Hallo from the Maldives, widely thought of, and marketed, as a paradise for beach lovers. As my plane landed the rain was so heavy we had to sit and wait ten minutes before we could disembark. That was just over a week ago, and it has been raining nearly every day since. I am glad I am working and not here as a tourist!  The capital of the Maldives, Male, takes me, a slow runner, 35 minutes to jog around. It is a concrete jungle of narrow streets, high rise buildings, 100,000 people and an inordinate number of cars and motorbikes, considering you can walk anywhere in 20 minutes!

The HI mission in the Maldives was established after the tsunami of 26th December 2004. Our operations were planned to run until 2009, and now here we are with three month left to go. My job, as Country Director, is to close down the programme, ensure all the necessary reporting is completed, and ensure that our partners have the capacity (in terms of finances , skills and human resources) to sustain the projects where necessary. There will be an evaluation of the programme as a whole in October, the terms of reference for which we are currently working on.

My first week was spent with Jeroen, the departing Country Director. He briefed me on the status of all projects, and the outstanding work to be done over the next three months, as well as can be predicted. There was a lot of information to absorb, but all very interesting, and clarified by some field visits and meetings with partners. Some of the highlights last week included.

A visit to a small densely populated island called Hinnavaru, north of Male, for two days, to observe the work of an impairment screening project we are undertaking with the Ministry of Health. I observed screening in the island school of all the children, class by class in quick succession. The screening could detect visual, hearing, physical or cognitive difficulties, and children identified as having a difficulty were referred to the hospital for further examination. The results have not yet been compiled, but it seemed few of the students displayed impairments in Hinnavaru, although there is much variation from island to island, and comparison of data will produce interesting findings. The team then proceeded to screen in the community. On completion of the project the results will be an indicator for the government of the levels of impairment, and will serve as a tool for the planning of service provision.

I took part in a badminton session for children and adults with intellectual impairments which HI supports. There was great participation from all the players who enjoyed it immensely. The sessions are run by two volunteers from the Maldives Badminton Association. From discussions it seems the group is sustainable as there are virtually no costs involved in the project, and there is a strong commitment from the participants and their families.

I was impressed by the work of the newly formed Maldives Deaf Association which HI supports, and seems a dynamic organisation which has given a great opportunity to many deaf people in Male to meet. I joined one of the meetings which was well attended by twenty plus young deaf people. They have already produced a dictionary of the Maldivian sign language which will be launched soon, and they plan to start some island associations too.

There are many other projects which HI has been involved in, and still is involved in, and I am gratified to see that the work seems sustainable and also provides direct benefit to people with disabilities. Now I must continue to read up on reports, meet key people and organize my ‘things to do’ list which is rather out of control. Relevant to planning is Ramazan which starts next week and lasts a month. Although people continue to work, the hours are reduced and work tends to slow down.
Hoping it stops raining soon, Lucy

• Some great things have been achieved
• From the Maldives
• Must get on with my end of mission report