The volunteers who manage the administrative aspects of our work in Nepal had an annual review and planning meeting on October 25, 2016. Present in the meeting were Maheshwor Kafle, Usha Pokharel, Kabir Thakali, Mukunda P Kafle, Bikram Gajurel and Hari Tripathi. This meeting was held in-person which is a refreshing change as most of our meetings are done by teleconference.

Mr. Tripathi has been coordinating most of the legal presence work. The meeting started with his briefing on the latest legal updates from Kathmandu and on our interactions with local governments in the locations where we work. The process to have our work approved for 2016 by the Social Welfare Council is also complete. After administration and legal presence review, the meeting also discussed the past student selection decisions. The team concluded that the process is sound and has integrity, but needs some improvement to limit the paperwork as much as possible for the local volunteers.

The committee also decided to send an official letter of appreciation to the schools where the sponsored students attend, and to provide badges and letters of appreciation to our local area coordinators and volunteers. In addition, the group resolved to try utilizing online banking to make financial administration and disbursements more efficient.

The final topic for discussion was the possibility of creating a program for students who complete 12th grade. Currently, NCEF does not support students beyond 12th grade. Although we do not have an official program, we decided to coordinate mentoring for higher education or job placement on a person-by-person basis for now. We will revisit this issue next year. Our readers and supporters have our utmost respect and we would like to welcome any feedback on this topic and more.