Though there are many posts to back-date from Geraint and myself's March - April 2017 field visit I thought prior to the August field trip you deserved some 'filla'. Since April we've been reviewing and planning several new programs, which are now recently at the last stages. You can find more about them here: Click Me Now Part of the review process involved submitting our first year reports and annual report from the trustees. As a new and small charity with a revenue under £250,00, (shocking I know, we obviously need to work harder!) the reporting format was not hugely onerous, and you can read our final report for 2015 - 2016 here: Click Me After the One Above However.... In our first year of operations we had to purchase many items in the field, this meant keeping receipts, many receipts, many many receipts. In a mix of Nepali, English and 'Nepangrezee' (a mix of both). Aside from the never ending fun you can imagine itemising the above entailed I'd like you to guess which of the following date formats we encountered, let's use today's date... 20.7.17 / 7.20.17 / 20.7 / 7.17 / 7.20 / 20.17 Now repeat with with Numbers in Nepali and Nepangrezee. Have you guessed it yet? That's right....an even mix of every single one. Individuality is one thing, but there's lot to say for standardisation! Thank the stars for the comprehensive diary and meeting records we keep! Definitely a lesson learnt there, and now we'll be using special (free) software for recording field costs and ensuring a single approach / format for receipts. Though I will say this, as the size of budgets and projects increase, (all thanks to our amazing partners and unbelievably generous donors) we'll no longer be operating the way we did in the first year. We'll always be in the field, meeting the people on the ground and keeping a strong link between the trustees and beneficiaries, but now we're able to provide more support to mobilise volunteers, fund training and allow local people and our partners to complete the objectives and goals themselves. And that is exactly how it should be...
- David