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 Tim Fenton, Zurich's UK Life Tax Director, is currently in Chennai on an India assignment as part of the Zurich Community Trust's India Programme. Tim will be based in Southern India for one month, working with the management team of The Banyan, a non governmental organisation specialising in the care of the destitute mentally ill. Here is Tim's blog from his first week.. |
"Well it’s Friday of week one and I just can’t believe how quickly the week has gone. Some say that life begins where your comfort zone ends, and if that’s true well this week I have certainly been living. India is the sort of place that positively bombards your senses with sights, sounds, tastes and smells (some rather nicer than others if I’m honest).
 It’s also capable of touching your heart – and the work done at The Banyan certainly does that. It’s all too easy, when faced with such intense poverty (albeit in very close location to some serious and ostentatious wealth) to get very emotional and to want to do everything possible to help everyone you see. And that is how The Banyan started back in 1993, as a very human response by two young women to a very immediate and real human need – the sight of a destitute mentally ill woman, alone and vulnerable, on the streets of Chennai.
My first, pre-visit, blog talked about what the Banyan does and there is lots of info on the Charity / India section of UKi so no need to repeat it here. What has impressed me so much about The Banyan is that it has not stood still but matured substantially as a charitable organisation. It has recognised, intellectually, that there will be a never ending flow of people into its hospital and day-care centres and if it stays the same all it will be able to do is play around at the margins - yes that will help a few lives for the better which is great, but it will never staunch the flow unless it gets to the root cause of the issue, which is that there is precious little primary mental health care available in India and that mental illness still carries with it a significant stigma. The Banyan’s mission has evolved over the years into one of achieving real change, through education, advocacy and the development of proven models, to the treatment of mental illness within India.
So why am I here and what am I doing?
 As so often is the case the problems that all organisations face are ones to do managing change. I am working with David Nash, the CEO, to look at ways to ensure he and his management teams are working fully effectively as a team. We are looking at stakeholder management, the difference between leaders and managers, people development, succession planning and many related matters - exactly the same stuff that many people at Zurich will be doing day to day. What is clear is that many of the fundamental problems and challenges organisations face are the same the world over.
This week has all been about fact-finding and orientation. Next week I need to start delivering some outputs. But before then a chance over the weekend to see a few of the Chennai sights (but let’s be honest, it’s a pretty dirty noisy smelly city, I’ve never seen it on one of those “100 places to visit before you die” list). And I have a ticket to the final of the 20/20 Champions League at the Chennai stadium on Sunday night. Anyone for cricket?". Tim.
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