We had our first meeting with the Minister of Social Integration and Economic Empowerment, Suren Dayal on the 12th of January whereby we spoke to him about ELI Africa, the ELI Corps Program, the ELI Fellows Program and future projects. The Minister was really enthused about our organization and he proposed to set up a panel to discuss how we can work together to make a difference. The meeting was scheduled for the 26th of January and the panel consisted of the Permanent Secretary, Mr B. Boyramboly, the Principal Assistant Secretary and the Senior CSR Officer, Mr Sanjiv Gopall.
We presented information about our organization and our projects to the panel. We explained that our ELI Corps Program is based on Dr Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences theory and gave examples of the different classes that our volunteers, the ELI Corps Members, run at our Education Centre. Mr B. Boyramboly was very receptive and he was delighted that our projects were results of well-researched work. He gladly shared his insights with us and we discussed at length the importance of a holistic education in the eradication of poverty. We also submitted to the panel a portfolio for the CSR Accreditation of ELI Africa following our application back in October 2011.
Yesterday, we received the great news that ELI Africa has been accredited by the NEF CSR Committee! Not ones to rest on our laurels, we have already started to work on our future projects. The future seems bright. The smiles of our ELI Africa family will make it brighter!