Excerpts of the Interview of Chintha Munasinghe conducted by Social Services Officers (SSOs) of Ampara District, Sri Lanka at the Social Mobilization Training Session:

Q: After being in the NGO sector more than 20 years what made you to start a private company?
A: This idea was not new; it came to my mind at the time I was performing as a free-lance consultant. It was June 2000, having identified a range of consulting opportunities in the development and private sector, my husband and I had this dream of starting our own firm that could lead to transfer our talents and knowledge to our next generation, building a culture of self-monitoring and commitment. But, we couldn't make our dream come true as we planned. In August 2001, I was asked to establish BasicNeeds Sri Lanka by Mr. Chris Underhill, the Founder of BasicNeeds UK Trust. This was the time when our country was in the bad books of records, high suicide rate, alcoholism, psychological trauma and mental ill health status when compared with the global status. Now that I have left BasicNeeds Sri Lanka, we thought of bringing our idea into action. We are not alone, there are three young experts joined hands with us. We are interested in developing cordial partnerships with donor community and facilitating agencies towards building a social entrepreneurial culture.

Q: Can anybody join your team?
A: Yes, provided that, they are….

• in line with our practices and values respecting the country's long standing social and cultural norms: mutual respect, commitment and team spirit are some of the disciplines we practice
  
• keeping records and analyzing their expenditure, based on which they develop their life plan;
  
• able to assess their capability/ capacity to design their career development plan
  
• ready to contribute their maximum capacity to agreed projects as they committed to the laymen'sden team and clients
  
• mobilizers of resources who have the commitment to transfer their skill, knowledge and good practices to other members of the society.
  

Q: Do you think the five years of your stay at BasicNeeds held you back?
A: Economically? YES. But, if I look back as a social entrepreneur I may say: NO! As a Sri Lankan I am proud about myself as the first Country Programme Manager of BasicNeeds Sri Lanka [2001-2006], who pioneered in converting problems into an action-oriented intervention; disadvantages into advantages, ensuring that maximum benefit reaching those who were in need. With a highly committed team inside and outside BasicNeeds I was able to mobilize resources at all levels, while complementing programmes of other stakeholders. I am also proud to be the first professional to reveal personal experiences as someone experienced Depression, which led many other stabilized persons to develop as advocates who stand for their rights, and educate others. Therefore, I have no disappointment in the delay of five years, to make our dream of "converting laypersons into professionals" come true.