Namaste everyone,

I have been in Kathmandu for a week now and my audit is on track.

The team at SPW (Hari, Rupak, Anil) has shown me around the squares, temples and stupas in and around Kathmandu which have been amazing - far more impressive than any where else I have been, for example, the temples in Thailand.

I have also travelled beyond Kathmandu to visit a town called Dhading which has one of SPW's two district offices. I had the great pleasure of meeting some of the volunteers, seeing where they lived with local families and also one of the schools where I was mobbed with young, bright eyed school children who were so excited particularly as SPW is helping them create a small library. Something I will remember all my life.

For all of the hardships of Nepalese life - little money, a government in transition from a Kingdom to a Republic with its Maoist issues, vast amounts of pollution in Kathmandu plus health and education issues - the Nepalese people are some of the kindest, generous people I have met and have the greatest smiles!!

For all of my gushing about Nepal, I have to report that I have finally succumbed to a bad stomach so its Imodium time...

Your man in Nepal, Richard

It is my first day working in the office at SPW Nepal. I have a had a good number of discussions and have kicked things off well I think.

The staff (in particular the ever patient Hari) have been really helpful, listening and answering all of my questions.

Yesterday I caused a bit of a stir as I changed 100 pounds sterling into Nepalese rupees but the bank rejected them claiming I had given them forgeries!! The bank claimed they were seeking police advice and I worried it was going to turn in to a political incident.

It was all resolved though when the reason became clear - they had never see notes from Scotland.

After some persuasion we resolved the issue however I should have known better as I know for a fact it can be difficult spending Scottish notes in England so why should I think they would accepted in Nepal - you live and learn!!

Richard

I have arrived in Kathmandu - a wild wacky city where there are no rules on the road except stay alive and avoid the bulls, cows and sleeping calves(which turn in to mobile roundabouts).

The flights were all on time and very comfortable with the exception of of the bumpy flight from Delhi to Nepal.

There is a national transport strike today which means that I cannot reach the office however I am working on a presentation for tomorrow and Hari (the SPW finance officer) has cycled over with working papers for me to read.

Really looking forward to getting stuck in tomorrow.

Your man in Nepal, Richard

Hi this Richard Taylor,

I fly to Nepal today and am really excited (and a little apprehensive) about this collaboration between HBOS, SPW and MANGO.

It is a great opportunity a) to experience a new culture b) for personal development and c) to test my professional skills.

I have worked at HBOS for 15 years and if someone had told me when I joined the old Halifax Building Society that I would be working in Kathmandu (Nepal) and Vellore (India) I would have called you a liar!!

I intend to update my blog as much as possible with tails of my adventures, my experiences and anything else that I think you will find of interest.

Keep reading.

Richard

During May to July three HBOS internal auditors - Richard Taylor, Amanda Beveridge and Alan Gauld - will be undertaking 10-14 day secondments with Students Partnership Worldwide (SPW) in India, Nepal, Zambia and Uganda to support and augment SPW's internal audit programme. SPW implements rural community programmes in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia that promote health and help tackle the underlying causes of poverty. The internal audit secondments have been organised through Mango, the established financial management charity. Keep in touch with Richard, Amanda and Alan and find out more....

HBOS is proud to support its finance staff volunteering their skills to assist SPW in working efficiently, effectively and accountably and believes that this initiative will benefit HBOS and the aid agencies alike. HBOS finance staff will develop their skills whilst working in new and challenging environments. Lucy Markby, Mango’s Placements Director says:

"Mango is thrilled to be working with HBOS and its long standing client, SPW, to enable HBOS finance and internal audit staff to contribute their professional skills to SPW's work in Africa and South Asia. Mango's careful selection and training programme will help ensure that HBOS colleagues have been selected and matched up with SPW volunteering opportunities that make the most of their very valued skills.”

Richard, Amanda and Alan attended Mango’s 2 day FM4 course to help them to transfer their skills and 2 days of detailed briefings with SPW in London. Richard will depart for Nepal on 19 May. Amanda is off to Zambia on 7 July and Alan will fly to Uganda on 11 July.

Keep in touch and find out more.

HBOS is a major UK company. The Group provides retail, business and corporate banking, and insurance and investment services through its multi-brand strategy in the UK and internationally.

About 72,000 people are employed across the Group. HBOS has the biggest private shareholder base in the UK.

HBOS is the UK's largest mortgage and savings provider and the number one provider of new investment products. The Group is one of the UK's leading general insurers and has a reputation for excellence in the provision of business banking and corporate finance, delivering innovative funding solutions across a range of markets.

Find out more on the HBOS website

Mango (Management Accounting for Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs)) is a UK registered charity, founded in 1999. Our mission is to help NGOs working all around the world to strengthen their financial management. We are widely respected as the leading specialists in our field. We provide:

• practical training
• finance staff
• specialist free publications online and on CD
• consultancy services (including evaluations of major relief programmes)
• networking opportunities for NGO staff to share experience (these include our successful Finance Director seminar series attracting the Finance Directors of 14 different international NGOs who collectively annually oversee over a billion pounds of charitable expenditure).
  

We also play a leading role in initiatives to enhance NGOs’ accountability.

Demand for Mango’s services has grown rapidly since 1999. Our clients include international NGOs like ActionAid, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Habitat for Humanity, International HIV/AIDS Alliance, Oxfam, the Red Cross, Save the Children, Tearfund, VSO, World Vision and many others. We also work with a substantial and growing number of smaller NGOs and microfinance organisations.

Find out more about Mango.

Find out more about using your finance skills in the NGO sector.

Find out more about Mango’s FM4 training course to help accountants transfer their skills to the NGO sector.

SPW implements community level programmes that promote health and help tackle the underlying causes of poverty. With international and in country government support and a focus on young people, SPW works in rural communities in eight countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

SPW is, however, more than just a set of programmes, it is a global organisation that has core capacity needs like any other business. As a medium-sized and rapidly growing organisation that is staffed predominantly by young professionals, SPW has to be creative in its approach to capacity building in key performance areas such as finance management, monitoring and evaluation, marketing and external communications. One of key elements of its capacity building strategy is to form partnerships with private sector companies who possess expertise in key areas and understand that a short-term technical assistance placement for key employees can result in dramatic positive benefits for the employee and the company, and can make a strategic contribution to SPW’s work in developing countries.

As part of this capacity building effort, SPW has started to institute an annual schedule of internal audits for each of its country offices. The aim is to have these internal audits conducted by experienced finance professionals from partner organisations, working with our country office finance units to pro-actively identify any weaknesses in systems and controls, addressing any identified weaknesses with systems improvements and training. SPW prides itself on the reputation that it has established as a transparent and reliable NGO, and it believes that it is through pro-active efforts such as annual internal audits that it will maintain its position.

To find out more about SPW

Make a donation to SPW