More pics

Thought it might be nice to finish off with a hodgepodge of snaps from the end of the trip so here goes:

On the way to Sigli from Banda Aceh

The girl in pink on the way to Independence day celebrations.

These pictures show us just after we found out we missed our flight out to Singapore and we were going to have to stay overnight in Medan. It was a pretty dismal moment but Dawna and I found a spot of humour when we spied this sign. It suggested that we could complete an internet based checkin and get an electronic boarding pass. This seemed a bit optimistic on the part of the airline and completely ludicrious given recent experiences we had but heck they were giving it a shot so kudos to them.

Katherine and Sosi at the market. We bought this fried food (potatoes, bananas and other greasy goodies). Simon told us when we got home that he wouldn't have let us buy it because the oil was used over and over again. Yuck. He also would have told us about the wee bananas we purchased...apparently we bought the type what was only fed to birds, not people. Who knew?!

On the last afternoon we went to a cultural/dance celebration, in honour of the 2 year anniversary of the signing of the peace agreement in Helsinki. There were some wonderful traditional costumes and dance. People wanted to have us in the pics too when we really just wanted to take photos of them.

That was a major festival even with a rock band.

More pics later on not as regular life takes over. Now to write all the reports!

leaving Singapore

Leaving Medan proved a little hard to do - we flew from Banda Aceh to Medan and then missed the flight to Singapore thereby sealing our fate to endure pretty much the worst hotel we've ever encountered. Even a hotel in northern Ontario where the bikers drink sounded good after that night.

We should have known something was up with the hotel (called Inna Dharma Deli...the name was actually the best part!) when the key ring had a Barbie sized key on it. It even made the porter laugh. No one could tell us what that key was for.

However we prevailed and had a terrific couple of days in Singapore. Last night we visited the night zoo which was pretty darn cool Dawna had to duck and shield herself behind young Grael when the flying bat flew low overhead.

So we are off to Hong Kong and the endurance flight to TO. See everyone at home.

Dawna here: Katherine is being very restrained about the Medan hotel experience. More later, we have no time for details as they are calling our flight. We'll catch up when we hit Hong Kong.

See you soon!!!

Last day in Banda Aceh

We had quite a productive meeting this morning in the CALGAP office going over presentations about local government and public libraries – the similarities and differences between Canada and Indonesia. Yes it was quite engaging and we learned a fair amount from the local CALGAP staff.

The afternoon was essentially spent debrieifing with the manager for the projects. Yikes we still have work to do and here we were thinking we were in pretty good shape for the end of the mission.

Note to self – folks here like the souvenirs from Canada and even pictures of Canadian scenes are appreciated. We brought several bottles of Maple Syrup this trip but can’t keep that happening as it adds too much weight to the luggage especially once a few books are thrown in with it all. As it was it felt like we were carrying stones in the luggage.

Last night we went to a community event in the local fairgrounds. We also crashed an official TV station party by mistake really but it was also kind of fun to hear the local rock band perform. On the way home we saw a couple of 9 year olds whipping around on a motorbike – weaving through traffic. Even the Indonesians were surprised by that.

So we are off to Singapore for a couple of days and then Sunday back to Canada.

@the library

You may think that all we do is eat but really we are working hard every day!


For the second week, we changed gears from doing all sorts of presentations for the staff, to actually doing some hands on work. This is the really fun part. The presentations gave overviews to library basics and the hands on work is for the staff to apply the basics to their environment. So for example, we gave a presentation on various aspects of collection management (thanks Susan for the books - we have left them as a resource in Sigli), collection policies, intellectual freedom, weeding etc. Then along with the staff we are drafting collection policy and procedure for the library. Everything we do is in both languages and is in draft.


Once the business case presentation was done, the staff developed business cases for the large items that are part of the equipment request for the project. Bookmobile service is key to reaching the 21 districts that they are responsible for. A business case for an additional bookmobile has been written. We found out over the weekend that the staff need to write a business case to accompany the equipment request. They didn't bat an eye when we told them this on Monday, the business case for that has been written too. I am most impressed with the rapid response we get for any task that is requested.


Katherine spent time teaching some staff some basic computer skills so they can make internal signage. It is really important that all of the staff become comfortable with the computers. The plan for the library involves having 3 public internet terminals. Everyone will need to be somewhat computer saavy to support this service. Think back to public libraries in Ontario, not all that long ago when computers were introduced. A lot of staff upgrading was required then too.


If we want to break into small groups, we need two translators. We don't always have that luxury, so sometimes we try to do stuff without a translator. Yesterday, one of the staff asked if she could practice reading English with me. We had brought over some Grass Roots Press literacy books (books with easy to read English targeted at the adult reader) and Gusmeli was able to read two complete books to me. We took our time and it was an incredibly rewarding experience. She was so pleased to think she could read an entire book and they now want to include books like this in their collection. It makes me want to be a volunteer tutor when I get back home.


Last week we had done some brainstorming with all of the staff about ideas for improving the bookmobile service and the collections. Every staff member contributed an idea for each topic. Today we went over the lists....they were able to find ways to accomplish almost all of the suggestions. From adding DVDs and CDs to the collection, to providing special programming at a bookmobile stop, to circulating some magazines. The best part is that the ideas came from the staff and so did the solutions.


Lunch today was going to be Kraft dinner. Yep - from the exotic to the not-so. However, this was not to be the case because we received a phone call telling us that the Bupadi (akin to the mayor) was ready to see us immediately. So we had to leave the house without our lunch. The meeting ended up being with the Vice-Bupadi. The Vice Bupadi (like a deputy mayor) was a former freedom fighter, as are most of the people in power now. He has a tremendous vision for the role of the library and supports the expansion of the bookmobile service. It's quite good because he had some of his own ideas for library service. He suggested that the bookmobile have internet access and that there be chairs and events at the bookmobile to draw people to it. It was great to hear it coming from someone in a position to approve things. We have basically said that we will push for the improvements to the facility, infrastructure (public computers etc) but we need his assurance that they will budget for the operating costs attached to all of the improvements. We are building training into all of the plans because sustainability is the big thing. It has to be maintained once we are out of the picture. It was a good meeting. Muhktar took us out for lunch afterwards. We were all pleased with the progress that has been made. It was worth missing the Kraft dinner.

Tonight we had a dinner for all of the project staff. While we were preparing the meal we sang camp songs. We cooked mashed potatoes, meatballs, peas and gravy. (Tip - don't ever pack Bisto without putting it in a zip-lock bag. I learned this the hard way and my entire suitcase and contents were covered with Bisto powder. I am still finding it everywhere.) Simon's (local resource person) wife Daisy cooked chicken with vegetables and the same delicious soup she made last week. We bought nasi goreng. The drivers and guards are quite shy of us and would giggle whenever they were offered food. It was fun. There wasn't enough seats for everyone so we took turns at the table. The Canadians kept saying it felt like Thanksgiving. (And for Lisa - I have recipes which I will send you.....I knew you'd be asking.)

Hard to believe that tomorrow is our last day in Sigli. The time goes fast and slow. Things that happened yesterday seem like they were last week. It is a great time but we're tired out at the end of the day. I will sleep again once I get home...fingers crossed!

D.

10 things I want to remember

Every day has moments that are memorable. We meet so many interesting people, find out different things we hadn't heard of before and just plain old have funny things happen. I have been keeping track of things and will throw a 'Top Ten' list together for this post.


Here they are in no particular order:


1. The motorcycles are everywhere, sliding in and around, going the wrong way on roads. Almost gnat-like in their buzzing around. Now add this to the picture....there may be several people on a motorcycle...several children even. The most we have seen is 5...typically without a helmet. Motorcycles are also used to transport items....big items too. We saw on motorcycle rider, on the windy road to Sigli carrying 3 long tables! Holding one with each arm and balancing one on his head. Sorry we weren't fast enough to get a picture of that one. The amazing thing is that on the first mission we were aghast at the children on the bikes and the no helmets....now we just count them to see if we will see more than 5 on a bike.

2. We hear so many good phrases and word spins. One of my favourites was 'You know what the flow.' This was said to us when someone was sharing a challenging story from his work place...along the lines of "You know how it goes".

3. The air conditioners in the Sigli house have remote controls. Each room has a wall mounted holder for the AC remote next to the light switch.

4. The animals we see while we travel...monkeys, water buffalo, many many cattle, the occasional elephant, large lizards and small geckoes. Then we are also surprised by the animals we don't see....there are very few birds and no horses.

5. I have been keeping a list of words that are the same in English and Bahasa Indonesian....so far I have: element, proposal, effective, brochure, concept, conflict and success.

6. Fuzzy furry purple flip flops.....I want them so BAD!

7. Katherine reads the newspapers here any chance she gets. Yesterday she saw an article about a woman's mud soccer tournament. The winning team won 5 ducks. We are not making this stuff up. If we chose to we could watch all the Al-Gezeera network we want...if that wasn't of interest we could watch TV from Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Oman, Saudi, Quatar and Libya. And in a pinch every day there is channel G with a daily dose of fashion yacht TV (a reality game show with skinny models cavorting around a yacht). And this is with cable!

8. The road to Sigli. We thought it was rough during the first mission....this time a large portion of it is under construction. Part of it is at the stage where all of the black top is being removed. This makes for more curves and bumps and jostles. We have somewhat acclimatized to the drive and have been listening to music from home through the I-Pod (thanks Alex!) which makes it fun. Katherine and I sing away to old Bowie songs and the drive passes quite nicely. The part I may not have emphasized is how truly beautiful the ride is...the mountains curve around the background, the sky is usually a brilliant blue and rice fields give balance.

9. Padang food - which requires higher math skills. Many many little bowls of food are brought to your table, most containing 4 items. You get a plate with a mound of rice and help yourself to what you want. You can take a little or a lot. When you are done the server assesses how much you ate from each bowl and charges you accordingly. We are in awe of this process because sometimes we will take just a spoonful from the bowl and there are upward of 20 bowls. We have been told that the local curry goat stew is spiced with ganja. (Yep - ganja is ganja here too.) So the joke was that if I ate the stew they would have to wake me up at work because I would be too sleepy. Today's padang lunch included lung. I found this too much to look at....it looked similar to what you can see on cigarette packages at home. Katherine and Sosi humoured me and moved the bowl of lung to the far end of the table.

10. How lucky we are. Everyday we are seeing new things, learning and finding out more. It is an adventure that we will remember for the rest of our lives.

Chad the Becak driver

More adventures. Today we wanted to make an overseas call so took the Becak, small motorcycle and side car to the phoning place. As there were three of us I took the back of the motorcycle- riding with Chad, the cool driver except when he was checking his cell while driving. the good news is that we were going about 5 kilometers an hour.

When we got to the phone place we realized we were calling home at midnight- anyway it worked out and Dave my partner was still up. Dawna's parents were probably sleeping as they didn't pick up. That was the morning- of course we had a business meeting prior at about 9 am on Saturday morning to go over the requests for equipment.

A little later we made our way to do some shopping- the best thing we saw was Billabong high heel sandals - knockoffs naturally! Also a sort of fur lined flip flop and Wrigler jeans. We checked out the beach and kind of wallowed in the shallows as the waves were substantial and I'm sure dangerous.

Then off to the ever so cool expat hang out Joel's where it took pretty much 2 hours to get a pizza. It was still quite relaxing with a great beach breeze. The huts shown are not the restaurant but rather a concession stand on the beach.

So tomorrow Sunday a little work in the morning hopefully a little downtime in the pool or gym, shopping at the supermarket - we're having a dinner party in Sigli on Tuesday night and inviting folks we know including drivers and translators - so far the menu is mashed potatoes and meatballs.

Up and at it again

o.k. it is 8 am and we are getting organized for today. We just have the morning and then we are off to the big smoke - Banda Aceh where we plan to go to the speakeasy tonight. Ring the bell and wait a few minutes - if approved you get to go in and up to the rooftop garden restaurant and eat Italian.



We had a most delicious dinner yesterday with a Thai soup made with lemon grass, lemon leaves and fish sauce making up the base. Simon our interpreter and Daisy his wife made it. And we had shrimp again which of course is fresh each day.



So this morning we'll stop boring the libary staff with presentations on writing a business case and the like and get to the shelves - where we will help to bring some order and get the kids items separated so they can have their own spot. Right now it is something of a clerical supervisors nightmare- 400 in 600 and fiction here and there. Talking about specific books and sections should also help the group with the collection statement (we hope!). So since it is Friday it is a short day - for there are longer prayers on Friday.

Don't unplug it, it might blow up

We're pushing through, so far we've covered bookmobile service, collection development policy, open hours, performance measures and community assessments, space planning and we have just been here since Monday afternoon! We know how to have a good time. Today they told us that they only wanted to work 2 hours in the afternoon...we almost had them work an 8 hour day yesterday!


But the boss is getting wise, he's feeding us now so they get a break. There is a special steamed bun that Dawna likes that he ordered in. Katherine had the flourescent green pastry, which was surprisingly good. A lot of it is based on rice/gluten. This morning there was a dessert which was a banana wrapped in lime green gluten. It was sticky and very filling. It's just been great, we talked about a couple of things yesterday, such as putting the current edition of the newspaper in the newspaper rack and to place the rack near the newspapers...today it was done. Yesterday, I had a meltdown about how the 600s were in no particular order and this morning we saw someone shelfreading. They are really keen to do good stuff.

And for Sylph, yes, they did everything that we asked them to do in between missions. Everthing....a space plan, the performance measures, community demographics, photos of the storytelling competiton.......all done. It was amazing.

Adventures in the bathroom....or WC as they call it here. The bathroom that is in Muktar's office has a cistern and squatter and an alarming combination of dangling electrical wires. There is a sign near the wires and we asked Sosi, our interpretter what it said. We thought we were re-vamping of the electrical so they could have computers, who knew it was to prevent the library from blowing up.

Another really fun thing that has been happening in Sigli is that the local school children have been preparing for a special marching contest for Independence day. Groups of about twenty children have been marching and chanting in the streets. We have been enjoying seeing them over the past few days. Today was the final competition and we happened upon the closing ceremonies when we went to the beach for lunch. It was so much fun to see the children so excited. It felt like play day when we were kids. And then we got happily swarmed by them as they wanted to say hi, have their photos taken and practice their English.

We ended the afternoon with the business plan workshop. This was the session that Dawna worked on the most and with Katherine's help, it paid off. Sosi delivered the presentation in Bahasa Indonesian and then the staff split into 3 working groups to prepare business cases for additional electrical infrastructure, a bookmobile and a new library.

Mukhtar knows the power of food to motivate and bring people together. This afternoon was no exception. He provided bags of sweet coffee, savoury food, fruit and sweets. He manages to create a very happy atmosphere and the staff (and the two of us) respond very positively. The afternoon went very well and the 3 business cases are well on their way.

Boy, do we have this Indonesian thing wrong. When we came back to the house, the very kind woman, Yulia, who looks after the house was watching Fashion TV and there were some very scantily clad ladies on the show. And then we heard that they show porn in a coffee house in Banda. Here we thought we were living in strict Muslim territory.

Tonight at the house it is just Katherine, Sosi and I as the other team has left for Banda. We are planning to have dinner with Simon and his family.

Another good day in Sigli.

Sigli Library - First day

We were both wondering what we would encounter when we returned to the library. We had no contact with anyone from Sigli in between missions.....would the staff have done the tasks we had left for them, would they be keen to see us? what could we expect? When we arrived, we had heard that the head of the library had been replaced and that the new person started the week before. This made us wonder even more.


The first thing we noticed when we entered the library was that it was super clean and tidy. Some of the furniture had been rearranged to make good use of the space and it felt welcoming. It was a tangible difference. When we met the new head, Mukhtar, he was welcoming and very encouraging and apologetic because he had a speech to deliver elsewhere in the morning, but he promised to return in the afternoon to meet with us.

Katherine and I spent the morning with the staff. Katherine gave a presentation on how you tailor library service around community demographics. There were a lot of pictures from Mission 1 in the presentation and this really tickled the staff and made it resonate. I have to find some pictures that will work with my presentation on creating a business plan....a bit of a challenge!

In the afternoon we met with Mukhtar. We wanted to review what we had covered during Mission 1 and also get a chance to know one another. It didn't take long to realize that we all shared the common belief that libraries build communities. He understood the work that needs to be done and was glad of the CALGAP assistance. As a matter of protocol, we exchanged business cards....he told us that we were 'relatives now'....this made us feel very welcome. We ended the afternoon with a review of Canadian library service with all of the staff.

Now for those that find the library posts dry...I have some food to tell you about.

We were treated to some fruit. Oranges we know, but snakefruit was something different. It has a stiff leathery skin, much like a snake which was quite sharp under your fingernails when you peel it. They are a mahogany colour. Inside was a white coloured fruit that was a bit bitter. It comes in three parts. Apparently the same fruit is much sweeter in Java. I think I will have to go to Java to really get the true flavour. I found it a bit bitter but ate it anyway.

The other fruit was rambutan, it means hairy fruit. It is a red colour with spiky hair. The spikes look sharp but they are actually quite soft. It tasted like a lichee. You can buy a bundle of about 12 for 5 cents. I would eat these at home if I could find them. I am sure they could be found.

When we got home we did some Pilates. We set up the mats in the living area and Manon, Katherine and I stretched away. We are trying to find some sort of exercise that works here in the heat. I think we have found it.

It was a very good day...and now if I could only get over the jet lag all would be perfect!
Until next post,
Dawna.

Getting started

in Banda Aceh today -

Last night we met with the new Field Manager, Basile in Banda Aceh. He is responsible for all the projects in Indonesia and just started a few weeks ago. He's come with tons of experience in the Phillipines and we have already had good conversations about the missions and the overall plans for the work here in Aceh.

Also we have a new local resource officer, Simon, for the project and he is located in Sigli where the library is. He also has done a fair amount of NGO work. He has lots of energy and we got a good vibe from him so can't wait to get started and see the people at the library again.

Simon tells us that the head of the libray has changed and the new person seems to be a 'doer' who is interested in change - another positive sign.

The hotel was filled with children yesterday. There was a weekend deal and made the place quite lively. In the evening there was a private barbeque - we think it was a UN thing. So from our hotel window you could see there was lots of Karaoke going on - they really belted it out and we could hear it throught the windows on the 5th floor.

I think Dawna and I are doing pretty good regarding jet lag and had a pretty reasonable sleep although woke up around 5:30. We drive this afternoon to Sigli after a visit to the supermarket here. All of us from the two teams including the Local Government folks Manon and Eric brought lots of items for the kitchen including foodstuffs. Hoping this time around to do most of our cooking we will do the market thing and that way we can include veggies in the daily diet. We found going out to restaurants resulted in lots of rice, noodles and meat - nary a vegetable to be had.

So the urban camping continues - we brought our yoga mats this time so hoping to get a bit of a stretch in here and there as it is difficult to walk with limited sidewalks and motorcycles at your back and darn hot!

Enroute

We are still enroute. It is much better this time as we are more familiar with the different airports and have our favourite spots. The highlight of the 15 hour flight to Hong Kong is knowing that there is a wonderful business centre where we can shower, have a massage, get online AND have a great buffet. It really makes a big difference being able to refresh like that.

In Medan we apparently engaged a broker to move us from one terminal to the next; before we knew it we were indebted to several airport employees. However, the upshot is that we will be able to enjoy the rather expensive Duty Free bottle of wine that Katherine bought in Singapore, now with its own version of 'duty' Medanese style. The curiuos thing about these broker dudes is that they have no nametag or shirts or anything that would identify them as official yet they take your tickets from you and go off and you follow....pretty much running after them trying to remember what shirt they were wearing. Was he the guy in the green or was he the orange shirt guy?

Currently we are at the Medan business centre (at the airport) We decided that we had enough excitement the last time we were in Medan and that we would be best just to stay put. I do have my wallet....and my passport and tickets are tucked safe and sound in my special holder. No worries!

More later,
D.

Heading out again

Mission two is approaching faster than it seems possible. We will be in Sigli again on Monday afternoon to begin the next stage of the project.

I wanted to share some experiences from the first trip before they become ancient memories. Once we came home there were a few things it was clear people were interested in hearing about. One is the food! I will write more about that in future posts because I know we are going to have some great meals and market trips this time. We will be sharing the house again with another team and we are all bringing along things to make preparing food a bit more feasible. I also to tell about the tsunami sights that we visited.

There are two main places that really demonstrate the power of the tsunami that hit Banda Aceh. It was at the epicenter of the tsunami on December 26, 2004. We saw a huge oil tanker that was carried 5 kms inland. It rests right in the middle of this small community and people are now living around it. They get power from its generator. It is so big that it will likely not get moved and we heard that it might be made into a museum for the tsunami. It was a chilling marker of the disaster.

The second place we were taken to was a house that had a boat resting on its roof. She no long er lives there, but the homeowner will not have the boat removed and still comes to pray at her home everyday. There were many waves to the tsunami and the people who talk of it will tell you what they remember from each wave. The woman that lived in the house with the boat was on the first floor of her home for the first wave and the water came up to the ceiling. She managed to get to the second floor and then the second wave came. She went to the window and saw a boat, the people on it threw out a rope and she grabbed on. The boat became lodged on her rooftop. They managed to save 57 people on the boat. They stayed there and watched the subsequent waves take everything else away.

We were all humbled by these sights. It really is impossible to imagine the scale of loss. Words pale.

I look forward to blogging again.

More later,
Dawna,