I ended last week with a hesitation in my mind. The population around was not very receptive to my questions, so, obviously, the current way I interacted with them was not feasible in the long run. So, things needed to be changed. I had to move on and be clear with myself that the current model that I had planned out with my host organisation was not sustainable in the long run, and I had to shake things up, taking things away from the current model of survey sheet filling. It was slightly scary to think that all I had initially planned was not sustainable, and facing this thought, I felt required me to build up courage and stand up to myself.

First, I changed the model of survey sheets. I discovered that the word used for ‘research’ and ‘investigation’ was the same, so I might have been slightly threatening in my approach. So, I fixed that. Furthermore, I noticed that a major reason people were unwilling to interact with me regarding their financial history was that they were afraid of official documentation. It was important to keep in mind that I was in a place where a lot of the economy is driven under the official governmental table, and I was certainly not unaware of this. Both India and the UK have plenty of signs that mention ‘Cash Only’, but once again, I did not put two and two together to make four here. It certainly felt nice when I realised this. So, the first thing I did was to leave the survey sheets back. I felt slightly weird at first as well: was I really doing anything significant when I didn’t have the physical paper to back it?

But the response mechanism changed by some margin. It was still the case that I got some weird looks because of the language barrier and the information I was seeking. However, this time I started by purchasing something really inexpensive and something I needed, which I would have probably bought anyway, and then asking the people how they got into the business they were doing. Some responded happily, others didn’t seem to keen to respond, and some provided me with jolly but sad responses, showing disdain for the life they were living. However, I do understand even this was not very sustainable: I had to take care to tell people I was talking to that the chat was for an NGO in order to maintain the ethical basis of collecting information. Moreover, it was seemingly impossible to elicit answers to all questions whilst being informal. Therefore, my initial idea that I would just fill my surveys online after the chat using an online form limited to myself went totally into the mud. This week was more interesting and certainly increased my engagement and provided me with more insights rather than papers scribbled. I am ending this week with some assurance that my initial contact and collection of information about existing credit practices was not fully problematic even if it did not go as well as anticipated or planned.

As much as the above write-up might make it seem, a lot of time was not spent doing this. On another front, the supervisor I was working with within the host organisation was on leave for the entire week. I was asked to work with a different person who I had met before during my first days at the host organisation. The only problem was that they were not very familiar with the task I was currently engaged in, and asked me if I could assist in authoring a report on the Nepalese tea export industry. I love research, especially to do with trade and economics, and it was difficult to not accept. However, once again, I had build up some strength within and offer researching the tea industry with emphasis on the availability of credit to labourers and smallholders. To my happiness, they agreed. It was brilliant gaining another insight into the availability of microfinance in Nepal, and the research did provide me with additional knowledge into what the urban settlements are doing well and what they could learn from the smallholder cultivator community in the eastern part of the country.

Lastly, another idea struck me. I had noticed 2-3 boards around the city that mentioned some savings cooperative. I thought a better way to gain information would be directly interviewing these cooperative societies as they would have a lot of information about the saving practices of the local population. Initially, most of the calls were met with the phone numbers simply not existing, being unreachable, or just not picking up. However, I was successful in making contact with two organisations that I aim to interview next week!

I certainly feel much better after last week, and part of the reason is that I felt confident enough to dial calls in a new country and explain my requirements, I said no where I felt I would be deviating from my project, and I challenged myself by telling the bloke in the mirror that the plans you’ve made till now might not work as they are, but some tweaks, and we might be in a better position. It was these tweaks, these noes, and these initial unreachable phone-calls that make me feel better at the end of week 2, and I felt all of these required just a bit of nerves.

• The progress you made; what was achieved and done: concluded face-to-face information collection, started a research project researching credit availability for smallholder and labourers in the tea industry in Nepal, and made initial contact for interviews with saving cooperatives in the Kathmandu area.
• Things that did not get done and/or could be changed: the interviews themselves are scheduled for next week. If given slightly more time, I would have wanted to find a better solution for the problems with the survey-based interactions.
• Leadership attributes and insights you developed: I further developed skills in effective communication. I certainly gained some insights into research methodology and cross-fertilisation of ideas. I think I learnt a lot about resilience this week as well, that is, having the determination to make things happen.
• What do you want to develop or focus on next? Next week, I plan on making a template for the pamphlet to further microfinance awareness within the community. This will only be done after I am able to complete the interviews. Lucky, the weekday starts on a Sunday here.