Everywhere I go, people are saying the same thing: we can’t find good people to work in our school or clinic or development centre. It’s the same all over the country – at least for the voluntary sector. The corporate world offers such a tempting array of prizes: travel abroad, plush offices, material comfort and salaries which are almost beyond belief.

But nothing comes without a price. A friend’s son just changed jobs. His salary is more than my husband’s and mine combined and he speaks proudly of the many perks of the position – his tickets are booked for him – business class, of course – a car picks him up every morning and he has full use of the company’s spa-like fitness centre. Only trouble is – he’s got no time to use the fitness equipment and not many chances to spend his fat salary.

The corporate world doesn’t pay its servants for nothing. The young man above seldom gets home before nine in the evening and his Business Class travel is a necessity because he needs the time on the flight to catch up on his sleep. Right now, he is single with no children to worry about, but once he has a family, the price he pays will be even higher.

And what’s it all for? His company will sell more computers because of him. Is that a worthy cause? Something to give your life for? Is that what he will tell his grandchildren when he is old? I worked for a company all my life. I left the house at seven in the morning and I came home at nine at night. I made this country great by selling computers, or cars or real estate.

Working in the voluntary sector offers more than just a job. Here at the Foundation, our salaries are pretty ok. You can live a decent life on what we pay. You may not be able to afford a fancy home or two cars and it’s unlikely that your vacations will be spent shopping in Singapore. But you’ll put good food on the table and be able to send your children to the best schools in Dehradun.

But more important, you will be part of something you can feel proud of.

There is no way we can ever compete with the corporate sector for salaries, benefits or lifestyle. So our appeal has to be different altogether. Our rewards are the light in a child’s eyes when he realizes how much his teacher loves him, the glow on a mother’s face when her little girl speaks for the first time, the joy in our own hearts at the end of a long day spent doing work we can be proud of, work we can tell our grandchildren about.