I can’t believe it has come so fast—my fellowship has officially come to an end (although I will still be popping around here and there as I’m in KL for another 2 weeks).

Looking back, I can equally weigh the frustrations with the rewards. I must admit that I had a rosier picture of what it would be like working for a social enterprise.

This experience has given me the chance to gain a first-hand account into much of these frustrations that one must become accustomed to before dedicating their career to social change. From the mounting inefficiencies social enterprises have to face when operating in a developing country; the difficulty in finding a reliable, loyal (and affordable) staff; to the challenges of finding resources and funding opportunities when operating as a social enterprise, rather than a traditional non-profit organization.

If asked to summarize the most important thing I learned from my time here in one word; that word would be patience. When I first came on-board, I saw my task as marketing the basket project to an overseas audience.

I quickly jumped into it, only having to take many steps back a few weeks later to notice and face all the barriers that existed. I did my best to tackle all these; setting for myself unrealistic timelines based on my experience working in the U.S., only to become stressed out and frustrated that trying to achieve one simple task would only result in uncovering other hidden constraints.

I was become increasingly aggravated at myself for not being able to move things forward as fast as my expectations.

In the end, however, I can stand by Ching Ching, look at the basket project and feel like we have moved far despite the barriers. Especially in light of the almost inexistent help that eHomemakers receives from the Malaysian government, and the mere fact that what Ching Ching is trying to accomplish is a concept ahead of its time to her Malaysian counter-parts. While here, I’ve seen the weavers become innovators by improving upon the design and quality of the baskets.

I’ve also noticed seen a slight increase in the amount of help coming from the corporate sector. And finally, I can envision how all the problems, challenges and barriers we identified can only help us move forward and create a more stable, productive, creative and sustainable social enterprise.