I started the week with my final VSO workshop on Monday to take stock of what has been achieved, what were the most significant changes, and how the organisation will move forward once I leave on the 24th. There were supposed to be all the people I've worked the most with present but only 5 people could make it. The 2 main absences were Anal who was just too busy (legitimately), and Shahid who had just disappeared on Thursday. Seriously, it was all rather mysterious as no one knew where he was. Then, things started to slot into place. A letter from him was found on Habib's desk which basically announced his resignation. Then he called Habib on his mobile on Saturday night of last week to say he wasn't coming back and that he was moving to Dhaka!

As we all started to compare notes about things he'd said leading up to his disappearance we began to realise that none of us had the same story. It also became clear that the way he resigned was rather underhand too. Basically, when you apply for a new job here you need to show that you have formally left your previous employee using a letter or something. Shahid had slipped his letter to the office boy who had stamped and signed it received as he normally does, and then he made a copy and left. He hence has the paperwork he needs but no one really understands why he went about things the way he did. After all, had he just gone to Habib with his letter there would have been nothing he could have done to prevent him from leaving. Interestingly enough, we later found out that he'd left his previous job to join BRIF in much the same way.

So, back to my final workshop. In a nutshell my colleagues were very generous in their comments, sometimes even giving me credit for things that I only see as very minor. They also surprised me by knowing pretty much everything I've done these last 15 months. I put that down to the remarkable grape vine that operates in Bangladesh and which completely passes me by as I don't understand enough Bangla to catch things in passing. In the end they decided that the most significant change coming from my work has come from the feedback and coaching training I gave them. Some managers say that they are already seeing good results from applying what they learnt and are now having much more open and constructive discussions with their staff about work difficulties. When I asked why staff would react so quickly to praise after years of criticism Habib said "A hungry man will always need food". Enough said.

The rest of my week was spent finishing off the various documents I've promised, and most notably a new financial management manual. I've written one before, and the existing one was pretty dreadful, so I've been cobbling together something from other manuals I've managed to obtain and discussions with our Accountant about how things really work. I say finishing off but in reality I spent most my working days making notes on paper was the power was always off. We have power cuts virtually everyday anyway, but only for an hour or so now and then. This week it's been 3-4 hours at a time, morning and afternoon, almost every day. On the bright side I've rediscovered the joys of drafting documents or sketching diagrams using a pen and some paper. Now I've not done that since I left university!

One funny thing did happen though starting Wednesday. Habib started getting calls from one of our projects about a major personal issue between the manager and a member of staff. The situation wasn't at all clear, and seeing as Habib still can't travel he dispatched his trusty right-hand man Anal to investigate and report back. When I caught up with him the following day he told that the basic problem was that the manager in question was something of a womaniser and had been seen meeting women in the office. Worse still, one of the women was the wife of the understandably irate member of staff. Apparently, the chap punched the manager for his efforts. There is cultural aspect to this sort of thing as men and women are generally not allowed to meet and spend time together before marriage. I of course find this ridiculous, but fortunately for me the real issues here were more about an improper use of the office and shenanigans with the wife, both of which I can understand. The problem though is that the project ends in 3 weeks anyway so it's pretty pointless to sack the manager, but if BRIF doesn't do something it might be seen to condone this sort of behaviour which it can't do either. At time of going to press I hadn't heard what the solution was.

I'm writing this in Dhaka as on Sunday we head off for our annual VSO volunteer conference. This year is going to be on the coast at Cox's Bazar, and the ending party has a Caribbean theme. I should have a good photo for you next week of me in a truly fierce summer shirt I've bought for the occasion. You have been warned.