ElectricAid loves your money! Members’ subscriptions are the bedrock and foundation of all we do. In one way or another, members contributed €0.7 million out of our total revenue of €1.2 million in 2017. We are eternally grateful, and we never take your generosity for granted.
However, money is not everything; many of our members and friends are actively involved in other ways. Some are directly “hands-on” involved with our implementing charities, and have brought them to the ElectricAid table. Just in the last few years, Andrea Byrne of Group Insurance, Gill Bradley of Trading, David Keegan & Mark Rohan of ESB Networks, Kevin St. John (ex-BSC), Niamh Delaney of EirGrid, and Peter Kelly (ex-Telecoms) have been on-site implementing projects funded by ElectricAid. A previous post featured the work of John Mitchell, late of ESBOA. These projects spanned from Lesotho to Peru, Greece to Belarus, Nepal to Zambia …
Apart from putting “boots on the ground”, many other members have brought projects to us – our door is always open for member references and recommendations. ESBI staff in Dar-es-Salaam brought KCC and RC Africa to our door; Paul Stapleton introduced Nagarhope in Nepal. Michael Clair introduced his aunt, a Franciscan Sister in Ethiopia. Déaglán ó Dónaill brought both UCDVO and Saude Crianca in Brazil to the table. Our long-term relationship with Partners in Health was initiated by Dave Ivers, then of ITS. Kevin Young introduced us to the development work of Team Hope. Ratna Nelapati of ITS visited, assessed, and recommended Prajwala in India. Margaret Hayden of EirGrid introduced the Daughters of Charity in Ethiopia, while the original contact with the Umbrella Foundation (see a previous post) was through Eugene Dalton, ex Group HR. In Ireland, the introductions include Ballyheigue Social Econony (Dave Dowling, ex-BSC), Remember Us (Miriam Brown, ex-Turlough Hill), Brú Columbanus (Enda McDonagh, Moneypoint), and Cork Autism Action (Dave Carey, Wilton). Again, this is just a small sample. We actively encourage anyone in the ElectricAid community to make these introductions, to furnish these references. They bring an additional degree of reassurance to our evaluation process, and make our work more real for all concerned.
Another really productive and engaging way of getting involved is through site visits. Members travelling in the Developing World (and there are more than a few!) have a standing invitation to do site visits on our behalf. Des Doherty, a longstanding ElectricAid stalwart, is currently in Kenya and will complete two site visits, to add to the many he has done for us in Tanzania. Aidan Byrne, ex-Electric Ireland, PJ McGarrigle (ex-Networks Sligo), and Cera Slevin (GWM) have done fantastic work in this regard in Uganda. Other site visitors you may know include Anthony Le Courriard (Nepal, Peru) , Fiona Fitzgerald (Mongolia!), Seana McGowan, (Ecuador), Linda Burke (Bolivia), Denise Enright (Vietnam & Cambodia), Stella O’Reilly (Zambia) and John Kelly (Argentina). The invitation stands to you all.
So it’s not just your money we crave – anyone in the ElectricAid community can get involved with projects, with recommendations, references, and site visits. If you feel you can help – do contact us, our door is always open!
Pictures: (Top) Stella O’Reilly in Zambia, Des Doherty in Zanzibar. (Middle): PJ McGarrigle at school in Uganda, Kevin St. John in Peru, Anthony Le Courriard, in Nepal (Bottom); Denise Enright in Cambodia, Cera Slevin in Uganda, and Des Doherty in Tanzania.
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