The Aasha Foundation works with small orphanages and shelters for girls in Southeast Asia. By working with organizations with small footprints, we are able to establish close relationships with both the children and their caretakers and better understand their unique needs. The Sharanam Centre for Girls is small, loving, permanent residence for girls that opened its doors to children in need in 2000. Sharanam is located in Mumbai’s Dharavi slum, recognized as the largest slum in Southeast Asia with a population of over 1 million living in less than 1.5 square miles. The thirty girls who reside at Sharanam come from a variety of circumstances: some are orphans who lost their parents to disease or who were abandoned in the streets, some are the daughters of sex-workers, and some are the daughters of extremely impoverished homeless or disabled parents. Sharanam is run by a young couple who live with and raise the girls along with their own young children. The Sharanam girls, who they raise in a manner similar to as if they were their own daughters, are currently in the 2nd to 12th grades. Aasha Foundation founders Jenn Ryan and Karen Doff’s relationship with Sharanam began in February 2002. The Aasha Foundation is currently working to establish relationships with organizations in Chennai, India and Manila, Philippines.