Making a Small Difference

Already more than four weeks with T-Help and the work is progressing well. After a few adjustment, my work plan has been approved and I have started to do some research (a lot) to get to know the Nepalese business community better. The objective is to understand the challenges and obstacles that small entrepreneurs will encounter will they take their first steps into starting a business. In that matter, I am very lucky because one of the directors of T-Help has worked with young women entrepreneurs in the past and knows pretty well the government cogs.

Despite the field support of my Nepalese partners, I must admit that the experience of remote volunteering weighs me down a little. Don’t worry, I am not in any means rethinking about my mandate nor my role as a volunteer. I do not know if all my colleagues feel the same way, but I miss the everyday field experience, the day-to-day exchanges (person to person). I also had to change my working methodology. Work meetings being remote with different time zones and an internet quality sometimes leaves something to be desired, require a much more structured preparation; there is less room for spontaneity and it is necessary to transmit the most questions beforehand in order to allow the partners on site to prepare themselves well.

But back to my mandate: Business Development Advisor for an organization that specializes in vermicomposting and mushroom cultivation. The challenge is great and the expectations are very high. After some conversation on Google Meet, my Nepalese partners and I agreed that I would devote my energy on gathering information about business opportunities in Nepal; the advantages and disadvantages of setting up a business, its challenges and even what could harm it. Also what are the laws and rules that will govern it. The objective is to prepare a training on How to prepare a Business Plan and present it to past and future participant of their vermicomposting and mushroom cultivation training.

The challenge of such a mandate, other than being remote, is to ensure that the training that we will giving is adapted to the reality on the field. Simply said, we are in Nepal not in Canada. It as to be done in respect of the reality of young Nepalese women and women from rural areas, who are often marginalized.

To achieve this, I prepared a small survey with multiple choice and development questions. The aim is to get as much information as ever about the daily experiences and expectations of these young women and women before they start their business and do some follow up for the one that have already started their vermicomposting and/or mushroom production. Unfortunately, the current Covid situation in Nepal is preventing us from moving forward with the survey.

However, it is only postponed. The T-Help team likes the initiative and intends to use the survey in the future.

Finally, I wanted to acknowledge a great initiative on the part of my Canadian co-volunteers in Nepal. We have created a group to share our virtual experiences in Nepal and thus share them with others.

See you soon and thank you for following me.

DHANYAVAD (THANK YOU)