Our Diary
June 25 - Learning about NGOs as we go...
Today, Team India woke up bright and early to meet with John Peter Prithiviraj, Project Support Officer at Project Concern International’s (PCI) regional office in Salem. Through this meeting, we were able to discuss the approaches PCI takes towards helping people infected by HIV in rural areas, as well as the logistics of their organization. This proved useful, especially with our long-term goal in the back of our minds -- building a health care centre in a low-income country. We then headed off to Community Services Trust, an NGO involved in community development and empowering the poor. Mr. G. George, Founder and Director of the organization told us of the hardships of starting an NGO in India in the early 90s and detailed us on his micro-financing projects used to help those in rural areas. Our Team then carried out workshops with over 70 youth from several rural villages up to two hours away from the city center. Although the youth knew very little English, they were an exceptionally energetic bunch that was eager to learn more about the HIV/AIDS epidemic. We felt exhausted by the end of the day, but the impact we feel we’ve had with each group of youth we visit keeps us going strong!
