Get Involved

Get Involved (copy how we’ve done it)
How to set up your own Micro NGO (None Governmental Organisation)

Ingredients

• One caring family member here in England
• Small group of interested friends
• One caring family in the developing world
• Access to a computer, printer and Internet connection
• Access to a digital camera
• Means of transport

Its heart
In 2002, Suzanne, of Shillong India had married Roy, a Royton man, and this charity was birthed out of her desire to send financial help back to the poor in her native land. The friends at Bethesda, Suzanne’s new church, who had previously tried and failed to help the poor in India, now had someone they knew and trusted and supported her.

Personnel
At first Mebilda, Suzanne’s mum, did the work on a voluntary basis but
when it necessitated Suzanne’s brother Bobbie taking so much time out
of his work to taxi Mebilda around we decided to employ him. Bobbie
has the same caring heart that Suzanne has and as the Secretary of
Sunbeam Sanstha he now bears the major burden of the work. He has
our trust and he works with great enthusiasm. Being local he pays
local prices for the things that are needed.

Communications
Over the last ten years with the coming of the Internet and Email we now have instant communication across continents. We can discuss any aspect of the work and make instant decisions, this nurtures openness and confidence that allows help to flow very quickly to specific identified needs. Though we are thousands of miles away we feel we are right there at the point of need.

We purchased a computer, printer, and digital camera for the family in Shillong and they engaged a service provider for Internet access and Email facility. They already had a landline phone. The digital camera is used to send photographs of all the people and projects that we get involved with so that it is crystal clear what work is being done and how the money is being spent.

Finance
Suzanne’s family were provided with a float (approximately £300) and asked to help individual needy families with one-off gifts that would be the start of a small business for them to develop an improved income. Goats, chickens, piglets, sheep and small shop produce have been mostly what have been asked for. For each ‘Personal Project’ a photographic record sheet is produced that donors to the charity are given as their receipt. Personal Projects usually cost around £15 (1000 Rupees) and we have found that most people are happy to give against such clear evidence that their money has indeed already gone to the person in need. We are increasingly giving schooling and medical help.

Finding a cost effective way to transfer money to India took a while but we finally found ‘remit2india’ who convey our money at a very low rate and we will soon be able to make 24 hour bank-to-bank transfers.

The only overheads are Bobbie’s wages and vehicle costs plus some small amounts for stationary and other day to day expenses all of which are met by Roy and Suzanne and the trustees of the charity. There is no middleman and all donated money goes to specific met needs with photographic proof. All helpers in Britain do so on a voluntary basis; none receive any payment.

Organisation
The simplicity of this method of working means that the most timid may dare to have a go. For most foreign nationals in Britain it is not too much to think that with the help of just two or three friends they could make such a difference – we have coined the phrase “only a little of what we have here will go a very long way over there.” It takes more courage for the folk over there to begin to make approaches with help for the poor but they reasonably quickly learn and the help begins to flow and lives are changes as the cycle of poverty is interrupted. A great advantage over other means of giving is that it is local people who are spending our money for us and they know the local cost of things. Approximately £15 buys a goat or sends a child to a local school for a year.

Most of the projects are one-offs and this helped us to overcome our fear of getting into something that we could not get out of. Now we have been going for a couple of years and we have seen so many helped we are not so afraid of longer-term commitments. We are now even getting into relationship with village headmen and local government people who we are finding are happy to help us help their people.

At the end of the day each ‘family’ (Micro None Governmental Organization) can take on as much or as little as they are comfortable with. Our ‘family’ in Shillong has now registered itself as a charity under the name of ‘Sunbeam Sanstha’ (Society) and we in Britain have formed ‘Family Aid Direct’. We believe that Governments and large none governmental organizations have a major part to play in the development of a countries main infrastructure requirements. We, for our part, hope to encourage as many as are willing to use our model of sending help to the developing world at the very grass roots level, making an immediate difference

In 2006, Bobbie introduced us to some friends in Orissa, another state in India and we are now helping the poor there too.