Overwhelmed!!

It seems that every time I meet with senior management at my organization the concept for my work broadens and becomes more challenging. As I understand it now, my mission is to meet with officials and organizations involved in every aspect of the insurance industry in India, and simultaneously review the latest literature on microinsurance and become somewhat of an expert on the current climate of insurance services and the low-income market. In addition, instead of my final report being geared toward ACCESS internal personnel, they wish that my report be constructed in such a way that they can publish it under the ACCESS name and make it available to the international community. ACCESS wishes to link my research to the national microfinance conference held in November of this year. I am increasingly overwhelmed by the pressure of producing something useful and approporiate for a large audience of international players.

So far I have scheduled in-depth interviews with representatives from the United Nations Development Project (UNDP), the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and MicroInsurance Academy (MIA). I am trying to meet with USAID and GTZ next week as well. I am still planning on doing in-depth interviews with ACCESS' MFI partner organizations over the next several weeks, and in the future will meet researchers at various foundations, senior inusrance commission officials, reps from large insurance firms, and other NGOs involved in microinsurance. Failure is not an option. I have never undertaken such an extensive task..............(anxiety).....

No doubt, when I return if anyone has any questions about microfinance/insurance...I'll be your man.

As far as Delhi goes...the traffic is maddening, the rain is gone (meaning the heat is back), and I am spending money faster than I should be on basic necessities (beer not included). Oh, and adding to the list of "Strange animalia normally not found in a city of 14 million people," I have now had an up close encounter with a mongoose, and there are as many red tail hawks in the skies as the seagulls in Florida.

<vent session concluded>

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