A longer visit this time?

Image by andyw23 via Flickr

Well, here we go again, off to Kathmandu next Sunday for a month's work in and around our five schools. As our regular readers will know our last attempt in May ended up with a hasty retreat back home in the face of a potential military coup. That risk has now faded but there is till political upheaval creating a level of instability that just wouldn't be tolerated here. Anyway, we're off so we will just have to put up with it.
We have an enormous amount of work to do which can best be described as a major fact finding mission. We have been supporting these schools for 2 full years now and have seen our impact and achievement steadily growing. However the time has now come to "benchmark" these five schools against a range of standards (all Nepali) so as to judge what we do next to help them.
First, we have a round of formal meetings with each school to determine issues around school resources, infrastructure, community support, direction/leadership etc. Second, we have meetings fixed with the current and previous under secretaries from the Ministry of Education. Third, we intend to explore facilities and resources available to develop our schools professionally such as The British Council in Kathmandu and to provide some further professional training during our visit.
Plenty to do, as well as the Tihar/Diwali festival for a week to enjoy with our family. So, all news can be followed on a daily basis via this blog.