India Newsletter, December
Welcome to the third issue of our online Indian Thread! This issue includes an update from the office director, stories from a recent project trip, introductions to our interns, and more...
Time Promotes Positive Change
As we look back through the nearly 25 years of the EMI India Office’s existence, it is informative to see how the way we work has changed to fit the times and the needs of the ministries we support. In light of this, it is not surprising to see that increased scrutiny of NGOs and religious organizations, intensified pressure to fight systematic corruption, and tightening of permitting and regulatory requirements has helped change the way we carry out our work at EMI India for the better.
It has become increasingly important to liaison with local design professionals and permitting agents. The ministries we support must be able to navigate through the bureaucracy and red tape from the early stages of a project so that their vision can be finally realized in the end. We have been prompted to educate ourselves and actively increase our professional network to assist ministries in this way.
A recent project helps illustrate this new trend. Our team went to a leased site to meet this ministry and gather information. In the process, our team met with a local architect who was familiar with the permitting requirements in that area. It became quickly apparent that it was not possible to build the ministry centre envisioned on the leased site (several reasons came to light actually). Fortunately, this was very early in the process for this project and this early knowledge resulted in effectively saving a lot of money, time, and eliminating an unhealthy dependence on unethical approvals which would have been ammunition for bribery and corruption in the future.
Ultimately, we aim to remember that good laws (codes, byelaws, etc.) and good practices are both important and to strive to comply with and promote both. In this way, we have continued to evaluate and change both our methods and the services we provide to ministries so that they may, in turn, focus on carrying out the meaningful work that God has called them to; caring for the needy, the poor, and reaching out to a broken world. Thank you for supporting us, while we support the restoration of the world around us through design.
Thank you,
Director, EMI India
