I vividly remember the first time I travelled with a supporter to see a Plan project.

It was in Indonesia. One thing in particular sticks in my mind: a line of colourful drawings that children had attached to trees in their village centre.

As part of Plan’s work, we’d asked local children to sketch the problems they were facing and then their potential solutions. To give one example, their mothers had to work overseas to earn money and couldn’t look after them on a day-to-day basis. The children said that the people who did look after them didn’t love them, and they desperately wanted their mothers to learn new skills so they didn’t have to leave.

Sitting down to discuss the drawings with the children, their parents and the village elders, I felt that this was Plan’s unique approach to development in a nutshell – an approach that places children first and involves the whole community.

The supporter was so impressed she decided to fund a project that would provide loans to women to invest in livestock and equipment, so they could earn a living closer to home and be with their children each day. She knew from being there that she was investing in an initiative that local people wanted, needed and would work hard to sustain.

Read about some more remarkable individuals who have joined communities on their journey from poverty to self-reliance, whether tackling needs like education, water and health, or income-generation.

When you choose to support a community, you become a key member of the project team, and we remain accountable to you as well as to the families there. Please get in touch if you are interested in supporting an overseas project. We have a range of projects in need of your involvement now.

Marie Staunton

Chief Executive
Plan UK