The incredible work of the Lady Willingdon Hospital can only continue with the generous support of our sponsors! This year's Project Prospectus (pdf) explains exactly how to get involved and all the information necessary, however, our sponsors often would like further information. Listed here you can find the answers to these commonly asked questions.
How do you know that my contribution isn't being misused (Transparency)?
The Manali Medical Aid Project from its inception has been organised to leverage as transparent an operation as is possible. Clearly, misuse of funds is a concern for any overseas aid project and our project looks to address the need for transparency in the following ways.
1. Indian law requires that all NGOs with a religious affiliation (which legally characterises the Lady Willingdon Hospital as it is a Christian Mission Hospital) keep a separate financial account for offshore contributions and an itemised audit is required to be sent each Indian financial year to the government.
This gives any sponsor the ability, if required, to request a full description of amounts received and amounts spent. This requirement by Indian law gives us a level of transparency rarely enjoyed in most foreign aid projects. Further to this, one person is responsible for the administration of this account and the account is in no way linked to hospital administration accounts. Consequently, greater control and accountability is achieved owing to a more transparent operation.
2. UQ Medical Students each year attempt to hold some of the projects (e.g. health camps, vaccination campaigns) during their elective. This allows (1) learning and experience for medical students (2) project administration experience for the students and (3) transparency of operation in that students can confirm what has been bought and what has been delivered.
3. The Lady Willingdon Hospital is a Christian Mission Hospital and is over 70 years old. A vast amount of the hospital's infrastructure is donated by international groups and has enjoyed countless fruitful and ongoing international partnerships. Its reputation in appropriately administering funds is demonstrated through decades of project partnerships manifested by the many donated buildings and equipment on-campus at the hospital.
4. The Lady Willingdon Hospital staff, many of whom have trained in Australia, are extremely vigilant and concerned about any possibility of wrongdoing. We have found the staff to be outgoing and extremely cooperative in providing accountability so that our sponsors' fears may be allayed.
5. At the conclusion of each phase of a project, the hospital staff's project liaison will write a report, outlining, for example, how many children were vaccinated, for what, and what supplies were used etc. Reports always include photos and stories so that our sponsors can directly see the impact they're having.
Can my business request specific photo opportunities to be used by our marketing department?
Yes! At the heart of our project is the concept of exchange. We aim to satisfy hospital needs while simultaneously giving back to our sponsors. For our school and community sponsors, we speak at school assemblies, individually to groups (e.g. St Vincent de Paul societies), Rotary meetings etc. For our business partners, we are committed to providing anything that might be required for marketing purposes be it photos, reports or videos. Part of the Manali Project is spreading awareness of developing world health and there is no better way of communicating this need than through businesses getting involved and leading by example.
We are also more than happy to speak at corporate events.
Case Study: In 2007, SDL Tridion, an Amsterdam-based software house expressed interest in communicating their support for the project to their clients as part of a Christmas Card campaign. To accommodate the SDL Tridion marketing department, students organised SDL Tridion-sponsorship money to be used on vaccinating children in a Manali orphanage. Photos were taken and distributed to the marketing department from which SDL Tridion then created a website and released a Christmas Card that was distributed to their clients to a very positive response.
Is it ok if i have no religious affiliation?
Absolutely! The Lady Willingdon Hospital is a Christian Mission Hospital but welcome any sponsors and students regardless of race, creed, beliefs or religion.
Are contributions to the project tax-deductible?
At this point in time, unfortunately contributions are not tax-deductible however we are working to accommodate this possibility in the near future.
