| |
Home > News & Events > SASA Spotlight
Student Group Spotlight: South Asian Students Association
By Priyan Chandraratna '08, SASA President 2007-2008
 The South Asian Students Association (SASA) is the largest cultural organization at Brown. SASA embraces and celebrates the diversity of South Asian and South Asian American culture and identity within the contexts of the Third World community, the university campus, and the greater global population. We hope to build a community that is shaped by the varied social, cultural, and political concerns of South Asians on this campus. We encourage everyone, regardless of ethnic background, to take an active role in our events and activities. This year we are taking a real initiative to commemorate the multicultural diversity that is South Asia. For example, we've attempted to increase transparency with the Executive Board, as well as incorporate voices from different parts of South Asia in our Lecture Series. Further, we have also reached out to both the Providence community as well as our extended community in South Asia with community service events.
This year our community service events have ranged from small scales work to large fundraisers. In early October 2007, we traveled to a halfway house called the Advent House in order to help them clean up an empty lot that had previously been filled with garbage. In the process, we improved the aesthetic appeal of the house, as well as saved many books that had been thrown out over time. In addition, we recently held a large fundraiser in conjunction with Shelter Associates, a non-profit committed to building affordable sanitation methods in Pune, India. With help from Badmaash (the South Asian Dance troupe at Brown), as well as from a local Hindi school, we entertained over 250 people from the Rhode Island South Asian community. The event was a great success and we were able to raise over $12,000. The South Asian Student's Association wanted to collaborate with Shelter Associates in organizing this event because we saw this as a way to involve and raise awareness within the Brown community and Rhode Island community on an issue that affects many Third World Countries. The dire sanitation situation in most urban areas across India is a serious problem that negatively impacts individual health, quality of community health, and overall environmental well-being. Currently, many slums in the surrounding towns of Pune have a toilet-to-person ratio of 1:600. Shelter Associates has proposed the construction of toilets as the first step to create greater access and freedom to the poor. We hope not only to raise consciousness, but also to help raise funds for the construction of 200 toilet projects for some of the poorest children and family members in one of the most impoverished slum settlements.
 Our Lecture Series this year also has reflected the growing diversity of our student body as well. We have invited a range of speakers who have given lectures on poverty in South Asia, social work, and how to use efficient communications in order to effect social change.
SASA looks to continue the year with an entertaining cultural show on March 15th featuring acts from groups and students from the Brown community. For more information about upcoming events, please visit our website at www.brownsasa.org. |
|
