SEWA is a trade union registered in 1972. SEWA is the largest union in Gujarat. SEWA’s membership in 1998 was 2,09,250, with more than half of the members in the state of Gujarat.  SEWA is an organization of poor, self-employed women workers. Self-employed workers include hawkers and vendors of food, clothes, and household items, home-based workers such as weavers, potters, and agarbatti workers, and manual laborers and service providers who do agricultural, construction, and domestic labor.  SEWA members depend on their own labor for survival. They do not obtain regular salaried employment with welfare benefits like workers in the organized sector.  They are poor, illiterate and vulnerable.  But they are extremely economically active, contributing very significantly to the economy and society with their labor. Sixty-four percent of the GDP is accounted for by the self-employed.

GOALS.   SEWA’s main goals are to organize women workers for full employment and self reliance. Full employment means employment whereby workers obtain work security, income security, food security and social security (at least health care, child care and shelter). SEWA organizes women to ensure that every family obtains full employment. Self-reliance means that women should be autonomous and self-reliant, individually and collectively, both economically and in terms of their decision-making ability.

SEWA ACADEMY.  The SEWA Academy is a university for members. This year about 30,000 SEWA members participated in this educational process, learning about their contribution to the national economy, their roles and responsibilities as women their own organization and the driving force and values of their own movement.

WORLD COMPUTER EXCHANGE

WCE is a non-profit organization started on July 1st, 2000 with the mission of alleviating the digital divide through transferring donated internet capable computers from the USA to developing countries and facilitating educational-cultural exchanges between students of donor and recipient countries. WCE brokers donations of working, surplus, internet-accessible computers and monitors from large US companies. It asks their help in packing the computers in shipping containers for ocean shipment along with their maintenance histories and inventories.  WCE works via education departments, NGOs, and universities to distribute computers to participating schools and assist with connectivity and maintenance. WCE has established contact with organizations in 35 countries.

ASHA FOR EDUCATION

ASHA for Education is a non-profit organization started in 1991 at UC-Berkeley. Since then ASHA has grown to over 35 chapters in the USA, Singapore, and India.  ASHA is an action group dedicated to basic education for underprivileged children in India. Run by volunteers, with no overhead costs and a flat structure, clearly identifying, researching, owning, funding, and sustaining projects has formed the core of Asha's activities. ASHA currently supports approximately one hundred projects and raised over $500,000 in the past year. ASHA also acts as a network for various grass-roots workers, volunteers and NGOs, and has focus groups that are working on quality curriculum, hardware, and teacher training materials. August 15th, 2047 has been proposed as a target date for providing universal primary education for every child in India.

COLLABORATION BETWEEN WCE, SEWA AND ASHA

• WCE has signed an agreement with SEWA for it’s first shipment of computers (400 computers and monitors) to India.  Half of these will be used by SEWA and the other half will be employed in government schools.
• SEWA has received assurances from the Gujarat chief minister’s office for clearance for this consignment.

• The computers will be set up at the following locations:

    25 SEWA sites in 9 districts

      8-10 government schools

  SEWA is aiming to achieve the following objectives:

  • Enhance communication between its members and various centers

  v      Create a database of information related to trade, healthcare, etc.

  v      Impart computer education to the younger generation

  v      Make available graphics design capability for women designers

  v      Provide accounting and financial management for microenterprises.

• ASHA has committed to provide six fellows for a year for installation, technical support, and training.   At   present we are seeking support for three ASHA fellows  ($200/month X 12 = $2400/fellow); funds for three fellows have been secured.

• Recruitment of fellows involves finding dedicated, competent, Gujarati-speaking individuals who are in tune with SEWA's goals and philosophy and are willing to spend one year working in rural Gujarat.  Fellows will be required to :
•         Train individuals who can in turn train the general population of SEWA members.
•         Monitor training of members and provide assistance when necessary.
•         Set up a management information system for SEWA.
• Fellows will be recruited with the help of Asha-India and other relevant contacts in India.
• ASHA requires funds for additional accessories essential for use of the computers:
•        40 High Capacity UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) units @ $500 each.
•        400 Gujarati Software packages @ $50 each.
•        50 printers @ $150 each
• Asha envisions that with experience gained from this collaborative undertaking similar initiatives can be developed for other parts of India.

NEEDS: 
Ø Funding for three more Asha fellows ($2400/fellow)
Ø Funding for 50 printers ($150/printer)
Ø Funding for 40 UPS units ($500/unit)
Ø Funding for 400 Gujarati software packages ($50/package)

TOTAL NEED = $54,700

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