Where to begin? A week of learning, listening and meeting new people. I've been shown exceptional hospitality by everyone, and I've got two new offices to work in courtesy of Arun & Rewati and two offers of a place to stay (which given Thamel hotel 'wifi' I may well take up soon). All the information and opportunities stream in at such a fast pace. I'm usually the one to start running away with ideas but here I have to rein myself in to remember what's possible. One of the key things is not to get people's hopes up too soon. Our partners are one thing, they understand the situation but it can be very harmful to relationships within the communities we want to work in. To know when to run and when to walk, to move forward fast enough to create real progress and yet move slow enough to ensure consistency and quality diligently.
Either one overdone can ruin your reputation, neither one done enough can destroy everything you've worked for. As you scale up as one organisation, the stakes get bigger, the task gets harder. That's why I personally believe there is much promise in networks of small NGOs operating as a mutually reinforcing web across target sectors and geographic regions. What's the difference between that and a large INGO? You'll have to wait and see, the proof - as they say - is in the pudding...