A Decade of Tsunami ( A Reflection toward 2015)

A Decade of Tsunami ( A Reflection toward 2015)

Without realize one decade has been passed. Ten years is not short time to forger what happened. Ten years like one day of  this tragedy. Lost parents, family and friends have dropped to much tears in a long way. A decade of tsunami as a kind of reflection what happened in my home country Aceh. Long conflict before tsunami also made lost all my loved belonging.  Lost schools and houses because they burn.

I remember how many times cease fires but it was failed. Blood flew every where and never stop. There was no sense of humanity anymore. People no g guilty became victims because of their willing for power.

26^th December is a reflection for Aceh to be a better place for living for the future. It must build a strong commitment to build Aceh. There are hikmah or lesson of this tragedy.    I know this is not an easy thing to forget. But I have to keep strong to share my spirit for all friends who have  lost the same thing like me.

Tsunami and long conflict has made me more sensitive surrounding me . It has made me more aware all kind things here.  Tsunami has brought me through his waves  to the world and send peace messages. I am a white dove  to bring peace to the world.

I was it lonely and drop where I sat lonely and there was a small tiny thing rose into my heart for wake up and don’t be afraid for facing this life. Keep moving like a river flow a away to the ocean and never stop.

Thanks Lord for letting me a life and love. Without your blessing I could not survive toward new years.

It's 2015. That happened quickly!

Aloha!

My niece and I were supposed to go pet some stingrays at the aquarium today. But the icy New England roads have us housebound. Stingrays, penguins, and turtles will have to wait. Instead, I am writing to you, and marveling about how it seems like just yesterday and at the same time forever ago that Ahila asked me to be the G12 January 2015 blogger.

Alas, here we are. And Happy New Year! I’m sipping coffee at my kitchen table in Cambridge (Massachusetts), slowly conjuring up the past two years. My gray-and-white cat, Mini, is looking out the window at the dreary winter scene. The heaters are clicking away softly in the background. Days like this, I sure do miss Hawaii!

As you may know, I actually do get to spend quite a bit of my time in Hawaii. That happened quite unexpectedly. After APLP and GIST, I worked for EarthWatch, an organization that brings people on science expeditions around the globe. As their corporate educator, I traveled on expeditions to the Arctic, the Brazilian rainforest, Arabian riverbeds, and urban watersheds. I saw polar bears, caught and tagged songbirds, and traveled in houseboats on Oxford canals. It was all great fun, until the organization re-organized and there was no space for me.

That’s when the APLP team invited me to come to Hawaii for a few weeks. The leadership programs there keep multiplying, so extra hands were helpful. Eventually, “helping out” became a job, and now I divide my time between Hawaii and Cambridge (which is a very long commute). I still get some consultant gigs with EarthWatch, and I am also designing and teaching on-line courses for humanitarian relief workers. So, life is full, and interesting, and good.

Being in Hawaii and being on the “other side” of the APLP has been fun. I get to see the cohorts go through their own learning and (for some) transformation. I also get to see APLP alumni – including some of you! Working with the APLP team has been great. I didn’t quite realize while in the program myself just how much fun the team has together. I feel pretty lucky.

You're basically caught up on my last couple of years, at least work-wise. I turned 40 recently (!!) and celebrated in Hawaii with a skydiving adventure (with Nina!) and then celebrated again in Boston – with Alisha and Megan. I’m exciting about the new decade and what it will bring. And while January seems to be the month for planning, with everyone making resolutions, I just have one new goal for 2015: to learn to do a headstand.

Maybe I’ll have made some progress on this by the next time I write.

Mahalo nui loa,

G

(This photo of me with my delicious Laksa Penang was taken in Penang, last April, when I escaped a training for a night on the town.)

Mingalarbar from Myanmar

Merry X-Mas and Happy New Year to you all !!!!!!

I do hope you all are happy, healthy and busy during these days.  Many thanks to Ahila for excellent idea of creating this blog which give us  opportunities to share what is going on after APLP.  Yes because of this we are still connected. 

Let me share my adventure life after APLP.

At the meditation center for two months: Once we finished MFE workshop in Yangon I went back to Taunggyi, Shan State and took meditation at the Hte Han Sway Meditation center for two months.  By doing meditation I got the big lesson for my life and I would like to share to you all as these help me to see the real situation and hinder to overcome the challenges more easily than before.

 "Whenever we face difficulties never give up easily, be patient and don't look at the things with greedy or angry then you will see situation clearly and find the way to do."   

Jobs : After meditation center, I back to Yangon, tried to apply new jobs and busy for the interviews. During waiting for the result I decided to join back to my existing job at the United Nations World Food Programme in Yangon office. Within a month in WFP, I got job offered from UNOCHA and British Council on the same day. I was quite happy and lucky those days. I decided to join British Council as I would like get change and learn from new environment. Then I moved to British Council as a Programme Coordinator for Education in October 2013.  Yes of course, every office has different procedures with different approaches and also has advantages and disadvantages. Whenever I face difficulties and challenges at the new job I could see the opportunities from that challenges and happy to accomplish the job instead of feeling panic. This is the big changed for me from APLP.

Social supporting activities:I try to share my time especially out of office hours and weakened to the communities those who need my help or contribution. I could organize future scenario building workshop to the member of Shan National Democratic Party together with Mon Mon and Ko Thit Sar. And I provide leadership trainings to the youths from Shan Literature and Culture Association in Taunggyi.  Base on their need and requested, I try to link through my networks and connect to them if I do not have capacity on that field.  And try to contribute and give a hand as much as I can to the Myanmar Disable organizations as well.

Work-life balance:  This is the one I need to improve which I really focus on work only and  could not manage time for social life as well as  for my professional development. 

Miss you all and I do hope to see you all again.

Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving!

As you may remember, Thanksgiving is the US holiday where it's all about food, family and gratitude.  And sometimes football.  And large balloons on parade.  And dog shows.  We're a multitasking society.   

For sure, it's a controversial holiday given the history of the holiday and the resulting treatment of Native Americans by European/American settlers.  And given the recent racial tensions emanating from Ferguson, Missouri, it's important for America to remember and assert on Thanksgiving that Black lives matter, indigenous lives matter - all lives matter.  But, for the purposes of this post, I'll stick to the merit of the day - giving thanks.  

This year, I'm grateful for many things.  I'm grateful for my health and the health of my family.  I'm grateful for the support I get from my family and friends.  I'm grateful that you all seem to be doing so well!  I'm grateful that I have you all to entertain and inspire me.  I'm grateful for all the adventures I've had, and the ones to come.  

I've noticed, as well, that things seem to be changing.  A shift is occurring.  In the last month, friends have moved away, while other friends have announced their pregnancies, or bought houses.  Cousins have gotten engaged or had children.  My dad is about to retire, while my sister's career is about to take off.  It feels like the end of many eras, and the beginning of new ones.  For all of these great things, I am grateful.  But I am also grateful for the fact that this time, with this shift, I feel ready for it.  It doesn't intimidate me.  I don't feel jealous or left behind.  Instead, I'm honestly really excited for all these loved ones and for all these shifts, and it just feels like it's lining up perfectly with my own evolution.  I'm excited to ride whatever wave this is, and see how it manifests in my own life.  I guess my point is that, after a bit of an awkward period, it feels like a lot of really great things are finally colliding, and it couldn't feel more natural.  It's a cool feeling, and I'm excited for the ride.  For that, I'm truly grateful.  

Thanks again for checking in, and I hope to see you all soon!  

I'm turning it over to Nang Sengaye for the month of December.  Excited to see what she's up to!

xo

Megan

Autumn in Central Park

Aloha from New York!

Aloha Ohana!

I hope you and your families are all well.  It's been such a pleasure reading all your posts, so special thanks to Ahila for coordinating it all!  Apologies for not posting until this late in the month – it’s been daunting to try and cover almost two years (!) since I’ve seen most of you, which made it easier to put off until now.  So, you get a long one instead…

Life Post-APLP:  The Basics

So, a brief synopsis to “get you up to speed,” as we say. 

First…GIST!  I think many of you graciously followed along with our GIST and personal blogs at the time, so I won’t go into that much except to say that it was a wonderful (though somewhat exhausting) experience and – at many points – a true honor. 

First rain of the season at Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon - April 2013)

MFE!  At the same time, we were working on the Myanmar Futures Exchange in Yangon, which was a lot of work but a lot of fun.  It was a very busy and rewarding semester, and I want to give a shout out to all my fellow GISTers, along with Mon Mon, Nang Seng and Alisha for all your wonderful support and delightful company throughout that whole period.

GISTers at the MFE!

Reunion!  It was so great to see so many more of you again!  I can't find my pics from then, but I think many of them are better kept off the internet anyway...

Job Hunting and starting a company!   

When I came back home, I returned to the task of finding a job.  That whole summer was spent either co-drafting the MFE Summary Report with Alisha and Scott (with help from Kate and Gretchen!) or applying to jobs.  Based on the experience I had on GIST, I started my own consulting company, Makai Strategies Inc.   I did a great training with the Shared Value Initiative as CEO of Makai Strategies in October 2013.   The training was in London, so I got to see Taku as well!  The energy at the training was really great, and I left London feeling inspired and excited about the corporate responsibility field. 

Finding a Job! A couple weeks later, I got hired by a sustainability consultancy.  The work was interesting, and I got to go to the Middle East for the first time.  (Check out Oman!)

 
Family Travels!  This past summer, I was able to travel to Portugal, France and Belgium with my sister and then Montana with my sister and parents.

Reunion in Tulum!  Had a great trip to beautiful Mexico in late July 2014 with Kate, Alisha and Dina.   We had a great time, and it was really nice to see us all evolve.  Joys and struggles always remain, but it was clear that our approach to dealing with it had changed, including in some really amazing ways.   It was really inspiring. 

I'm currently looking for new opportunities while I do some short-term legal work.   Now that I'm not traveling as much, I'm also able to see friends more.  I actually just saw Gretchen and Alisha for G's 40th birthday party up in Boston!  (No pics, sorry, we kept meaning to and forgot...)

So, them's the basics.  It’s been two years of incredible adventures and maddening waiting periods. Highs and lows aplenty, so that sometimes its hard to tell what my real truth is, but I know the best is yet to come.  Sounds like life, right?