Sometimes one particular incident sparks off a major change and that seems to be the case with how Maria Seva Sangha was set up. Ms. Ethel Brito was volunteering with a small school in Ashoknagar, and purely out of curiosity she asked a class of 60 students this simple question: "How many of you bring lunch to school?" 24 hands...

...Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. This adage is apt for Maria Seva Sangha. Set up in 1981, this organization was set up by a lady named Ethel Brito, along with a group of public-spirited people. They worked together to obtain registration, tax-exemption, FCRA sanction and the like, to establish the institution's credentials in the eyes of...

Vathsalya Charitable Trust was registered in 1988 but actual work began only in 1989. Mrs. Mary Paul is the current Managing Director and she’s been around since the beginning (although she did take a decade’s sabbatical between 1991 and 2001 to bring up her own two children. The organisation was set up in response to a need that existed...

It was quiet day at Vathsalya Charitable Trust, the day we visited. Their CEO Mary Paul was out at a meeting with Government officials and while we waited for her to return, we spent time with the children at their in-house school. There were just 9-10 kids. That isn’t too many children. But for an organization like Vathsalya, it...

On the day we visited, we met Mr. Madhu who had come in to get his artificial limb repaired. Due to the language barrier, we could not speak to him directly and communicated with the help of Mr. Jayaraman (who is Anga Karunya Kendra's administrator). Originally from Madanapalli, in the heart of rural Karnataka, Madhu is currently pursuing his...

Anga Karunya was set up by a Mr. C S Samuel, who was then Chairman, Brooke Bond India Ltd. Most employees who were around when he set up Anga Karunya Kendra as well as those who joined later but had the opportunity to work with him, have passed away today. He himself passed away in 1999 after a protracted...

It took us close to two hours to drive down to Anga Karunya Kendra. More so because of the peak hour Monday-morning traffic and partially because the organisation’s main center, which is housed on a large plot, is located at Mahadevapura, on the outskirts of Bangalore. This is not the most convenient location for beneficiaries of the organization either....

On the 19th of December 2011, the United Nations declared the 11th of October each year to be International Day of the Girl Child. A day dedicated to recognising girls’ rights and the challenges they face every day around the world. The theme of the 2013 commemoration according to the UN, “Innovating for Girls’ Education”, has been chosen to draw...

On the 14th of December 1990, the United Nations declared the 1st of October each year to be International Day of Older Persons. A day dedicated to those people who are rich in their own history, who can teach us things no one else can, and deserve respect for the contributions they have made to the world we live...

Welcome to the LetzChange Blog! In this first post we would like to take the opportunity to tell you a little bit about LetzChange and what you can expect to find on the LetzChange blog over the coming weeks and months. Put simply, LetzChange is the place to discover and donate to legitimate Indian NGO projects. We are a non profit...