"My first day with Women’s Resource Center was this past Monday and after a few days I can just say “wow” - the group of women that run WRC are amazing and the work they do is fantastic.

"My first few days at WRC have included getting settled in and oriented to the organisation and the team. We scurried away from the office at one point to pick up a bicycle for me to use during my 4 weeks in Siem Reap. I can confidently say that living in Amsterdam firmly prepared me for my first cycle through Siem Reap.

"Over the course of this week myself and the Management Committee at WRC have been working away to orient me to the organisation, review the original outline goals of this assignment, and discuss how we will plan to prioritise the goals (in case we cannot achieve them all in the 4 weeks). Our main focus areas can be summarised in the following points:

1. Reviewing Finance Manuals and procedures to ensure they are fit for purpose and aligned to what actually happens in practice. 
2. Identify any financial based training needs (and begin training if appropriate).
3. Assist the Finance Officer with increasing her knowledge of QuickBooks and using any under-utilised functionality of the program.
4. Reviewing any frustrations with the budgeting and budget vs. actual processes to recommend and implement improvements. The entire staff at WRC are heavily involved in the budgeting process so we have a lot of different stakeholder expectations to manage on this one.

"Everyone has been very vocal with the process which is great to have such positive engagement from everyone (from finance across to program management/coordination teams). I think we’ll have a really great time working together.

"A few shots of the lovely WRC grounds where the finance team sits with the program management/coordination teams on the top floor while on-site programs are run on the ground floor.

"On Sunday, I made a visit to Happy Ranch Horse Farm and took a lovely 3 hour sunrise horse ride through the country side (the coolest time of the day!). It was just me and my guide Yan so we had a great time duet singing Michael Jackson and Celine Dion tunes he learned from YouTube."