Directors report

Himalayan Learning can reflect upon the 2006-07 period as an extremely positive step in its short history.

Changes in structure and rapid growth of income by over 400% have resulted in a number of positive challenges and developments. Our volunteers in the Himalaya have been supported by our first employee, the result of a set of positive discriminative techniques and women’s development projects to find truly outstanding individuals with which to support our projects.

One of the first developments for our new coordinator was to implement new changes within the organisation for greater local transparency and continuing our drive for grassroots and sustainable objectives. This has meant changes in local structure and greater involvement in the community ranging from new women’s groups to health and advisory commissions.

Outside the Himalaya, most noticeable has been our drive to internationalise the organisation by developing more internet capabilities, and reaching out to new audiences. The new website providing greater usability and function has resulted in a switch from 100% UK donors to an equal split of UK-based and international donors. We have also continued our policy of transparency by utilising the website to allow donors to communicate both with us and with each other. Whilst there have been teething problems related to the technology and the fact we use volunteers, the site is now looking very good and provides us with the ability for lots of changes in the future.

In the UK we also now have more than eighty Apple Mac computers in storage awaiting project development to be sent and used in Nepal, and have been supported by various new organisations and partnerships in planning.

Our plans for the next year include substantial changes in the sponsorship projects, which have already started to take place. We also will be working with other organisations on other projects. In Nepal our women’s organisations have already fed back to us lots of small and large changes that locals feel valuable, many of which will be fulfilled.

Finally, we are very grateful to all those supporters around the globe whose generosity and involvement has helped us to improve and grow. I would also like to thank all our Trustees and our volunteers have all given their time free over the past year.

We look forward to an interesting new financial year!

Oliver Spencer-Shrestha
Voluntary Coordinator
Himalayan Learning
1st May 2007

To download a PDF file (1mb) of the Himalayan Learning annual accounts of 2007, click here.