In January 2007 ALMT Founder, Nick Lawson, and Trustee, Jonny Potter, visited the Hebron Children’s home following an appeal for emergency funding placed in a UK newspaper. Andhra Pradesh had been severely affected by the 2005 Tsunami, and as a result, the Children’s Home had been inundated with over 300 children. With mounting debts and financial difficulties, the home was facing closure.

The plight of these children was deeply moving, and it seemed the perfect opportunity for the ALMT to begin its philanthropic work. Originally the ALMT made a verbal commitment for two years, but as other donors began to withdraw it became difficult to stick to this timeframe as the ALMT became financially responsible for the Children’s Home, and by extension, the fate of the children. This led the ALMT to commit far greater resources to the project than was initially intended. In 2011, the ALMT placed two volunteers on-site at the project to work with the Hebron Director to identify ways in which it could operate more sustainably. They discovered that Hebron was eligible for full funding from the local authorities, if it met basic guidelines drafted by Save The Children. The ALMT offered to provide funding to meet all the recommendations, which in turn would lead to a long-term financial sustainability.

Unfortunately, the Hebron Director decided that he did not want the involvement of the local authorities, fearing it would threaten his independence and eventually his role as Director, as the state could place a more qualified candidate in the role. Given the Hebron Director’s refusal to embrace a sustainable solution or even meet some of the basic requirements stipulate in the guidelines, the ALMT decided it should no longer fund the project.

The Hebron project was successful in many ways and provided more than 1000 children with opportunities that they would never have previously received. The ALMT has reason to be extremely proud of this achievement. Once the ALMT realised that the Hebron Director had little interest in meeting accepted standards, despite having the resources to do so, the Trust took the decision to gradually withdraw financial support. Whilst it was unfortunate that the partnership had to be concluded in this way, the decision was taken to encourage the Hebron Director to take a more appropriate course of action to ensure the wellbeing of the children. It has proved an extremely useful learning process in the development of the ALMT and its relationship to projects.