For years, I have said I really want to get the Foundation side of the organisation off the ground. I’ve looked for the right moment, right time. Let me be honest the years have flown by, got the better of me and we are now in 2025!
As long as I have wanted to set-up enterprise, a business, a social enterprise, in my head the Foundation activity has been something that would be a core part of it. That is literally how I picture it. With resource and profit generation would come Foundation projects. However, the perfect moment to kick the Foundation projects off fully hasn’t come into swing, just piecemeal.
More recently I was reflecting on this and came to a moment in 2018/2019 during a conversation with my cousin where I mentioned I was going to start to travel abroad to get the Foundation work off the ground. She told me to take her along and joked around with the idea of us jumping off buses with our backpacks and I replied how I was ‘up for that minus the backpack…not with my bad back’ haha. There are Foundation areas I am beginning to focus on in the UK but also feel there’s places in the world that really can do with support in health, sanitation, education and overall eradicating poverty.
Given such projects abroad could lead to committing a significant amount of effort, resource, funds over a course of say 10-20 years from my social enterprise, other organisations and people I am connected to, I feel it’s important I establish what the foundation is committing to. Answering the questions first hand: How does the country/region operate? What are the key areas to contribute? How could we best make an impact? Who can support the projects locally in the region/country? How do we form a network of support in the region/country? What aspects of community, tribal, legal, regulation etc (…ie. landscaping) do we need to consider in our Foundation work?
To answer the question and build confidence on the route ahead; effectively mapping up projects and implementing with communities I feel it is vital to meet them, see, get a feel of the country/region. Overall, this means deeply grappling with the task at hand than just on surface level.
For that reason, I am on a rare year, this year, I will be travelling abroad more than I normally would, to countries, to scope out the Foundations work for years and possibility decades to come. I haven’t taken the decision to travel lightly, be assured I will be offsetting the carbon involved.
Looking forward, being honest with you, I am very excited and equally scared. This is a case of going outside my comfort zone, travelling to places where I will have to put my life into someone else’s hands as we travel into rural areas, at times limited in numbers, navigating through not the best of infrastructure. At times I will need to rely on individuals to translate for me, interpret from my English into the local language and hoping it is conveyed correctly. As I meet new people I am aware though some may warm to me, there may also be those at first instance become wary of me and my intentions.
As I explore the landscape, the journey ahead, grapple with potential foundation projects, I will be writing about it in my open diary (The Doctor’s Diary). I am running with hope over fear, hoping for the best, listening to my inner voice and trusting the process.
Hushneara
Source: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:ugcPost:7316250649103355909
