And our final visitor is on his way....

I have spent a load of time over the last 2/3 days (since the Husband family have gone) summing up what we have done and getting ready for the last few sessions with Raj. Some of the things that I have been working on have been:

A 4 page summary of what we have done and how we have done it: I have mailed this out to most people on our e mail list. This has been useful for me (if no one else) to see and 'capture' what we (mainly I I guess) have done in the 3 months we have been out here. If I am honest I have no idea of the amount of stuff that was getting done as I went along. Hey, get me...I'm talking in past tense already!!!!

Questionnaire to help Raj and I capture how things have gone in our time here: One of the ways that I am hoping will help Raj and I capture how we feel things have gone during our time here is by doing a simple questionnaire. I know it sounds all a bit grand and formal but I have come to the conclusion giving Raj (and me I guess) a bit of a structure to explain and voice how he has felt about a whole host of different things will help in structuring the feedback we discuss.

Partnership agreements: One of the things I have tried to do with Tim (from our Church) and Rob (from Space2think) is capture what they/the church have said they may be prepared to help with when they get home. I have done the unashamedly to get more support for the trust for the coming year. My experience is that people can often commit to stuff whilst out here and then life 'back there' grabs them when the plane hits the runway and it all goes. My aim is to ensure this does not happen therefore!!

I have turned the chats we have had into 'potential areas of partnership' docs to suggest where both relationships might go over coming years. This will give me, Raj and the Trustees areas for discussion and development in the future.

'Tools I have given' doc: I have tried to minimise the amount of tools/paperwork that I have suggested that Raj and co use in the trust. I do feel strongly that they need a small, focused base of structure to the paperwork/reporting systems they need to use.

I have suggested over the 3 months about 6 bits of paperwork that I think are essential (reports etc) and we have agreed that it is essential that these get used from now. To try and 'seal' this I have written a short document that makes clear what documents to use for what and, if they use them well, the impact that using these docs will have.

TFT leaflet: I designed a TFT leaflet and website (just the design) for the trust and we gave then to a designer to make them pretty. We have now had the first draft of the leaflet back and I have spent time tweaking this so it should be printed by the time we go home - I hope to bring some back with me..!

A 'prior permission' document to get western funding for the Trust: Out here you have to prove that you are good enough to handle funds from other countries so you apply for a thing called 'prior permission' from the government for a specific project. You have to describe it and the benefit it will bring to India and then say how much you think you will need over what period of time.

We are submitting an application for permission to raise large sums of cash for the outdoor centre that is looming large for Raj and the trust.

This document has taken quite some time to do as I am starting from scratch doing this in a Country that is not mine. That said there is no format or structure to what you are meant to do so I decided, at Raj's request to just 'go for it'!!

So, as you can see, I've been a busy boy!! A huge part of this flurry of activity is because I have had 3 days in between when the Husbands go home and when my big brother comes to see us tomorrow night at 9.30pm. He will be flying in from China where he lives and works. If you have not seen his blog, please have a look here. He's a pro at it! Especially as we got a mention tonight here....!!!!

We've not seen Paul for 3 years plus now so we are all really excited about seeing him again. He's great with our kids especially so they are so looking forward to seeing him.

Here he is teaching a lesson in China:

Once Paul leaves we have about 5 more days here and then...home!!!