Our Partners
We are successful because we use local and experienced partners on the ground in India
Salt of the Earth (SOTE) would not be the charity that it is today without the dedication, knowledge and commitment of our partners in South India. All of our work relies on their staff setting up projects and motivating the local people. We raise the money, and our partners WWI, CRUSADE and CARE Foundation implement the projects on the ground. They are well-established and very well-respected in the areas they work in. Due to their stature, they are able to collaborate with local Panchayat’s (councils) to maximise the resources available to the local communities.
As a charity based in England, we need the support of foundations that operate directly in Tamil Nadu. Our small team fund their own visits to our partner projects each year and meet with our Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to see our incentives first-hand. We keep in regular contact with each partner and trust their judgement on the pressing needs of each village complicity. Many of the staff that work for the organisations, were born in local villages and have a unique insight into the life of the rural poor.
We receive regular reports and budgets, and work as a collaborative to work out ways to implement sustainable development strategies. Together, we help to change lives. Our partners are kind, generous, committed and above all, passionate about supporting those living in rural poverty. We could not do our work without them.
CRUSADE (Centre for Rural Systems and Development)
CRUSADE staff outside their development centre
About CRUSADE:
Established in 1991, CRUSADE are a registered voluntary organisation that run poverty reduction and social advancement programmes in Tamil Nadu. They began their work in Minjur, Tamil Nadu, by organising rural communities into Self Help Groups (SHGs). When a substantial amount was saved by the group, loans were then lent out to the group members.
After stabilising the SHGs, CRUSADE switched its focus to meeting the needs of marginalised communities. They developed links with the Tamil Nadu Government and also with local banks. They started to work on improving literacy rates and created economic independence by providing skills training and financial assistance. They now work in 130 villages, supporting around 200,000 people.
Collaboration with SOTE:
Health Programmes: CRUSADE have seen over 350,000 patients over the past 3 years. We work with CRUSADE to run mobile health camps, health awareness training days, adolescent girls anaemia programmes, first-aid training, cancer screening camps, the growing of homeopathic remedies and eye surgery camps.
Women’s Empowerment: CRUSADE work closely with hundreds of WSHGs. They have also trained and employ local women to oversee the running of groups. These impressive women support with book-keeping and act as a catalyst for change in the villages.
Kitchen Gardens: The team have many years experience in motivating and maintaining kitchen gardens. CRUSADE inspire members of WSHGs to sign up to a training scheme, which teaches them how to cultivate organic vegetables outside their homes, and generate income.
Village Sponsorship: Through our village sponsorship scheme, CRUSADE have helped to build and improve water facilities, build toilets, renovate homes, provide training, screen people for cancer, and even build roads.
Plant Trees: CRUSADE have planted thousands of trees in the areas they work in. They inform us of the need, and we fund the necessary materials and training. The organisation also runs it’s own sapling growing facility on a compound they own. Vegetables and trees are grown from the facility, and sold at a marginal cost to outside sources. This small fee pays the wages of the local people working at the centre, and enables the team to sustainably grow and supply the necessary plants to the population.
Connection with government and banks: As a well established organisation, CRUSADE are able to communicate with local governments. This connection, combined with our funds, and their local knowledge, helps continue to maximise support for the rural poor.
CRUSADE CEO Jothi, with tailoring training paticipants
Dr Hari Priya, supporting women at a mobile womens wellness camp
Dr. Vasnath handing medicine to disabled woman
WWI (Women’s Welfare Institute)
MASARD staff standing outside our rural development centre in Kamandoddi
About WWI:
Established in 1983, WWI is managed by social workers and development workers in Bangalore. The NGO oversees 12 villages Near Bangalore with SOTE. WWI has trained women from each village, who are euipped with first-aid kits and implement and organise SOTE incentives in their villages.
Collaboration with SOTE:
Child Sponsorship: WWI help to identify children in their communities that need extra support, and work with the sponsored children’s families to motivate them to keep their children in education. The WWI team take children on trips, help them with schooling, and ensure that them and their families are benefitting from the scheme as much as possible.
Health Programmes: Our Mobile clinic program enables WWI to take medical intervention directly to the hard to reach villages they work in. WWI’s team of village workers and Doctor work together to organise camps, distribute medicines, refer people for hospital treatments, and provide hygiene training days to families.
WWI also run a porridge programme helping malnourished children in the villages they oversee.
Environmental Programmes: In 2019 alone, WWI planted 10,000 trees in the schools, villages and on highway roads through our tree planting scheme. They have trained hundreds of families about the impact of climate change on the area, and have distributed saplings to families after training them about how to care for them. WWI have also set up kitchen gardens, and have plans to extend this pilot project to even more families over the next year.
Water: WWI are aware of the water needs of the area they work in. Through their insight, we have funded various water installations, including a Reverse Osmosis plant in 2020.
Empowering Women: WWI work with multiple Women’s Self Help Groups (WSHGs) to help them apply for loans, start up businesses, and unite in a sense of community. WWI run training programmes to help young women and families set up small businesses.
Village Sponsorship: We also run our village sponsorship scheme through WWI, to enable them to extend support to villages who need it the most.
WWI Doctor and Animator at a mobile clinic
WWI animators with porridge for malnourished children in their villages
WWI Staff Nandhini adminsitering vitmain A tablet to child
CARE FOUNDATION
CARE staff with Billie, Janet, and Murray in 2023.
About CARE:
The CARE Foundation started their work in 2012 in Chengalpattu in Tamil Nadu. They work with the Londor community - a begging community originating from Andhra Pradesh. Many people in this community suffer from violence, child marriage, and alcohol abuse issues. The people that CARE work with are extremely vulnerable, and live in some of India’s poorest villages.
Collaboration with SOTE:
Child Sponsorship: Working together to run a holistic child sponsorship scheme, Salt of the Earth and the CARE Foundation, enable children in the community to go to school. Our scheme supplies the children with uniform, equipment, extra-tuition classes and helps fund community based projects. CARE ensure that our sponsored children are equipped to look after themselves and attend school. Their staff teach the children how to keep clean and healthy, and encourage them to get the best out of their education.
Livelihoods: The CARE team are working to improve the lives of this community by implementing forms of daily income. Daily income encourages self-belief, self-sufficiency, and helps people break away from begging. CARE run a goat rearing scheme, train local women to make wire bags, and help teenagers from the local community attend university. CARE invests in the local people. Many members of the CARE team were born locally, and have been put through university with the help of Peter.
Training programmes: CARE motivate the Londor community to work towards a life away from begging. CARE use local people’s skillsets to create training programmes. The training is given with the intent of creating a self-sufficient business for the workers. Woman from the community have been trained how to weave recycled plastic bags and sell them at local festivals and events.
CARE Project Manager and teacher, teaching English to sponsored children at extra-curricular class.
Rural women making wire bags
PLANT TREES
sponsor a village