From Data Gathering to Capacity Building to Awareness Projects.....

My first month recommendations for the strategic directions of the deinstitutionalisation project was around the data gathering system...One barrier to this process is that for this to be global best practice then it will need to be stored in English....

Which brings me to the capacity building for three new case workers and the existing staff who will be gathering and storing this vital information. I have put together a suit of key global best practice documents for an employee induction package (which I will also adapt later for a volunteer and intern induction package.) The pack includes HFHK key documents including their 2009 annual report, memorandum of agreement with the Nepali Government and the current monthly report. The package also includes key UNICEF, Save the Children, and Hope and Homes for Children fact sheets and summaries.
In selecting and summarising the documents to include in the package I had to balance the need to properly familiarise and contextualise the importance of the work of the 3 new case workers starting in a weeks time, with their current ability to comprehend English. All the documents and best practice evaluations I have selected for the pack are written in English and are not available in a Nepali translation. 
Which lead to my second recommendation and allocation of some fundraising I did before I came: English language training!

(Big shout out to all who came to the fundraising gig as you are changing children's lives for the better!)

The three new case workers as well as 4 existing staff will be commencing 6-8 weeks of intensive English training. This will cover a basic refresher of English grammer and vocab (as all have a very basic level of English communication from school), and then progress to more advanced comprehension, and report writing skills. This will build their capacity to gather and store their reports and notes on the children in English. Furthermore, I have requested the English training centre to use the induction package I have created as examples to work through for reading and comprehention training. This will allow the staff, both new and old to create a culture of professional development in a team environment while learning English and global best practice, all simultaeniously! I am optimistic about the training as it will be sustainable development for HFHK.

I’m currently sourcing actual folders and plastic pockets (a few common stationary items we take for granted in the west but a little more difficult to get hold of quickly) to compile the packages for the training. The roles and responsibilities documents along with the code of conduct and other HR documents will be added ready for the case workers to commence their training. This capacity building is very exciting and the existing staff are anticipating the training with great optimism. They understand the opportunities and potential that the English language brings with it for their current roles in the impact it has on the protecting the children they work with. They are excited about a future where they will only take a couple of hours writing up their case notes on their field visits to the vulnerable children. As it stands now they spend all week translating simple case notes and reports into English. Increasing the efficiency of data gathering means that the gaps we have in the needs analysis of the existing children we are working with get filled quicker. This in turn brings us closer to creating individualized care plans for each child’s reintegration to the community and into family settings where they can get the love and attention they deserve.

The organistion of the English language training for the staff at HFHK has been sorted but will not start until the first week of the new year due to several scheduled Maoist strikes this coming week. However it is set and ready to go for the seven staff who will gain access to a high level capacity building skill over the next two three months.

 Productivity and optimism at Hope for Himalayan Kids has picked up considerably in the last two weeks. Not only due to the impending employment of the new case workers mentioned but also due to an upcoming street festival where we will be doing an awareness campaign.

In a Nepali context for work to be achieved in an efficiently timely manner at a Westerners standard is highly significant because there is so many barriers to productivity eg: the load shedding schedule has increased again ie: We have no electricity, for about 8 hours a day, in two or three hours blocks; the internet is painfully slow; and the Maoist strikes shut the city down for full days at a time. So to have achieved what I have in the past week is quite satisfying.

 The street festival starts on the 28th through to the New Year and we are having a stall in the street for awareness around deinstituionalisation. So every pamphlet and sticker I wanted printed had to be developed this week and taken to the printers as there are more scheduled Maoist strikes next week where nothing will get done. There are always "shortages of things here: petrol, hand sanitizer, electricity, water etc...

But the funniest shortage I came across was yesterday when trying to put in our logo to the printers for stickers. The challenge I came up aginst this time, while interpreting through my adorable office manager was that apparently across Nepal there is a PURPLE shortage. Yep, a shortage just in the ink colour purple for the stickers. I had not slept or eaten properly for days leading up to trying to get all this done, so I nearly lost it when he said this...(if you look at our logo the majority of the logo is purple!)

...Anyway, we negotiated to get it printed on more expensive paper to use a different type of purple ink and resolved the issue....

There is almost always a way around the barriers. It's just more of an issue of how many Nepali people Beth comes close to murdering along the way...Thus creating another shortage…Nepalese people....