ASA General Body Meeting July 2, 2006 Marriott, San Mateo, California
by Sanjib Bhuyan, Outgoing ASA President 2004-06
Good morning! Welcome to the 2006 Assam Day and the ASA General Body meeting at the Marriott, San Mateo, CA. On behalf of ASA, I thank the organizers of this Assamese Gettogether 2006 and for inviting us and providing us with a podium for Assam Day 2006. The beautiful City of San Francisco is not far away and I’m assuming that you all are enjoying the City by the Bay as well as the AGT 2006 events. From the experience of Assam 2005 last year, I personally know how extremely difficult it is to organize a gettogether such as this one – it really increases the level of stress in your life! So, please give a big round of applause for the organizers of the AGT 2006! Thank you! It seems like such a long time ago back in July 2004 when I accepted the position of ASA President. Little did I know about the intricacies of politics and personalities of Assamese people and organizations in North America! The bottom line – there is a great divide and it is quite difficult and complicated to mend it! But we as members of the Assamese Diaspora must try to build a better community by slowly breaking down the divide so that we as an Assamese community can do better at catering to the needs of the people in Assam (or Asom). Although my attempts at breaking down this divide during the last two years were largely unsuccessful, I am hopeful and optimistic about the future.
Moving on – this is a time to enjoy the events of the 2006 get-together, enjoy the company of our friends and relatives, and a time renew and look forward! With that in mind, I’ll focus on the positives and request that you do the same. Thank you!
Accomplishments The principal mission of ASA is to help the people of Assam as well as bring together the disparate Assamese families and communities around North America. Given we are a small organization compared to some other Indian organizations, such as the Bengalis’, or Gujratis’, or Tamils’, our work may not be eye catching but as you will see from my report, what we do makes a difference in more many ways. So, please reaffirm your commitment to the organization and vow to participate in helping those who are in need.
I thank all of you who participated in various organizational activities, including projects, during the last two years. Without you our efforts to accomplish our mission would go nowhere – thank you! Here are some selected accomplishments during the last two years:
Incorporation – Assam Society of America was finally incorporated as a non-profit organization in the State of New Jersey in December 2004. This recognizes ASA, Inc. as a charitable organization with tax-exempt status in New Jersey (not Federal tax exempt) and allows it to raise money through various legal means for charitable causes here or in Assam.
ASA Foundation – After many years of deliberation, finally a decision was made to form the ASA Foundation (hereafter “Foundation”) under the leadership of Nomal Dutta, Mukul Chowdhary, and Jukti Kalita in October 2004. The Foundation is an independent sister concern of ASA and is a Federal tax exempt (or 503 (c)) organization. The Foundation is in the process of receiving Federal tax exempt status (from the IRS) very soon. We thank the Foundation leadership for their commitment of time, hard work, and valuable resources invested in the Foundation. And my sincere hope is that the Foundation will attract those who are and have been dormant in their philanthropy activities – just like Warren Buffet!
Communication and Public Relations – For the first time in many years, we have held regular quarterly meetings where members from around the country participated either in person or by teleconference calls.1 To establish transparency, the ASA accounts balance sheet was made available to all members in these meetings, and edited versions were published in the ASA newsletter. There was some valid resistance but most felt that openness is better for the organization (plus ASA, Inc. is required by New Jersey law to open its accounts if asked).
Thanks to the efforts of Jugal Kalita and his editorial board, we have been able to publish a newsletter every month. This newsletter was mailed to ALL residents of U.S.A. and Canada in the last quarter of 2004 and the first quarter of 2005 (we ran out sponsorship for mailing). However, this newsletter (now called Posoowa) is available on the web (www.assamsociety.org and www.assam.org). Jugal has been trying to be inclusive and appeal to a broader audience with the newsletter. The outgoing Executive Committee in general and I in particular fully support him and his efforts, which I hope continues. We need inclusiveness if we want our actions to speak for us and attract supporters.
After a gap of one year, we have again published the Worldwide Directory of Assamese People (copies are available for free to those who are attending this get-together; please contact Kedar Bhuyan for your copy). If you need any additional copies, please let me know.
Inventory – When I became the President, it was apparent that ASA owned various items, such as chairs, tables, a sound system, etc., but no one seemed to know or was able to locate where these items were! Utpal Brahma, our VP, was given the task of locating the ASA properties and he was able to locate most, if not all. Because ASA does not have its own office or storage space, the current users were requested to stay in charge of storage and maintenance of these properties.
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1 Unfortunately, we did not have any telecommunication equipment for facilitating high quality conference calls, so we had to rely on alternative means, such as 3-way home phone and cell phone. If the demand for teleconferencing is high, we should consider purchasing the necessary equipment and services in future.
Flood relief of 2004 – We all know about the devastating flood of 2004 in Assam. With an aim to help out those at the bottom of the economic ladder who were displaced by the flood, we joined hands with AANA and AFNA in July 2004 to organize a cultural show in Franklin Park, New Jersey. Money raised (about $1,200 or Rs. 50,000 after expenses) was initially given to the Pragjyotisha Krishi Shilpa Samabay Samiti Ltd. (henceforth “cooperative”), of Puthimari (Kamrup) for a fisheries project via Amiya Sharma (of NEDFi) and the Eastern Himalayan Society, an NGO. The fisheries project was halted due to finding of an endangered species. Money spent on digging the lakes/ponds was considered sunk cost and not expected to be recovered. The members of the cooperative used some of the remaining money to attract government grants and low interest loans to start a nursery (flower) project. The cooperative returned half of the original amount loaned or an amount of Rs. 25,000 to Amiya Sharma/Eastern Himalayan Society. That amount was used to fund few boatmen (bhut bhuti wala) in North Guwahati to motorize their boats. This is a continuing project and we hope to receive updates from Amiya Sharma again.
Project Hope – If your heart is in helping the children of Assam who are disabled (blind, deaf, or mute), this is your project and you can help! Led by Malabika Brahma, this project has so far helped the Government B.D.S. Deaf & Dumb School, Kahilipara, Guwahati. Malabika raised about $1,000 which was sent to Padmini Sangha, a local women’s organization. Padmini Sangha used this money to set up an in-line water filter system, furnish dining tables, and buy much needed kitchen utensils, such as “gamla.” As I mentioned, this is an on-going project and I’ll explain below how you can contribute to make a difference in the lives of the needy children in Assam.
Looking Forward Friends, we have much to do and in my opinion we’ve not made much of an impact yet. So here is a selected list of causes that need your immediate attention. I urge you to open your check book today and donate an amount matching your desire to help! We don’t accept credit cards but would gladly take cash!
Project Hope – Project Hope is a continuing project and welfare improving tasks are taken up by ASA and its partners in Assam in increments (mainly due to lack of funds). Phase II of this project is to focus again on the Government B.D.S. Deaf & Dumb School, Kahilipara, Guwahati (local contact: Padmini Sangha) and to provide the children of that school with a hearing aid system with sixteen users for classroom use as well as appropriate audio-visual learning materials. Phase III will focus on the needs of the two oldest blind schools in Assam, the Nagaon/Barhampur Blind School (local contact: TBD) and the Jorhat Blind School (local contact: TBD).
Kuruwabahi Satra – According to history, this is one of the oldest Satras of Assam. Although this and other Satras have received grants from Assam Government during the last couple of years, such money is surprisingly not earmarked by the government for conservation and restoration of manuscripts written in “sachi pat.” One of the reasons is that such a task is supposed to be taken up by the Archeological Society of Assam (and India) which apparently does not get adequate funding to cover numerous archeological projects. So, the Kuruwabahi Satra would like to build a library with a modern restoration facility for these invaluable ancient manuscripts. ASA was contacted twice in this regard – once when Mantu Baishya was its President and again in February this year, and so far we have not been able to do much (except for personal donations from Jugal Kalita and Sanjib Bhuyan). The local contact person for the Satra is Mr. Prabhat Sharma.
Assam Academic Centre – This Centre was established in 1985 at Jorhat and its mission is to provide an environment where Assamese people in general and students in particular can create, preserve, and transmit knowledge and values that help both present and future generations. Members include scientists, teachers, engineers, and businessmen from the Jorhat area. The Centre has recently acquired some land from the Assam Government for a permanent building near the Jorhat Main Post Office. The Center is looking for monetary contributions to complete the building and to implement projects as well as contributions from the Assamese Diaspora’s in terms of ideas and suggestions (local contact: Biman Sarma and Nurul Amin).
Adopt A Child Project – this project has been in the books for a while. I’m very happy to inform you all that it will soon be revived with much vigor the leadership of Geeta Chowdhary of New Jersey. Thank you Geeta baideu!
Young Entrepreneur Encouragement – This idea was initially forwarded by Utpal Brahma in the February 2006 ASA quarterly meeting. Although no further discussion has taken place since then, I think it is an excellent idea for a project. Here’s the basic idea of this project – to encourage entrepreneurship among the young and talented in Assam, a contest will be held in Assam about six months prior to the July 4th Assam Day celebration. This contest will seek proposals for new and innovative business ideas suitable to Assam from budding entrepreneurs. Announcements of the contest with adequate lead time will be made in major newspapers across Assam and via Web/email. A panel of judges consisting of experts from both Assam and North America will evaluate the proposals and select the best three. Three finalists will be interviewed by the panel of judges in Assam and this panel will determine the winner based on the oral presentation and interview. The winner will be awarded an amount of money (to be determined) which s/he can use as seed money to attract financing from commercial, venture, or other sources in Assam/ India as well as in North America. Although it is a long shot, if and when ASA is financially capable, this winner may be brought to the July 4th Assam Day celebration.
Challenges So far I have outlined what we have done during the last two years and what needs to be done in the near future. Now I would draw your attention to some present and future challenges for which a strong commitment from our members and well-wishers will be especially important.
Strengthening Membership – As the outgoing President, I’m very proud to say that despite many constraints we were able to accomplish several goals during last two years. Unfortunately, still only a handful of families and individuals are actively involved in our activities. The same is also true of other organizations like ASA. Nonetheless, in order to accomplish our missions and goals mentioned earlier, we need more people who are dedicated and committed to our causes and are willing and able to participate. In this regard, I call on all of you and your friends and relatives to become ASA members and to actively participate in projects (membership is not required) and other activities. I also urge (and propose) that the new Executive Board conduct a survey of all Assamese in North America to examine the root causes leading to low membership and dearth of volunteerism. We need to have an open discussion on the subject.
Increasing Volunteerism – This is a continuing problem because by definition there is no payoff, other than self-satisfaction, for “volunteerism!” As you know, the activities of our organization are numerous and diverse. It is no wonder that we need able and willing volunteers all the time – we need your talent, your contributions, and above all your presence in the organization to make our goals come true. This is a growing problem for all organizations, particularly when the young and the new arrivals seek to deliberately isolate themselves away from their flock!
Raising Involvement of Women – I was very surprised to find that while they may not mind playing a role in the background, our women are generally not willing to take up any of the leadership positions in the organization! Now I’m very glad to see that Kabita (Sharma) is breaking this barrier. By increasing the involvement of the women, we will be able to increase the participation of the rest of their families and perhaps their friends as well. I request that Kabita takes on an active role on this issue.
Organizational Transparency – There will be doubters, but to become a truly non-profit and people-oriented organization, we need to be transparent in what we do and how we do it. In addition, inviting constructive criticism should be welcome because it will help the organization grow with time. As I mentioned earlier, regular meetings and the Posoowa are two of the excellent ways to stay transparent.
Project Coordination – The cost of doing projects that benefit people in Assam is high, and I’m not even including the tremendous amount of time and effort spent by those of us who get involved in raising money and coordinating the projects afterwards. In addition, the cost of the projects themselves are rising. To reduce the cost of project implementation, one option is to coordinate and share project work and costs with those Indian organizations, including other Assamese organizations, which share similar missions and goals with us. Such coordination would benefit our organization as cost of project development and implementation will be shared and the work load of our volunteers would be reduced.
Concluding Remarks
It was a memorable experience the last two years to serve as the President of ASA. I hope that in some small way I have been able to make a positive difference in how ASA works and thinks. In my view, ASA and its sister concern ASA Foundation must continue to serve as leaders in tackling the needs of the small or neglected sections of Assam, and continue their efforts to bring harmony among the Assamese Diaspora in North America.
I would like to thank my fellow Executive Board members for their unflagging support. My special thanks to those few who have provided the much needed aid and comfort every step of the way: Probal Tahbildar, Utpal Brahma, Prakash Deka, Ganesh Bora, Jugal Kalita, Jukti Kalita, Jayanta Thakuria, Nilakshi Thakuria, Kedar Bhuyan, Mukul Chowdhary, and Sunil Nath. Last but not the least, thanks to my wife Sue without whose support I could not have completed my duties as the ASA President.
At this time it is a great pleasure to turn the gavel over to your next Executive Board led by Dhurba Das (President), Kabita Sharma (VP), and Mukul Chowdary (CFO). Our membership could not have selected a more able group of people to lead the ASA. Congratulations to all!
Thank you!
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Assam Society of America is a NJ registered Non-profit organization, and all its office bearers are unpaid volunteers. Membership dues are on a calendar year basis and rates are as follows: Life member: $500.00; Family: $40.00; Single: $20; Student: $5.00. Please add any donation you want to make to the above amount. Please make sure that the following contact information is included in your mail along with your membership dues: Your name, your spouse’s name, children’s name (if any), full mailing address, telephone number, email address, and occupation (optional). Membership dues are payable to “Assam Society of America, Inc.” and should be mailed to Assam Society of America, P.O. Box 254, Mays Landing, NJ 08330.
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