U.S. fundraiser to aid NGO for New Delhi slums

Thursday, 12 September 2002, 19:30 IST
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WASHINGTON: Thanks to an Indian NGO, a U.S. Congressman's wife organized a fundraiser here to help New Delhi's millions of slum dwellers. House Minority leader Richard Gephardt's wife Jane was so impressed by the work that NGO Asha and its director Kiran Martin are doing in the slums of New Delhi that she decided to collect money in the U.S. for the group's activities. Around $55,000 was raised at the fundraiser. Jane presented a cheque to Martin at the end of the event. Among those present were Ambassador Lalit Mansingh's wife Indira Mansingh, former Congressman Stephen Solarz and some prominent members of the Indian American community. Several of them, including restaurateur Sant Chatwal, doctor Bhupi Patel and others, came from New York to be present for the fundraiser. Gephardt said that when he and his wife saw "(paediatrician) Martin's project in India and what she had done, it was very exciting to us because it is a model not only for India but for the entire world and the U.S." Asha, Gephardt said, is dedicated to eradicating slums in New Delhi and hopefully throughout India. He complimented Martin for her dedication and commitment to removing poverty by working closely in the slums of the city. "This problem of poverty has to be solved. It is the strongest challenge along with AIDS. Martin has pulled thousands of people out of poverty. This is exciting and we will urge the U.S. government to offer help in the project." "One of the greatest worries about the world is how we can help people all over the world develop and get better conditions," the Congressman said. At the outset, he asked the audience to applaud Sant Chatwal, who offered to host the fundraiser at his restaurant, Bombay Palace, in Washington D.C. Gephardt recalled his trip to India two years ago during which he and other lawmakers saw for the first time the work of Martin in the slums of New Delhi. They were particularly impressed by Asha's efforts to aid women and children. Later, Martin made a very emotional and articulate presentation of her work. She took the guests for a walk down memory lane from the time she started Asha. The slides Martin presented told of how the slum dwellers, with coaxing from Asha, were able to transform slums into decent living quarters. The transformation was made possible by empowering the women and floating mahila mandals, or women's boards, Martin said. They now have become quite well organized and are able to obtain clean drinking water and sanitation services. Besides becoming health conscious, some slum dwellers have learned to bring social justice by bravely facing the slum mafia and slumlords, she said.
Source: IANS
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