It takes a village
Some of you will know I’ve spent the last couple of weeks in Cambodia volunteering for Mission Direct (for which I’m also a trustee) helping to build a school in a poor rural area. Slightly more of you will know it has recently been Trustees Week. The two are linked in a very practical way: helping build a school as a volunteer has built my understanding as a trustee in the most excellent ways.
Cambodia is full of wonderful people with ambition to develop and move on from a troubled past. I visited The Killing Fields, which showed the worst of humanity. I also met young people who have benefited from education and nurturing projects and are now eagerly giving back to their community: the best of humanity.
In governance terms, I learned so much about the challenges and practicalities on the ground for a charity working overseas. Here are just four thoughts:
It’s complicated. A donor gives in England, the charity (with umpteen policies and excellent governance) works with in-country partners for better understanding, in due course projects are delivered. Along that pathway are challenges of language, culture, currency, expectations, staffing, safeguarding, health and safety, patchy infrastructure, and much, much more. In-country regulation may well be non-existent. But the demands and opportunities are endless. Trustees and senior teams need to deal with this complexity with judgement but not be frozen into indecision by it.
It’s rubbish. By which I mean the country in which a charity works is likely to have a vastly different culture and ethic around environmental responsibility – a concern of many charities, even if not a primary aim of their objects. A charity has to work through this difference and decide on the greatest priorities. In the end, you just have to do the very best you can, but don’t expect it to be an ideal.
It’s endless. Needs are so great that a charity is continually faced with a choice between spreading too thinly and choosing a focus and delivering against that as well as possible. You must find the right balance.
It’s a blessing. We are not involved in charities because they are lucrative and easy. You know it’s a financial slalom and hard work. But the rewards in terms of delivering benefits to those in need are certainly worth it. Keep that focus. Every small act can make some difference in a well governed project and charity. Each trustee, staff member and volunteer is part of that. It takes a village.
