Sowmya Suryanarayanan and Vikram Iyengar

Sowmya Suryanarayanan & Vikram Iyengar

Hello there!! Thanks for visiting our Strides of Hope (SOH) web-page. Please take a moment to read about the projects we are supporting through ASHA Austin.

We believe that the foundation to every great civilization is education & clear thinking. Due to widespread poverty & exploding populations around the world, this basic necessity has become a luxury. To those reading this, education has been a door to a world of opportunities. But to most, education can be a wall!

ASHA is a not-for-profit organization that strives to tear the socioeconomic web that holds the underprivileged from scaling this wall.

Our first half marathon: We suffer from a chronic illness of trailing behind on our fitness goals! So we signed up for a marathon. We will be running the San Antonio Rock N Roll half marathon this November & we are excited!

  • Buy new shoes 
  • Join a training group
  • Dream of running through the finish line 🙂
  • Wake up at 4:30 AM every Saturday… Snoozzze 😐

ASHA- Strides of Hope has helped us commit to ourselves, & to the endeavors that ASHA Austin chapter supports. SOH is a fun fund-raising program that enables people like you & me to contribute towards a noble goal of providing primary education to the underprivileged. We are supporting two projects this year through our run.

Bharati Trust Resource Center provides training & resources to uplift & empower rural communities. They teach farmers, organic & sustainable agricultural techniques. They also provide formal & non-formal ways to educate them in health, nutrition, water conservation & indigenous skills like pottery, weaving, etc. [link: Bharathi Trust: Resource Center]

Gnanodaya School supports the children of leprosy affected people. Due to the stigma attached to this disease, parents find it extremely hard to provide for their children. The school provides free education & accommodation to these kids. The education is aimed to promote social, cultural & economic improvements for these affected families, helping them integrate into mainstream society. [link: Gnanodaya]

ASHA is a zero overhead organization. As part of the ASHA team, all of us volunteer our time, which takes every penny you give, directly to the people in need. You might be curious to know how your contribution could make a difference.

You GiveThey Get
USD 50 (INR 2,300)Supports a child for 2 months & pays for schooling, accommodation, food & a part of teachers’ salary
USD 100 (INR 4,600)Supports 1 field worker’s monthly salary on the organic model farm

**If you would like to donate to an ASHA Austin project other than the ones we have specified, please do let us know & we can help facilitate that.

**Corporate matching is a great way to automatically match your donations. Please do check if your company has a matching program. You can also contact us if you have any specific questions.

Thanks once again & we hope you can sponsor this cause. Please forward this to your friends & help us spread the word to make a bigger difference.

Life is short… running makes it seem longer
– Baron Hansen