As per the project agreement, we are required to hold a biannual Central Level Advisory Committee meeting. This committe is to be made up of Government representatives from each of:

• Social Welfare Council; Raju Jose
• Ministry of Agriculture; S.K. Adikhari
• Min of Local Development; Nara Hari Baral
• National Planning Commission; T.P. Panthi
• Min of Women, Children & Social Welfare; Nirma Karkhi
• AHTCS Representative; Dr. Resham Acharya
• VIVA Nepal Representative; Ciarán Göbl

Now trying to find all of these people and their phone numbers was not an easy task, especially when you speak a poor version of the Nepali language and suffer from hours of power cuts, but I managed it and the meeting was organized for friday last, Dec 5th.

I wasn't sure what to expect and I must admit I thought it was a beureaucratic exercise and a break to lovely Pokhara for them. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the constructive criticisms and active input from each member. They left with a very good image of VIVA Nepal and we came away with some very useful contacts!