After 14 years away we see each other again in LAOS!!

Min Sor, my Cambodian brother, was my staff in sponsorship back to 1996 in World Vision Cambodia. We worked together to set up sponsorship work in Cambodia. There had been a good and bad times we went together to help the needy children in Cambodia. We cried and prayed together to build the capacity of sponsorship staff both at National level and District level. We became a good friend and also God gave us the opportunity to travel overseas, America.

We had a funny experience there as this was our first traveling to Seattle, America. At the hotel we were so thirsty and we wanted to drink water but we could not find the glass. We complained about this situation because a nice hotel should have provided water to drink for its guest. When we rang the hotel receptionist asking about the water we were shocked by her answer. She simply just informed us that we could drink the water in the bathroom from the tab. Oh...we just laughed at each other....my goodness we could drink water there....ha..ha..ha..we felt like a villagers coming to the city. Anyway thanks God as he had a chance to meet again in Vientiane, LAOS.

Min Sor, is now a lecturer of ASDEC institution whom he has provided and shared his leadership to NGO staff including World Vision. I was so blessed by his sharing about his many different leadership roles in the past years (Country Directors of Habitat in Phnom Penh, Country Director as RoomToRead, Founder of local NGO, etc.)
What a wonderful event meeting an old friend again after 14 years in a country like LAOS. Thanks God.

My family and mom had also the opportunity....

I was very pleased to travel with my family and mom when I moved to WV Laos. It was my dream to be together with my family traveling. Most of the times I travelled alone or with friends. So, it was beautiful to have the opportunity to travel together with your loved one. My mom had the opportunity to stay with my family in Vientiane, LAOS. She also had never thought that could travel thus far. It is really a blessing from God to live overseas.

Just like 'reunion' in Manila, Phillipine

It was wonderful to be together again with my old friends from different part of the world in Manila. My good friend such as James, Mandla, Michael, Japhet from Africa region joined this new initiative called ID Scanner pilot project and step coaching. There were some other friends coming from Armenia and Albania (Ranie & Roy). Sharon and Marcella from Latin America also participated in this team. Me and Sovithyea were Asia representative. The event in Manila was quite tiring but enjoyable because we had a good fellowship. Montserat from Mexico, Jenny from California, Mercy, Kombo and Lilian from Manila were excited to facilitate this project. In whatever event we have in World Vision fellowship is always the most valuable moment that we celebrate together. We had a beautiful dinner in Kombo's family and it was fun.

A new way of looking at Sponsorship

My friends from all offices located in Asia Pacific region (Mongolia, Nepal, china, India, Bangladesh, Srilanka, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Phillipine, Thailand, and Indonesia) joined together in Bangkok for a full week meeting. It was long and exiciting week when every participant enjoyed the workshop called Sponsorship Basic Training for trainers (SBT). It started from 21 to 27 September 2008 at Windsor Hotel. The method and approach of the training is based on the Robert Gagne's Nine step of instruction. 1. Gain attention, 2. Inform learner of objective, 3. Stimulate, Recall of prior information, 4. Present information, 5. Provide guidance, 6. Elicit performance, 7. Provide feedback, 8. Assess performance, 9. Enhance, Retention, and Transfer.
SBT is a new way of how to train the frontliner and also a new paradigm of sponsorship towards transformation.

Vientiane, LAOS has changed a lot !!!

This is WVLAOS office located in Vientianne. It is said the building owned by one of the richest Laos families. The Brunei Darussalam Embassy once used this nice building as their office. After five years away from Laos, I have seen a lot of changes taking place in Vientiane. Many apartments have shown up and also traffic congestion has already started in the city. A long the Mekong river there are a lot of restaurants set up by local and foreign business people.
. Water fountain at Namphu area...is colorful now....

The most interesting training in West Kalimantan

PLA Training of Trainer facilitated by Ravi Jayakaran was the most interesting training I ever attended. Participatory Learning to Action is a modification of Participatory Rural Appraisal methodology that encourages and empowers community in the development process. It enhances their analytical skills in identifying their strength, their own problem, and planning on how to address it, monitoring and evaluating the process. It is really a simple and local friendly tools. DR Ravi Jayakaran is a great facilitator in transferring this knowledge and skills to WV staff. People were excited to apply this method in a number of villages in West Kalimantan.

George Bush International Airport, Houston, TEXAS

I had a 'bad' experience at the immigration office, George Bush Airport, Houston, TEXAS. Actually I was on transit at Houston Airport to Los Angeles flying with Continental Airline. I missed the connecting flight due to the immigration procedure. It took about 3 and a half hours for the officer just to get my secondary info. The Continental Airline office tried very hard to rearrange my flight but could only fly me to Los Angeles in the next day. They asked me to stay at Hampton Inn (Airport Hotel). With this incident my other connecting flight to Hong Kong and Jakarta was in a mess and I had a very tough time to rebook it. By chance I had to stay 2 days in the transiting sites(Houston & Hong Kong).

Walking to the village is my interest

I like walking very much. One of the longest distance I had ever walked was reaching a village in Wamena district which took about 6-7 hours. I always enjoy walking whenever I have the opportunity to visit World Vision ministry targeted area. It always turned out to be a memorable event especially walking along with cheerful children.

Hallo friends in Cambodia....this is your sponsorship history file

This picture was taken in 1996when I worked with WV Cambodia Office. I started sponsorship project in Cambodia. Seen in the picture the first sponsorship team posing at the first WV Cambodia office in Bang Keng Khong street, Phonm Pehn, Cambodia.
Prasath Balang ADP, Kompong Thom wss the first ADP funded by sponsorship. As seen in the picture the team is gathering the children for registration.
The very first sponsor visiting the ADP team at their office. It was quite a challenging and long journey visiting this ADP because the road was bumpy and broken. We needed about 6 hours drive to reach this site from the city of phnom penh. ADP Kompong Thom started with 2000 RC in one fiscal year.

Transitting to Brussel is quite impressive....

My one night transit in Brussel was very impressive. Although I stayed closed to the airport I could easily access the transportation to the city. I had a chance to walk around the city with my admiration to old gothic architectures. I was almost frozen with weather there but a very hot coffee in a small cafe made me relief. It was interesting for me to observe the way people interact in these three different cities Frankfurt, Brussel, and Sierra Leone. Can you imagine my crossing over these three continents (Asia, Europe, and Africa) in just one trip?

I have some friends in Vietnam

It is nice to have friends in Vietnam. During my visit to Vietnam my first surprise was to see a lot of motorbikes in almost every main road. Once I was almost hit by motorbike when trying to cross the road. Their friendly gesture made my staying enjoyable. In addition I feel like being home because of much similarity there particularly with its environment.

Myanmar is actually a religous country...

This boat is taking me to a pagoda located in middle of the river. It is uch an interesting place to visit. In this river I found a lot of big fishes swimming around the temple but no body willing to catch them. Myanmar actually is a religous country where we can find a lot pagodas and monks. You can also find a nice place to see a regular cultural performance in a artistic builidng located in Yangoon.

Working in a multicultural environment

I enjoy working with a multicultural team although occasionally there may be some friction, surprises, and misunderstanding because of the different culture. Often times it turns out to be a good lesson if we want to openly learn and understand it. It challenged our patience and humbleness in facing the situation. My friends from Latin America, Eroupe, Middle East, Asia, and Africa could still work together during the orientation of Digital Imaging initiative at Cebu island, Phillipine.

Costa Rica...I lack of documentation

Flying to Costa Rica, Latin of America was my first long and tiring trip. It took about 21 hours flight from Jakarta-Hongkong-Los Angeles-Houston, and San Jose (Costa Rica). I was not able to document my trip more than this. I didn't have much time to see around due to the busy work and short schedule.
That is why I just took some photos from the hotel (Clarion, avenida avenue) at San Jose. in fact next to the hotel is the downtown where we can shop and buy some souvenier. However, the hotel management alerted us not to walk by night because of safety reason.

The most interesting team capacity building process

There are so various programs and activities designed for capacity building in World Vision. One of the most memorable activities for me is rafting. We had some orientation before begining to raft. First thing we need to agree on some basic steps such as following the rules, performing harmonius actions, sticking to one direction, uplifting team spirit and caring each other. Rafting at Cisadane river, Sukabumi, West Java was an appropriate place for us - the beginner to make a trial. Ha..ha..

Through rafting our team spirit may be strengthened and it enhanced our sense of togetherness and unity among the members. Surely we all got wet with the waterfalls in Curug, Bogor but it was nothing compare with our joy of being together.

LAOS is a quiet and peaceful country?

I have a chance to visit Luang Prabang province. It is indeed quite and peaceful spot. Every morning I see a lot of Budhist monk walking along the street to give the opportunity for the people to express their good deed. They can put gifts and foods to the monk's bowl. There are also a lot of tourists stay in this area because the accommodation and meals are relatively cheap. I have the assignment to support the sponsorship start up process with Sovithyea, a Cambodian friend.
I notice here most of the families have at least more than 4 children. I have seen a lot of children playing around in many villages. Thanks God that World Vision program has been reaching out these children through sponsorship.

Africa continent is beyond my expectation

Oh God this is wonderful! I have never thought that I could visit Sierra Leone, Africa continent. Digital Imaging training was the reason for me and James Monge, my Uganda friend be in WV Sierra Leone. Landed in Africa made my travel experience in this globe complete because I have already visited four other continents (America, Asia, Australia, and Europe). God has given me this wonderful opportunity for free. It is a really free trip which I could never afford to pay with my own money.

The children are very gracious in Sierra Leone just like in other country. They are always excited to see a strange creature like me.