Simon’s Experience in Tamil Nadu
Arriving in Chennai in early January we hit the ground running and begun a hectic two weeks visiting SOTE's three new partner NGOs and their many and diverse projects. While each of our new partners has their own unique approach they all share a common vision of working to help better the lives of those that have so little.
I can truly say that in my many years of working with NGO's around the globe I have rarely seen such well run organisations lead by teams of such dedication, passion and selflessness. What was particularly important was that our new partners are clearly committed to ensuring sound governance in terms of accountability and proper monitoring and evaluation of their work. They also all share a common vision to ensure, where possible, the sustainability and self sufficiency of their projects. A key part of this is often to help members of rural and isolated communities obtain the appropriate paperwork so they can access the support offered by Government schemes be this education, grants or pensions.
Many of our partner projects focus on children and it was heartwarming to see the positive results of child sponsorship that are enabling children from desperately poor families not only get to school but also provide the support to enable them to make the very best of their education. Hopefully through proper education the cycle of desperate poverty and deprivation can finally be broken and a new generation has a real chance of fulling their true potential. I look forward to our next visit to see how the projects progress.