You're never too young to set up a charity...
Sonal: It isn't just something celebrities do. We both have jobs, but we also run a charity called Educate The Children (ETC) which focuses on improving education standards in the Masai Mara, Kenya. We send talented teachers from the UK into schools that are understaffed, who take with them knowledge, experience and new teaching techniques.
Sapna: Most people our age are out socialising - we still enjoy networking and going to parties but our lives are much more fulfilling because ETC has taught us to be less materialistic.
It's not what you know, but who...
Sonal: We developed the idea for the charity after I was invited to accompany Richard Branson on a trip to Kenya because I was a frequent flier on Virgin Airways. I was so shocked to see the conditions of the schools that I spoke to him about what we could do to improve the lives of so many innocent children. When I returned to London I told Sapna and we initially started up under Virgin Unite, the charity arm of the Airways company.
Sapna: Having Richard's support has opened up so many doors - we know we're lucky and we are conscious not to waste the opportunity.
Set up costs should be kept to a minimum...
Sapna: We started out charity with just £5k, some of which we raised through a charity bike ride, while the rest came from donations. We made it clear to friends and family to give money to the charity instead of buying us birthday presents.
Sonal: Teachers involed in the project also do their own fundraising, while Virgin gave us free flights to Kenya to start up the initial pilor. We've also negotiated deals with luxury five star hotels to provide low cost accommodation to teachers while they are working with us.
You can't do this alone...
Sapna: Although we're cousins, we've grown much closer over the last couple of years We have different skills - my focus is networking, running awareness events and recruiting trustees, whilse Sonal takes care of practical things like recruiting teachers and applying for visas.
Sonal: We've learned to put our charity first. Like over Christmas one of our teachers arrived in Kenya to find out the accommodation had fallen through, so we put our personal plans on hold to find a speedy solution. We also now have a team and an office so there's a wealth of expertise to draw on.
The hard work outweighs the pride...
Sapna: People were initially sceptical about our charity because of the recession and hearing about some of the corruption that occurs in Kenya, but we didn't let that stop us. We concentrated on making our charity different. We don't hire gap year students to work in schools, instead we send professional teachers on sabbatical.
Sonal: The Masai Mara is really noticing the changes we're making and that's what makes what we do so worthwhile.
This is just the beginning...
Sonal: It took us a year to get the charity off the ground and two years to gain independent charity status. Along the way we've met so many other organisations like UNESCO.
Sapna: We've started visiting UK schools to tell children here what we're doing and that they can get involved with fundraising. It only costs £20 a year to educate a child and we want people to know how simple it is to make such a difference. We are now looking to expand the charity beyond Kenya and, of course, recruit more teachers.
