, empowerment of women, micro-credit, vocational training and support for the handicapped. In recent years, AID has funded

• Micro-credit/self-help-group based projects where women are provided with small loans with no/minimum collateral as ‘startup’ money. They are also provided help in organizing themselves as groups that encourage savings and the responsible use of their loans.
• Rural health care projects where people are trained to be health care workers and to take care of many issues in places where health care access is minimal.
• Rural employment focused projects where existing skills of women are improved upon and new skills are taught, so that they can contribute to the income of their family.
• Balwadis that provide pre-primary schooling for the kids. These Balwadis not just stimulate the learning ability of the kids, but generate income for some women who are trained as pre-primary teachers and allow many mothers to continue their work in peace knowing that their children are safe.

These projects showcase the philosophy of AID. Simply put, AID would like to do whatever it takes to reduce poverty in a given area. As our understanding of the reasons for poverty grows, the scope of our organization is growing as well. The agenda of AID has also broadened into support for people’s movements, grassroots campaigns, adivasi (indigenous peoples) rights and welfare and environmental awareness. In the last two years AID has also been supporting disaster relief and rehabilitation efforts, after the cyclone in Orissa and the earthquake in Gujarat. A .I .D is registered with the US Federal Government as a non-profit charitable association (one classification of non-profit organizations) under the category 501(C)(3). Its federal Tax-ID is 52-1863480. A.I.D accounts are audited by an independent Certified Public Accountant, as per IRS regulations.Documents and information pertaining to A.I.D can be obtained from the Secretary of State for the cost of copies and postage. Savita Kini January 2002