Shillingi for Recognition?

"Shillingi'' is the Shilling, the East African measure of currency. In the early 1970s, when most of the Asians were leaving the East African countries of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, 17 Ugandan shillings could be exchanged for £1 Stg.

Asian philanthropy never used to be linked with 'political honours' as the case has been made in the UK during the last few weeks. Instead many of the rich East African Asian families have established their own charitable interests to carry out support programmes for the poor and the sick. In the case of the Madhvanis and the Mehtas, the Ugandan Asian families which build their fortunes by running sugar mills, their philanthropy was visible and well planned. They ran community projects, hospitals and leisure schemes not only for their staff but also for the general public.

I hope to talk to many of the 'new rich' in England. There is one interviewer that the Asians will not be too keen to avoid - me! I am interested in talking to them to bring real human interest stories and their non-businessachievementss to this blog. If I am lucky and they are prepared to trust me, I hope to publish several stories on their philanthropic interests.