Building a Library in Indonesia

Idioms and the tailor

2008-12-13T00:27:00.000-08:00

Mr. Lovely’s idioms included the inspiration that he would say ‘Rise and Shine’ after the four hour bus ride. He also talked about the nepotism in his family run business, just like the former president of Vietnam. He was riddled with idioms but our memories fail. Dawna did suggest to him that he could say that the local pig that was the 'real money maker' at the noodle factory really ‘brought home the bacon’…he was not impressed and told us that he already knew about that one.

On Friday, we went to the disturbing ‘War Remnants Museum’. It was pretty graphic, included was quite a good photo exhibit about Vietnam photojournalists. The museum itself was pretty insubstantial. So we moved on…next stop was the Reunification Palace. It was just fascinating in that it was totally a ‘60’s building architecturally, furnishings, there was even a framed Hair poster in the gambling room. It had a nice tawdry feel. but was redeemed by a really cool fourth floor roof top dancing area where you could just step out to the helicopter landing pad that included a US Air Force chopper. Finally, we headed to the basement bunker, which was equally bizarre with numerous coloured rotary dial phones and ancient looking communication telex machines and an austere bed and side table for the president. So that was cool.

There is also a fairly lovely post office which was just bustling with activity. There were even folks there seated at writing desks composing their missives home.

Waiting now for the delayed Air Canada flight home. Project a huge success and now for the pain of the evaluation report- oh yeah also there is the exam for school that we both have to write. The real work strikes fast and furious.

cheers
Unless we are missing something there really wasn’t much else going on in Ho Chi Minh. We went to the local market and we are pretty marketed out…we didn’t buy a thing. We did stop at a tailors at the beginning of the trip and each had some custom made clothes to pick up.

Canthos and Mr. Lovely

2008-12-11T04:07:00.000-08:00

Back from the Mekong delta - a tourist trip of the cheap kind. For 25 US we took a bus tour of a couple of plantations, saw how coconut candy is made and also rice noodles. Saw a snake or two and took slightly sketchy boat rides.
Today we visited a floating market which really was quite cool.

The tour cleverly doesn't tell you the details of the itinerary so you can't squawk at the waits here and the waits there and the 2-3 hours on the bus with no stopping and little notice- leaving us scrambling for washroom facilities... Hilariously we had a major journey at the end of the day - 4 hours. We thought we were headed to the hotel but no first we had to get across the river on a ferry so another wait and chaos. Then another 15-20 minutes and the hotel. We thanked our lucky stars we weren't with the tour group we picked up who were stranded at the side of the road due to a bus breakdown and at the mercy of other tour companies. When we arrived after this 4 hour journey they were headed to a home stay with a Vietnamese family, dinner included (which cost them a bit more!) which meant another half hour trip on a motorcycle to a homestay complex of some kind.

Meanwhile we ponied up another 5 bucks to get air conditioning which is just as well since we gather the other rooms with a fan were a bit 'musty'. It was a 1 star hotel after all.

Anyway Mr. Lovely our tour guide was quick with the idioms, so entertaining and we got to places we never would have landed without the tour. Back now in our Spring hotel which is quite serviceable and close to a main drag in town.

Off to pick up our custom made clothes from a Ho Chi Minh tailor.

temples and making it to 10 p.m.

2008-12-08T04:00:00.000-08:00

First full day in Siem Reap. It is a great place- comfortable with great food choices and furniture that doesn't wobble when you sit in it.

Actually the temples are truly extraordinary and extensive. We spend a full day walking from place to place and didn't come near to covering the ground. The favourite is Angkor Wat - the relief is massive telling the story of the creation of the earth out of the milky waters.

Tuk tuk is the way to go - same a becak in Indonesia- although here they wear helmets and have official vests. Things are quite nicely organized.

We have left the project behind except for the constant rehashing of events - this doesn't however result in the finishing of the evaluation report. This looms on our horizon. For now we have the excuse of the lack of internet although there is no need for the internet to finish the report. Still it is an impediment. javascript:void(0)

Much silk was purchased today. After a walk through of the market one knows that it is all much the same and truth be told could perhaps be purchased in T.O. for a relatively close price. The exception is the finer silk which we don't know how to assess properly.

We witnessed people getting a foot manicure and massage by fish tonight. Dawna has the pictures and we'll post when we get a chance. It looked pretty weird as there is a pool of water with a number of people sitting around the edge with feet dangling. At first we thought there was some kind of magic fish pond idea akin to those at fun fairs but .... no it was a manicure.

We are beat and it is 7 pm. we are strategizing about how to stay awake until 10 pm as it would be a poor showing to be on vacation and not make it until then (also considering we didn't get up until about 8 a.m.)

On to Vietnam tomorrow.

Going to KL

2008-12-05T05:22:00.000-08:00

Traveling again, on the way to KL

Left Banda after another pleasant visit with Sosi, who got up early to have breakfast with us at the hotel.

The last couple of days have been bittersweet, with farewells all ‘round. We visited the library one last time and couldn’t resist making the staff work for a little while on the evaluation statistics and we even did an on-the-spot demonstration of how to apply a book jacket cover onto a hardcover book.

One of the last things that we did was to give the staff certificates for the training they received. The idea for this came about when we were conducting stakeholder interviews with the staff. One of our questions was about the training they received and if they were applying it to their day-to-day work. We were flummoxed when one staff member reported that she hadn’t received any training. We had delivered almost 20 training sessions over the previous 4 missions. Mita was the one that figured it out…..in Indonesia training is documented with certification….so we made up some certificates and handed them out. Everyone was happy and we had another chance to reinforce the range of skills that had been transferred.

We went out for a traditional Acehnese meal with several library staff. There was much formal speech-ifying from both sides. We exchanged gifts with the staff, leaving behind a gilt cookie jar set and many calendars and posters for the staff. We noticed each of our bags were about 10 kgs lighter upon departure.

Then the goodbyes at the house….Yulia, the person that takes care of the house is still yearning for Mr. Roy who had come with us on the first mission. She was hoping they would marry, but alas that was not to be. We have come in contact with so many people that have been helpful and kind…we had little gifts for the staff and probably the Canada luggage tags were the biggest hit, while we were expecting the Canada flip flops to be the show stopper. Ironically, these dollar store items have circumnavigated the globe, we try not to think of the carbon foot print while gift giving.

The ride back to Banda was uneventful, only notable in the fact that it is the LAST time that we will have to travel that wacky road, which is always under construction. Lately it has also been raining. In case we haven’t mentioned, when there is a hole in the road, or some road work coming up they put a big boulder in the middle of the road, to warn you about the impending danger. And if the rock doesn’t get you, you’ll be suitably warned of the hati-hati (danger-danger) ahead. We have always felt a certain element of danger to this drive and there’s a collective sigh of relief when we arrive at our destination in one piece.

We had a very pleasant evening in Banda, on a girls night out. We visited Gemma’s house, along with Louise and Mita. Gemma has a beautiful home in Banda and it was fun to see some of the artwork from Bali and area hung on her walls. We had a very civilized wine and cheese, with olives and wine. Buying wine in Banda is a bit of a furtive activity, at a certain grocery store you say the code words ‘red’ or ‘white’ and take what you get. (Dawna also found that the code word ‘beer’ worked too.) We proceeded to Pace Bene, now at a different location and had a lovely pizza dinner with some more CALGAP staff.

Today was journeying to KL...somehow it was a very tiring day. We have pampered ourselves with a stay at the Pan Pacific at the airport here. We had a lovely buffet dinner and followed by a swim, steam room and sauna. We will sleep well tonight. We head to Siem Reap, Cambodia tomorrow.

Over and out. K. and D.

Final visit with the government officials

2008-12-03T02:33:00.000-08:00

Today we visited the mayor and vice mayor, Mirza Ismael and Nazir Adam. We expected to be there only a few minutes as many other visits had been brief. When the vice mayor realized it was our last visit the conversation continued much longer than expected. He called the mayor to say he needed to come in to see us off as well.

The mayor had visited Toronto and other Canadian cities in the winter of 2008 and Pak Nazir came with us on the exposure tour to Singapore so we had a fun discussion about which library was the best in the world. The mayor and vice mayor both had strong opinions and Dawna and I tried to stay out of it.

Everyone is very proud that as of yesterday the Pidie library has been chosen as the number one library in Aceh province (out of 23 districts). There was much clapping and cheering when this news was shared.

2008-12-02T19:27:00.000-08:00

Trying to get a post off before the Internet goes down again. We have had a bout 10 minutes of service per day for the last few days in Sigli. Evaluation workshops are complete and we will meet with the Vice Mayor this afternoon.

We had a lot of fun together as the staff acted out library stories. Now the writing begins.

We'll post this now so it gets up on the blog and add pictures later.

Lampuuk beach, Banda Aceh

2008-11-29T21:15:00.000-08:00

We met up with Iwan and Sosi today and took a trip to the beach. This is the same spot we visited on the first mission and it has really changed. When we went in June of 2007 the beach was basically empty.

There are lots of food sellers there and a banana boat that takes people around via a speed boat. We saw a mishap with the banana boat- man overboard (girl overboard) luckily it didn't turn into anything. We suspect there was no one with CPR skills in that business enterprise.

Anyway it stopped raining for one day and so with an overcast sky it was o.k. to be out in the sun and not too hot. Afterward we had the usual visit to Joel's restaurant for pizza. After betting on slow service our optimistic driver was the winner - the pizza came quick - less than 1/2 an hour.

We all exchanged our NGO related stories - Iwan is still with FCM working in Calang and Sosi has recently joined a UNDP project. She is now working as a research person on a listserve to share best practices. We are slowly turning her into a librarian.

We also visited the barge and the boat on the roof of the house - tsunami sites. These two have changed a lot with plaques and a park has been built by the barge to memorialize the loss of lives.

We passed a very fine and relaxing afternoon and evening chatting with our young friends including our most recent member of the family, Mita.

From the Jakarta post of November 29- an article talks about a very popular book 'the History of the CIA' which as been banned in Indonesia. The author noted however that the book is already published and selling like fresh cooked sate.

Four hundred visitors a day

2008-11-28T19:55:00.000-08:00

We've traveled from Jakarta to Sigli with an overnight stay in Banda Aceh. Things are changing in Banda as many NGO's have left. Many locals are using the hotel and probably outnumber the NGO types that were very present before. We have been greeted warmly as before by the staff who are by now quite familiar with us after so many trips.

Interesting menu anecdote in reviewing the menu last night we had a good giggle at the English translations - one could order tepid nachos and lukewarm apple crisp- understandable but it has an effect of the selections one makes that might not be anticipated by the author.

One of our favorites Rommell has left to a better job in Medan- he was always ready to share some crazy stories and laugh away. Dawna is so on the ball she brought a couple of snaps from an event we attended at the hotel last time and the staff member was thrilled with the thoughtfulness.

The Sigli library is filled to the brim with students everyday. The challenge for the staff will be to also attract more adults and families. In any event the books are being read and borrowed and the place is hopping.

When we visited however it was a very rainy day and just like a snow day in Toronto heavy rains can keep customers and staff from getting to the library.

On Thursday and Friday we conducted stakeholder interviews with various library staff and customers. We had a delightful interview with two young boys - who reported that they were loving the new space especially the colourful children's area and does this sound familiar they reported that library staff booted them from the public computers because they were playing games. And in this case they had lined up and paid for an hour but the use was not deemed to be serious enough. We'll be talking with staff about this customer service approach.

Harvey Nichols and Padang food

2008-11-27T02:51:00.000-08:00

We went to the book distributor.....needless to say it was different than what we know from home. This distributor focused on Islamic materials but we were told he could also get other books for us. We went through the three different lists we had on hand and narrowed down the choices to fit our budget. It was kind of a self serve place where we had to write up our own agreement letter. Given that that took awhile, Dawna took the opportunity to teach Pak Mukhtar tic tac toe. Before we arrived, we had thought we were going to a show room scenario...but it really was not much like that. The word show room should never have been used to describe what we saw. Hours later, we left empty handed having given them a wad of cash and feeling about 60% OK about the whole thing. We are told it will take a week for the books to get to Banda...we shall wait and see.

The third and final book shopping took place at a very upscale bookstore called Gramedia. It was on par with Indigo for selection, display and range of material. It is surprising to us that there are Muslim based books in every subject, from science to cooking. Who knew? The focus for this spree was children's books. The staff were incredibly helpful and they made this final shopping a treat. The head of the library was delighted to receive a special 'Gramedia' clock which was presented to him upon the completion of the big sale. We even found an Indonesia version of 'Eat, Pray, Love'....Dawna loved this book, Katherine refuses to read it...but Katherine selected it.

The malls in Jakarta are over the top. They are what you would expect in Rodeo Drive. Even have Harvey Nichols of Ab Fab fame. It feels kind of odd to be in these extravagent malls complete with Christmas carols and then go out to the street and see the standard Indo street vendors. Gucci on the main floor and 5th Floor hawkers with Padang food.

We felt great about completing the book buying, down to the last $3. Items were shipped to Banda already and will be ready for the Sigli library on Monday.

Wednesday was travel day, leaving Jakarta for Banda. It was a bit of a long day. We are noticing a different vibe in the air as we progress towards Banda. People don't seem so keen on Westerners. There are not so many NGO's around and we get the sense that people are glad they have left. Maybe this is the ebb and flow of development work when things wind down. Still we keep maintaining a positive attitude and aim to take things in stride.

The hotel that we stay at in Banda is under new management. There are less staff and less of a Western focus in their approach. The internet was down when while we were there.

We headed up to Sigli, first thing Thursday morning. It was good to get to the library and receive a very friendly welcome from the staff. The morning was spent reviewing what has been done (or not done) while we were away. In the afternoon we did some interviews with the staff, to find out their thoughts on the changes at the library. We are gearing up for the main event which will be the evaluation workshops next week.

Over and out.

Going shopping

2008-11-24T07:16:00.000-08:00

Day one Jakarta.
We met everyone as planned this morning. O.k. after about an hour of this and that - getting organized to go book buying, we hit streets to flag a cab. It is only Blue Bird's or White Bird taxi's that we are after. The White bird is elusive but when it comes to cabs the Blue Bird is ever present.

O.k. so we got a cab and headed downtown to one of a vast number of malls in Jakarta. It's lovely that there are bookstores in town and many of them. As you may recall it was a stretch to find one book store in Banda Aceh and that one was pretty much religious texts on the second floor of a hardware and lingerie shop. Go figure.

So here is a picture of Pak Mukhar and Mita our new translator. Mita is studying library science and hoping to further her studies overseas next year. A good English speaker and lots of fun so we are lucky again. we are at a Starbucks waiting for the book order.
Mr. Mukhtar is showing off his pics on the cell phone.

It was so fortuitous that Pak Mukhtar had occasion to meet an important staff member from the National Library recently. So when we got to town he was able to arrange a meeting with the Director of the National Library. The Director, Dady P. Rachmananta generously spent a good half hour with us as we shared stories about the CALGAP project.

It was very encouraging to hear about the national efforts to increase the reading habit through a celebrity reading ambassador who travels throughout the whole country. The national library is working hard to promote reading and library use however it is challenging in a country so large. The federal government recently passed a Library Act and there is lots of work to do around library governance and jurisdiction. Not all provinces are willing to support public library service at the level needed - a common issue around the world.

As a result of this visit we were able to learn more about the publishing industry and the staff member Fadli, who happens to also be Achenese, set up an appointment for us with a key book distributor. So tomorrow is a big day for books.

Another Padang meal for us this afternoon - this is the cuisine that is left out unrefrigerated all day so poses some challenges for us westerners. The Achenese are quite fond of this food. This time around we noticed that the mosquito coils were strategically placed to waft over the food to keep it bug free. We focused on the rice - had a light meal and let it go at that.

Just an observation Nimrod was simply a cabin crew member with an unusual name. We didn't get a chance to hear the story of his naming.

We'll keep you in suspense regarding the dental artist, who is quite a pleasant Persian met while waiting in an immigration lineup. More on that later. No luggage yet but apparently it is at the airport in fact we are assured that it has left the airport-that it is on route from the airport (a 1/2 hour drive) to the hotel -several hours later still no luggage.

Sleep beckons

2008-11-24T02:19:00.000-08:00

A quick post to say we are here in Jakarta book buying. Once we get over the immediate pressure of jet lag we will do a proper post. We can then tell the tales of the dental technologist to the stars and bicuspid sculptor and Nimrod the cabin crew member on our flight from Hong Kong to Jakarta.

The fact that we don't have our luggage is putting a bit of a crimp in our lives but we are getting things done nevertheless. Bought books downtown and visited the National Library of Indonesia and met the Director there.
Pictures later

2008-10-09T17:36:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would add some of the food images that we have as an in between post.
The lovely sushi like dish was on offer at a lunch spot en route during the Bali bike tour.

The next pic is from the Temple street night market in Hong Kong. To date since the trip we've run into a few other folks who have been to this same night market. What you see here are live prawns just squirming on the table beside a shop.

Hong Kong - a day in the life

2008-06-15T09:54:00.000-07:00

We ended up with basically Friday in Hong Kong. Making the most of our time has become one of our fortes. It was a rainy overcast day but we made the most of it. We made our way to the Hong Kong Museum of Art at opening and walked through it. There was a major exhibit about the Chinese influence on the art of France during time of Matisse and earlier. Lots of ceramics collected by French kings and the like and even including a few owned by Matisse. Then we walked through the HK Cultural Centre and found a Starbucks to sit in for a bit as the rain was thick and fast.

Next stop was the Star ferry, from Kowloon to Hong Kong island. We found the bus that took us to the Peak tram, a funicular railway. It was like a Wonderland ride for Katherine. Very moody as the mountain top was enveloped in mist. Later the fog lifted some and we were able to see the wonderful view. We tried to walk around a bit while at the peak but the rain really didn’t make it all that enjoyable. Next stop was a dim sum restaurant before descended the mountain.

Back in Kowloon, we went to the Hong Kong Museum of History. It gave a tour through the history of Hong Kong with many colourful panoramas giving detail to HK’s past and present. It was very well done especially the replica of street life complete with shops and tram. There was a special exhibit of propaganda posters - graphically Coke ads meet red cheeked happy and hard-working youth. Too bad there were no posters to buy- later on we found the same posters reproduced on playing cards- thank goodness.

Next stop was the Temple street night market. We had been told about it by some stewardess’s on one of our flights. We succumbed to some more shopping and have added to our collection of knock-off Sport Sac bags. One of the purchases included a proud sewn in label on the outside of the bag announcing that it was 'carefully made in the U.S.A.'

Back at the hotel, we had some more dim sum (Dawna’s fav Chinese meal) and then headed back to the harbour to see the famous Hong Kong night-time light show.

Wild weather- storm came up in only a couple of minutes. This shot is just outside the Hong Kong Museum of Art.

Only had the one day in Hong Kong. Sadly we flew economy on the way home so it was the endurance flight once again.

Bali - What's not to love

2008-06-13T23:13:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Bali late Sunday night. It was the smoothest airport exit ever, we already had our visas so missed a mega line-up there, our luggage was waiting for us. In a sea of signs held by drivers for various hotels we quickly spotted ours and we were off. As usual the narrow and curvy roadways meant it was a fairly long trip to the inn. We turned into smaller and darker streets and finally after travelling a few blocks down a narrow lane we landed at the Sarinande Beach Inn. It is quite sweet and old worldish. Our room was simple yet tasteful and comfortable,(www.sarinandehotel.com). We felt we were in just the right place after the intensity of our mission. We stayed in Seminyak which is just up the coast from the craziness and bustle of Kuta. We booked here on a recommendation from Mary (aka Sylph) and Douglas- thanks a million.

There were only a few days in Bali and as usual we needed to check out as much as humanly possible within a 3 day period. The hotel offered tours with drivers, and we chose the Tanah Lot sunset tour for that first day. We went to a temple, called Temple Taman Ayun. It is one of the over 20,000 Hindu temples that are on the island of Bali. This temple was peaceful and flowers lovely. Dawna once again challenged herself to cross a rickety bridge of bamboo to be sure everything was seen and experienced. We survived this and then enjoyed some heckling from locals as we walked the shoreline path. Hey mister and so on. There was an artist in residence (or so it appeared to us) in the temple grounds. Sadly most of the work we saw in Bali was just for the tourist so nothing special to get excited about.

Next stop was a monkey and bat forest. Over 600 monkeys lived there and we walked around as monkeys jumped at us looking for food. The bats were more sedate, hanging from the trees during the daylight hours. Still the monkeys did enjoy climbing up each of us and hanging out on our heads until a tantalizing peanut distracted them – thank goodness.

The final stop of the tour was Tanah Lot, a floating temple on the sea. The temple grounds were surrounded with hawker stalls selling everything from Crocs to Gurci (yep you read it right) sunglasses. We made our way down to the temple and it was quite stunning. This was also the first place we had been to in Indonesia that was packed with other tourists and tons of newlyweds who couldn’t get enough of taking each other’s photos. It was a beautiful spot for a sunset and we sat for a bit and then walked around to watch the various views of the sun setting.

We met some Australian women while at the Serinande, Vicky and Guyatri. They were seasoned Bali travellers and we dined with them on the first two nights. They gave us many useful tips and suggestions about where to go and what to see. Most notably, we now each have two pairs of antique batik fisherman pants, made from Guyatri’s design.

Our flight home is being called so you will have to wait to hear about the next day’s adventure in Bali.

There is lots to see but mostly there is shopping. It is actually a pretty cool place for home furnishings and fashion, with designers from France and all over the world represented here. We know we have landed on a different island as on the first day we visited a kind of Pusateri style grocery store, called the Bali deli. We knew then that we were no longer in Aceh.

So where did we go: we visited a Batubulan barong – which was basically a Hindu folk musical and dance show. The Japanese photographer tourist didn’t have any qualms about basically becoming part of the show by getting right on stage beside the performer in the pursuit of a good shot. Next we visited a silverwork factory and then the Batik factory. It was great to get batik tools there to bring back to Canada. In Ubud, supposed to be a cultural center we quickly went through the famous Sukawati market which was no great shakes. Ubud did have some lovely stores and restaurants and we had lunch at Wayan’s café which had an eclectic menu and a classy garden setting with one or two tables at selected intervals so it was quite lovely and peaceful. This amounted to another full day and we landed back at the inn in the late afternoon.

The beach was just a short walk down an alley and the waves crashed in with tremendous power which explains why the area is called the Seven shores and is a mecca for surfers.

Once again we shared a meal with the lovely Aussie gals – DebO and VickO. DebO is known these days as Guyatri, after her Ashram visits in India. VickO will tell you a few tales with great dramatic flare and is a Bali aficionado, she is on her 7th or 9^th visit- she’s been coming since 1996. We ventured into Kuta with them for dinner. Kuta has its own flavour, picture Hard Rock café and the like.

Wednesday was terrific with a full day bike ride. Some of us felt we could have gone a bit faster but basically it was downhill all the way (25 Km). It was very well organized. The first stop was at a hillside restaurant that overlooked a valley, lake and the volcano Kitimati (spelling might be wrong). With mist at the top and sparkling water below it was truly spectacular. The evidence of past eruptions could be seen with blackened landscape and heard as there was a continual stream of dump-trucks taking volcanic rock down the mountain. We also had stops at a plantation: coffee, cocoa, bananas, ginger, jack fruit, mango, lots of different plants were shown and we tasted traditional Balinese coffee (o.k., thick stuff), ginger tea, lemongrass tea…and so on. Down the road we ventured into a family compound that housed four families. We had occasion to see a group of villagers created handicraft items out of banana leaves and stuff to be burned at a mass cremation. We saw all the various stages of rice production and even whacked some mature rice plants to dislodge the rice from the stalk. We were in a party of 6 some older, some younger. We were very well treated with refreshments and a fine lunch.

Our guides were a lot of fun. Here are a few of the bon mots that were shared as part of the presentation: “Smoking is good, not smoking is better.” And the unforgettable “These red peppers may be small but they are really hot. Just like Balinese men.”

We had been told about batik addiction, but had no idea how easily it could take hold. Debo/Guyatri had told us about a tailor she used for her business (she designed patterns to be made with fabrics found in Bali and India and sold them at a market place in Oz). Ade, her tailor sold antique batiks and once we found his little shop we selected some batiks. Time was pressing so we asked him to cut out some fisherman pants for us (ala Guyatri’s design) with Katherine doing the sewing once we got home. We went by his shop the next day (departure day for us) and he not only had cut out the pants but had sewn us three pairs. In a fit of excitement we ended up buying about a dozen batik handbags between us and another pair of pants. We made it to the airport, ready for our next adventure.

Don’t look down at the fast moving water

2008-06-06T07:01:00.001-07:00

We are always looking out for each other while travelling here and one will caution the other when the wrong hand is going to be used, when one might be poised to fall into a sewer, or drink water they shouldn’t and so on.

Sometimes the other agrees and sometimes they don’t.

We were invited on a field trip to see a bridge building project in the area where the GAM and the conflict was centered. It is a partnership project with CALGAP supporting with funds, the community also providing funds and the community organizing and doing the work. The bridge will obviously be a real benefit to the community as it provides a direct route to the local village where before it was a kind of steel girder foot-bridge.

So while there Dawna was keen to go on the steel girder, Katherine cautioned, Dawna proceeded. She kind of freaked out a little a few steps over the water- which was really quite fast moving. Bravely she turned around for the photo op to prove her mettle, never letting on that she was experiencing vertigo. After said photo she hustled back to shore- crowing at her achievement. There were congratulations all around.

Quite a few country people came through while we were there- shyly smiling and confidently walking over the girder bridge. It is a pretty spot with a rustic charm, as the stream curves around bends and there are footpaths going in various directions.

We’ve really gotten around this trip to different parts of the countryside - farming areas and mountain areas also to the beach of course.

__________________________________

Sorry no pictures but we did want to share that one day we were driving along in town here and passed a mosque that was filled with cows. There must have been 40 cows milling about. We had a lot of fun discussing the topic of their meeting. Earlier in the tri p we did share some jokes including the favourite ‘why is 6 afraid of 7’. Find the answer yourselves by asking any 6 year old. So we conjectured that this might be a point of discussion for the cows that day. What did one cow say to the other one in the mosque? ‘You know, I keep thinking it is Tuesday today.’

World Environment Day at the Pidie Public Library

2008-06-06T07:01:00.000-07:00

Thursday June 5 was World Environment day and all kinds of the NGO’s in Pidie collaborated on festivities that included tree planting throughout the town and environmental displays at the town centre park. A painting contest, storytelling and refreshments were on the agenda at the libray. And immediately afterward there was tree planting there as well.

Working over the course of a couple of days we created stick puppet sets for the Great Kapok Tree story and for the Great Big Enormous Turnip. Sosi helped with adapting the various animals to fit the Indonesian context- turnip to a carrot, anteater to a squirrel and senor to tuan (mister). We coached the staff through the delivery and how to work with the children to be participants. The performance of the Great Kapok Tree was truly a lot of fun for everyone. The children were really very good readers and ready hams, if you can say that about Muslims. The boy who was the butterfly was particularly animated and the man who chops the tree was a youth about 17 and he gone into the chopping motions and the whole nine yards.

Just after refreshments things got pretty hectic with the imminent arrival of the second adjutant to the assistant governor and the head of the legislature and various heads of the Dinas (a bunch of bigwig political types). They even have ball-caps with the gold crests of the position and names embroidered on them.

What a scene it was; the fancy SUV’s pulled in and there were about 30 becaks out front each with a tree as a passenger. So the air was a buzz with excitement at the library. The dignitaries proceeded to plant the trees with the library staff providing the muscle to shovel in the dirt. Dawna and I both have trees assigned to us- Rambutan, a kind of red fruit of which there is a picture on an earlier posting if you dig back in time. Can you dig it- Mukhtar has declared that they will treasure these trees dedicated to us. This is said to much mirth.

After that we went for a fancy meal with the officials at the Vice Mayor’s mansion. It was one of those stories where the women stay in one room and the men in the other but for lunch we all ate together. Dawna and I struggled to clump the rice and other food into a kind of ball and put it in our mouths without mishap. Also we were finding it a challenge to sit side ways instead of cross legged. Don’t know how the ladies do it. (So much for our ambition to go home and have a modest tomato and mayonnaise sandwich.) We must admit the food has been a challenge this trip. We’ve been in so many contexts and often the food hasn’t been refrigerated, maybe never- it sits out for hours after being cooked. Let’s just say hygiene is high on the list here.

Mr. Mukhtar reported that he heard back from several of the officials that they want to support the library as they saw with their own eyes how busting at the seams it is. New computers are also possible for the public as there is a project to distribute 100 in the town and the official saw the internet room and the potential there. So he was very, very pleased.

One fun thing from our point of view is that including the library as a destination for the planting and the governor representative’s attendance was just suggested a couple of days after we arrived. Not like trying to book pretty much any politician in Canada. It’s a mixture of very formal letters being delivered all over town on a day to day basis and rampant cell phone calls all the time between parties.

In one way it was a fluke that we focused on World Environment day when we did the planning of this mission a few months ago in Canada. We had our dates planned and basically looked at the calendar to see what festivals might work in Indonesia and there was World Environment Day on the Oxfam calendar. The staff wanted support in doing a community program although the do an annual storytelling competition they couldn’t get the idea of doing something more regularly using different topics, festivals on which to build a program. So it was a great coincidence that the Pidie government was putting a lot of energy into World Environment day here. So what a boost for the library.

Amazing Stats and Jackie O

2008-06-03T08:19:00.000-07:00

We drove back to Sigli early Monday morning. The drive was not so congested, not as many cars but lots of monkeys and cows. We have yet to get a good monkey picture but keep trying.

Back at the library, our task was to review the performance measures that the staff had been keeping and to pull out some key messages to share with the Canadian ambassador when he comes for the visit. It was wonderful to see the growth in every aspect of library service over the past year. The staff were eager to share their successes with us and we all felt very proud. In January 2007, 70 books were borrowed during the month...compare this with 1400 borrowed in January 2008. There were 100 visitors in January 2007, this past January had 2264 visitors. The staff are also now collecting the visitor stats by gender and we are very pleased to note that this past April, there were 2290 visitors, 1242 were female and 1048 were male.

We continue to work together preparing for World Environment Day on June 5. Katherine brought over some paints for the library and the staff planned a poster contest to draw attention to the Day and involve the community. On Tuesday the staff ran a programme where the children and youth could work on painting their posters for the contest. Programming like this is all new for the staff. It was great to see over a dozen young people being creative in the libary and looking at books about the environment. We are all looking forward to the big day. Sigli is celebrating this day with many NGO's and its expected that the library will get 25 trees planted on the grounds as part of the official ceremonies. We'll keep you posted.

While the poster making was happening, we spent time assessing the collection layout and what can be done to shelve the materials in a more logical fashion. Everything is catalogued ala Dewey but as we have already mentioned, shelving had been done by size of book and interest, rather than by Dewey. For instance, books of interest to students are all clustered together. There is now a combination of old and new shelving and our task is to find a useful way to shelve the various collections and new materials. We shared our notes with the staff at the end of the day and they had pretty much come to the same conclusions. They are very eager to make any changes that make the library more inviting and functional and we're positive that the collection will soon get ship shape.

We had sad news today, Mr. Muhktar's brother-in-law passed away. He was a 45 year old farmer and he died of cancer, likely from the pesticides used in farming. The library staff offered that we could come along with them to pay our respect to the family. We had to wear head veils, a first for us. Katherine had a lovely silk scarf which she wore Jackie O. style and looked quite glamorous when she was able to keep it on her head. When we first arrived, Mr. Muhktar introduced us to his mother and to his wife. He stayed with us in the women's quarters and we were served a lunch.

We spent the evening working on the 'Kapok' tree puppets. Although we are lagging and tired most evenings, we made it until 10:00 last night. The art project helped keep us going. We did have a goofy Dewey moment when all words starting with the letter D made us laugh hysterically. This is when we knew it was time to hit the sack.

Paradigm Shift

2008-06-01T04:13:00.000-07:00

We had our first ‘holiday weekend’ during a mission and it has been a relaxing and idyllic time. We took a 45 minute ferry ride to Sabang from Banda Aceh. We were met at the ferry and driven to Santai Sumur Tiga, aka Freddie’s. It is a beautiful traditional spot directly on the beach. We each have our own beach front cabin, complete with hammock on the front deck. There are about a dozen cabins. It is a photo perfect setting. Sosi has come along with us as well. The claim to fame is also that Freddie is an interesting cook and cooks western- in fact he cooks South African as that is his background.

Sabang is a port that at one time was a larger port than Singapore. The main street has an old colonial feel, with large mossy trees that the Dutch brought over decades ago. It does seem like a resort town also with beachfront shops and fancy street lights.

Once we settled in, we decided to go for a becak drive (a motorcycle with a side car for passengers) around the town. It was fun and precarious at the same time. Some of the roads were quite bad so we couldn’t get to some places…we had intended to visit the ‘Zero Mile’ marker which is the most westerly tip of Indonesia but the road was too damaged. (Apparently there is also a 7-mile marker, which was the original 0-mile marker but a geographical survey proved differently.) We then went to see a waterfall. The road got rocky as it ran next to the river. We got out of the becak and walked on rocks across the river and tried to walk through the rainforest to the waterfall. There were cows in the forest and people doing laundry and bathing in the water. The walk up the waterway to the waterfall turned out to be longer and kind of dicier than we anticipated, so we turned back. This turned out to be the theme of the drive….everywhere we tried to go there was some reason it wouldn’t work out. BUT we had a lot of fun seeing the area. Some hills were so steep we had to get out of the becak and walk. We stopped at one point at a most picturesque place and had a cool drink and just soaked up the place. All in all, the ride had all the noise and fumes and insane driving as we are used to here. Going up hills we made an ungodly racket.

There is a lot of snorkelling going on around here – but to us it looked like you just go out there to get baked! So here we sit and sip wine and beer in the shade.

The locals also use the beach and that makes things quite pleasant – the level of tolerance for bathing suits and such is higher so it has been very relaxing not to be always aware of the amount of skin showing. Instead it is about getting burned that is causing us to cover up.

Food at Freddie’s is quite wonderful. Freddie does the cooking on the weekends and makes every meal as a buffet with Western inspired recipes made with all local food. He makes a special effort to welcome the guests and share his special part of paradise. At dinner we talked with Freddie…he has been here since the tsunami, working on entrepreneurial capacity building. He used to live in the house and now has made it something to share with everyone. He keeps putting the money he makes on it into to developing more of it, but being true to local traditions and ways. He also manages another hotel on Sabang and has just wrapped up the NGO work in March of this year.

Freddie has an interesting perspective to offer. We are finding we learn so much from the people around us. He has told us that 75% of the entrepreneurial projects funded have failed. He feels that the Acehenese are waiting for the conflict to return and are not able to buy into the plan for the better future when all they have known is conflict and a lack of control over their destiny due to the power structure. Freddie feels that what is lacking is a paradigm shift. We continue to learn – it is clearly a very complex situation and we just get glimmers when we talk about the government rules and regulations even for the library. Another example in the library context is the fact that we had to push for the library to start going to some of the locations that had been abandoned due to the conflict. Perhaps they too are thinking – ‘why bother, things will just go back to the way they were once everyone leaves.’ We understand from Indonesians here that the number of NGO’s is expected to drop to 25 from the 250 that were here immediately post tsunami.

On Sunday we lounged about. Katherine and I had a nice walk on the beach and a bit of a swim in the ocean before the heat of the sun became too much. We head back to Banda later this afternoon and then on to Sigli early Monday morning. We are having our taste of summer here at the thatch cottage and it tastes pretty Freddie good. O.k. ya that was a bit much but we did mention that we started drinking and it is 11:30 am.

Back in Banda

2008-05-30T08:49:00.000-07:00

There was a hubbub at the library when we arrived this morning. The day before we did an intensive review of the building and how the new furniture and layout was working and what was needed.

When we arrived about 9:00 it seemed there were dozens of guys around. Wooden tables were being taken out and different furniture was being brought in. All the old furniture was in the backyard. The library got some cool new tables on wheels that are kind of like portable computer training tables. So we got right in there, moving tables around and rearranging things so that the main floor was a lot roomier and more inviting with the new furniture.

The upper room, which is the youth area, has a couple of work tables and some shelving. We have learned a few procurement lessons. It turns out that we got about half the shelving that we wanted because of the differences in standard sizing, the fact that there are multiple people involved in the purchasing process and the reality that we were half a world away. If nothing else, librarians are resourceful and know how to come up with creative solutions to stretch a rupiah. We have got a plan in place and we will be able to accommodate the collection with some old shelving. We went to the stationery store and we have a few bins now to help out with the children’s materials.

In case we haven’t mentioned, the Canadian ambassador to Indonesia is going to be coming to visit the library, about two weeks after we leave, to handover the bookmobile and to visit the library. This, as you can imagine, is a massive deal for the community and the library. So we have been doing a lot of talking and coaching about what might be said in the speech…."the key messages". We did a whole review of performance measures. So we are very sad not to be there for the special day, apparently all the VIPs at the event are going to get garlands of flowers. We will be there in spirit.

We headed back to Banda for the weekend. Katherine was delighted to have conquered the bank machine. Last weekend it rejected both of her bank cards and we tried two ATMs. This time it worked like a charm so we celebrated with three Heineken’s a piece.

We ate, we swam and then we lounged around the lobby. Our favourite staff person Rommel was on duty and he insisted we watch a big anniversary celebration on TV. We never did figure out what the anniversary was, but it gave us a chance to see all the different cultural groups of Indonesia and the costuming and dance. Right from Sumatera to Papua. And we were most delighted to see the clapping dance, performed by 600 Acehenese dancers. This was particularly exciting because we had heard about this dance as it was depicted on the new mural in the children’s section of the library. We have also heard that they plan to have the clapping dance performed for the ambassador’s visit. We are just such lucky ducks.

We are off to the beach tomorrow, which should be pretty cool. All the other FCM volunteers have gone to the beach and have told us great things about it. We will be staying at Freddies’ in Sabang. More on that in the next post.

Mountain stop

2008-05-28T07:05:00.000-07:00

Today we journeyed into the wilds with the bookmobile. We left Sigl and drove perhaps two hours along a mountainous road, heavy on switchbacks to a subdistrict that was pretty remote. It hasn't been a bookmobile stop for over 6 years as it required the bookmobile to travel through a GAM conflict zone. The stop was in the village of Tangse and we stopped first at the Subdistrict leaders office. After the meeting was done we ducked through the trees and under the prickly flower bush to the elementary school where the bookmobile had stopped. The second stop was at a high school just down from the market and across the street from a pretty large mosque.

So, well the only to describe it is -it was a mob scene. First the kids were crazy to get a book to look at and then when they saw the white ladies, all hell broke loose. We were swarmed in a nice a way, although Dawna reports a couple of pinches on the nether quarters. We've been told that perhaps they have never seen any white people (boolies) before.

The leader of the subdistrict talked with us about the effect of the period of conflict and how disruptive it was on the population and their livelihood. He reported to us more than 70% of the population were living below the poverty level. It was evident in the children - many with very bad teeth, worn clothing and shoes with holes. Everyone was in uniform and presentable for school, mind you.

Community members were also visiting at the high school stop. Since the library hasn't been there in recent years everyone needs first fill out the registration form, so there was much disappointment when the books had to be handed back and everyone realized they would need to wait for next month before the borrowing could start.

The library introduced new stops after we went over scheduling options and talked about using the current bookmobile to the fullest. We said they would need to do that before they would be eligible to get a second van. They wrote a business proposal about their plan and the new bookmobile was approved. It has taken them a while to get it started but the new schedule is slowly being implemented and the 2nd bookmobile is expected mid June. So now after the CALGAP purchasing is complete they will have another slightly larger bookmobile van and the Province is also giving them something smaller more like a standard sized van. So between these different vehicles they should be able to get to all 21 subdistricts - perhaps for the first time ever. It looks to Dawna and I like the Pidie library might need more books if there is the same level of demand at other newly introduced stops.

There is a lot of excitement about the results with the bookmobile- it is just a huge need and the children especially are thirsting for books and knowledge. We travelled today with our consultant, translator and the head of the library Mr. Mukhtar and the sub head Ibu Nufrida and I think everyone was moved with the power of the service and response. The heads of the library were even nervous and apologetic beforehand thinking that since this was the first time for the stops it might not draw many people. So wow!

On the way back we stopped for lunch by the riverside at a cantina (probably goes by another name here in Indo). It was kind of fun - Mr. Mukhtar didn't think the food was coming fast enough so he started cooking. He's a hands on kind of guy. In fact, when the bill was being tallied Mr. Mukhtar took the calculator from the proprietor in order to check the math. He is a former headmaster. Dawna and I picked up the tab - $8 for 11 people. It was a deal.

We were so beat at the end- bit of sun can really do a number on your wakefulness or sleepyness as the case may be. So it's 9:30 at night now and we are talking about calling it a day.

Seeing the NEW library

2008-05-26T17:46:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we went to the library in the morning. Our official first visit was to be in the afternoon, but we got to Sigli earlier than anticipated and couldn't resist going over in the morning.

It is hard to describe the combined effect of the many changes that have happened since January. First of all, the outside of the library is a marvellous, eye catching bright lime green. (And we mean bright lime green). There is now a new sign identifying the library and welcoming people. Upon entering the library, the first thing you notice is how packed it is with people. AND there are people of all ages...the regular students, but also adults and children.

The new shelving is in place and the collection is starting to get organized by Dewey, not as before where it was filed by size. (They had always catalogued by Dewey but they shelved by size of book, with little nod to non-fiction, fiction or adult and children's collections.) The library now has an internet room, with public access internet stations. The 3 workstations have been available for a week now; already there are some people viewing inappropriate material....so we will work on drafting an internet use policy together. Net Nanny was installed yesterday.

Distinct spaces have been added for children and youth. Currently the youth area is housing a lot of the new equipment and furniture. The children's area was painted with a wonderful mural, depicting local cultural dances and the community. The mural couldn't be more appropriate.

Mr. Mukhtar's office has been upgraded with new furniture too. Hard to know how to react to it since it is very regal and puffy vinyl. It made Katherine think of 'Beauty and the Beast' and the dancing grandiose chairs. They seem happy with it. The famous washroom with the 'If you unplug, it will blow up.' sign has been upgraded too. No more sign.

The staff were so proud of the changes and eager to hear our responses. We just kept conveying to them how wonderful everything looked and we applied a new Bahasa Indonesian word...jelita which means beautiful.

We returned in the afternoon for a more formal visit and to set the stage for the rest of the mission. The big focus is on the preparations for the VIP visit with the Canadian ambassador at the end of June. We will also work on an Environment Day celebration that will be held while we are here. At first, the idea of a community based program was hard for them to figure out but once they got started talking they were very engaged. We brought over paints and prizes and will make a fun day of it.

Last night we had a wonderful meal, cooked by Daisy, Simon's wife. It was a feast of tuna and beef and our favourite Tom Yum soup. It was a nice meal to share with Darrell and Caroline on their last night in Sigli.

A little sidenote on Darrell: on Friday he had the misfortune of jamming his hand into his suitcase and rupturing the tendon in his finger. It now bends all by itself and looks kind of weird. He had to go to a clinic and then the UN Dr. in Banda. The clinic Dr. didn't have a splint so Darrell was able to use a wooden ice cream spoon to set his finger.

In Medan

2008-05-23T20:15:00.000-07:00

Medan continues to challenge us. We are here for the most part of a day. Every time we visit we have our adventures with the folks at the airport. It is extremely hard to tell who is who and of course we landed with someone who seemed to get what we were saying but then delivered us to yet another sketchy hotel in Medan. For the curious read our earlier posts about the Darma Deli hotel experience from a couple of missions ago.

Anyway we perservered and did end up going to the place that FCM recommends which is really quite fine. The Grand Angkasa Hotel is pleasing to the eye and has a business center that has more than one computer, fast Internet and no sketchy fellows loitering (as we saw earlier this morning at the first hotel where we were dropped).

Anyway we are caught up on emails and just really waiting to get to Banda for some chillaxing (Dawna's official term).

We've had many conversations about the project as we get closer to the library and hear everything that has been happening. They have new computers and will have public access so there is lots of policy work still to be done. We guess it couldn't be helped, instead of book trucks the proverbial shopping cart has been purchased. For whatever reason, even with pictures, we just couldn't get it across that this was important library furniture. Of course they may have been jealous of the Banda Aceh library and their shopping carts, so if it was good enough for Banda why not Sigli. We are just rolling with it. (ha) The library will probably look great but crowded with all the new furniture and stuff. It can be quite hard to get the approvals to get rid of stuff so that could be our challenge for the mission.

The best thing we heard en route was that Sosi will be with us for translation and support. Sadly we will only have a couple of days with Iwan as he is needed in Aceh Jaya for another project. He has been getting all the computer stuff set up and that sounded like no mean feat.

Hong Kong again

2008-05-22T23:23:00.000-07:00

A wonderful and uneventful flight - it was some kind of wonderful as we experienced the upgrade to business class for this superlong flight.

Things have changed and shopping in the Hong Kong airport is not the draw it once was.

We heard that things are going great guns at the Library in Pidie district. In the last week or so the staff have gone for 4 days computer training, received what is being called Brodart-like furniture and we will be bringing them 60 kilograms of books that are waiting in Banda Aceh.

We are en route to Singapore and will post more when we next get the chance.

Starting again - tons to do

2008-05-20T17:26:00.000-07:00

Dawna and I leave on Thursday for the marathon trip to get to Banda Aceh. More news later when there is something to report.

fish market in Tokyo

2008-02-19T16:38:00.000-08:00

This is my attempt to capture the exotic nature of the fish market. By the way, that is where I found some cool boxer shorts purchased for my older son. He has a penchant for boxers from tourist locations so this was perfect. Sorry no snap taken of the boxers.

Leaving tokyo in an hour

2008-01-22T00:35:00.000-08:00

We are once again on the move and this time we get on an Air Canada flight first to Vancouver and then TO. Funnily enough we are flying at 7 pm and arriving at about the same time in Toronto on the same day Tuesday.

We composed a whole posting in the Tokyo Reference Library only to have it evaporate when we pressed `publish post`. So this is a recap. If this post is a bit wacky we blame the keyboard which is basically set up for characters not so much for alphabet.

Thursday and Friday in Sigli were significant in that the Vice Bupati (Vice Mayor) invited us out to a dinner he hosted - and awarded us with the Sigli official plaques. At the restaurant it was hilarious when due to the size of the group it was deemed that a wall partition should be removed in order to accommodate the entourage and then the nails sticking out from the floor were hammered down with a handy rock. So that was a big wow.

We are very pleased to have the help of the translator Iwan, while we are away this time as he transitions into a local resource for the library project. So basically we spent a couple of hours teaching him everything about the project and bob is your uncle. What a great guy - we are blessed.

Let`s face it we travelled a lot this trip and Saturday was no exception as we went from Banda Aceh to Jakarta and then overnight to Tokyo arriving at 7 am. We really lucked out on the flight and each had 3 seats over which we could sprawl out.

In Tokyo on the way in we saw one of the dressed up `maid girls` with the frills and high heels. Little did we know the shots of her shoes would be some of the best we got of weird getups。 We valiantly attempted to do Tokyo in 36 hours - shrines, temples, shopping, fish market, museums, sushi, and mastered the transit system in the process. Or so we claim.

The post would not be complete without a nod to the bathrooms, specifically the toilets. They are amazing - what can be achieved with technology. O.k. they have heated seats, various bidet options, the sound of gurgling water and even an odor button which we didn`t try. Given the context of coming from Indonesia where all bathrooms have pools of water on the floor and the usual squat, we were so enamored that we visited more than our fair share of washrooms around the city.

Right now we await our flight in a business lounge and we are crossing our fingers that indeed time will fly and get us home in less than an hour.

Emperors palace looked great in the winter

Unexepected trip to Banda

2008-01-15T07:12:00.000-08:00

Just when we were getting used to the idea of being in one place for more than a few days, we got a phone call inviting us down to Banda for an evening reception. Turns out that there were a lot of FCM Canadians in Banda and it was felt to be a good opportunity for people to get together and network and talk about the different projects. There was also a lot of members of the Banda FCM team too, so it was nice to see a lot of familiar faces. There were a couple of birthdays thrown in the mix too. So our day ended with a nice dinner in Banda.

But we still had our two sessions at the library and we had Yuni and Yurni over to the house for lunch.

In the morning Katherine delivered a presentation on 'Children's Services'. It was a chance to really get behind the nuts and bolts of why libraries program for children. We ended the morning by handing out all sorts of puppets that we brought from Canada...many of the animals are found in Indonesian folk tales. In fact Dawna found a deer and there is a trickster figure that is the little deer. We thought that was mighty nice to have found that. I think the tortoise was the favourite....they called it Johnny.

At lunch Yurni and Yuni came over to the house. They wanted to send a picture of the library to OLA for the superconference and the bandwith at the library just couldn't manage sending a photo. While we were at the house Yurni also got a Facebook account. It is a marvel to see how much technology has become part of the routine now.

Then we went back and talked about the layout of the library and brainstormed ideas about how to make displays for teens. It was a good afternoon.

We left the library and headed directly for Banda. It was a crazy drive...there are road works going on and not much coordination among the road crews. At one point we were inches between the edge of a cliff (let's just say a drop) and a HUGE truck....we all breathed a sigh of relief when we got past. I was glad of my I-pod which we all could enjoy through the car speakers...(Thanks for the Cake Alex.)

First day in Sigli

2008-01-14T04:44:00.001-08:00

We got to the library and had a quick look around. It is so different! The layout has changed, it is tidy and inviting. The shelves are clean and you can feel a sense of order when you walk in. The morning was spent reviewing what has been done since we were here in August and then some brainstorming about what was learned in Sleman and Singapore.
At the break the staff wanted us to see the library. It was FULL of people, 90% students. I mean people were everywhere. It was quite a contrast to the sleepy place we first visited in June. They are averaging about 150 visitors a day…compared to less than 50 when we first arrived. We credit much of this to Mukhtar’s leadership, the increased hours and the welcoming environment. Kudos all ‘round.

In the afternoon we worked on some skills training. We wanted to ensure that all of the staff have email accounts so they are able to communicate with the contacts they have made during the exposure tours. There is a new staff member named Nufina…she had never used a computer before…she now has a gmail account and has sent 2 emails. Other work involved creating a brochure to promote the library…we picked up a lot of samples during the tours and with a template they will be able to create something for Sigli. We also discussed the ‘Thank You’ letters going over step by step the content and structure. These letters will be sent to both Sleman and Singapore libraries. We will work on the draft tomorrow.

We talked about how the library can connect with the community and gain further support from the government. The library is very low on the awareness scale for the local politicians.

There is an easy camaraderie now amongst us and we are getting asked a variety of questions. We spent quite a bit of time today talking about motivating staff to work, stating expectations and the role of the supervisor. It seems that some staff were blaming others for work not complete- imagine.

Back in Banda and then on to Sigli

2008-01-14T04:43:00.000-08:00

We had two flights to get to Banda…by this time we feel like old hands at the process. Once we got to Banda, the Sigli staff went on to Sigli, while Katherine and I stayed on in Banda. It was good to get to the hotel, where we know the staff and felt quite welcome. We booked massages and took it easy for the rest of Saturday. We met up with some other FC volunteers (Jim, Mansur and Ted) and caught up on the various projects.

On Sunday we drove to Sigli. We have a new translator this time…Iwan….pronounced E1. He had spent 4 months in Alberta through Canada World Youth; his English is perfect, complete with Canadian idioms. We got to the house, chose our rooms (we are sharing the house with E1 and two other FCM/Indonesian staff), ate the pizza we got in Sigli and called it a day.

Singapore – Day 2

2008-01-14T04:42:00.000-08:00

The day began at the Library Supply Centre, where all of the materials are processed for all of the library’s internal and external clients. We were given an overview and then a tour. It was fascinating to see the conveyor belts and assembly lines…the staff process 5,000 items each day. They use an automated system, complete with cherry pickers to select specific titles that are stored on the myriad of shelving throughout the warehouse. It was a site to be seen for sure.

The Sigli staff were able to see materials being processed and ask questions first hand and get demonstrations of how it is done in Singapore. The Singapore example showed the precision system that may be far removed from what the Sigli staff were going for, but they still were able to take some good ideas away from it. For instance, maybe they won’t want to drill the books like they saw in Sleman and perhaps they will opt for some reinforcement tape to do the same thing.

Since it was Friday, the next stop was a mosque where the men could pray. The women were free to go shopping…which we did. Yurni and Yuni wanted to buy fabric. It turns out that they make most of their clothes for themselves. Katherine and I opted for some ready made clothes and found a kinda sweet Persian designer shop. Lunch was in an Indonesian takeout restaurant….which was a welcome change. Dinner the night before was in an Indian restaurant and felt to be ‘too spicy’ by many.

Next stop was a neighbourhood library, Bishan. It had 5 floors and special attention was paid to the youth and children’s floors. The collections were full and immaculately shelved. A storytime was being held and we were able to quietly observe it. This all helped the puzzle pieces fall into place….we had been talking about Children’s programming and now they could see it happening.

The final library we visited was Woodlands library, where Roy works. He was able to give us an insider’s view of the collections. It was a spectacular library, complete with a theatre space, reference floor and the largest Children’s department I have ever seen. There was space dedicated to community exhibits, which is something we are wanting to develop more in Sigli. Just like in Sleman, it was good to see so many of the concepts that we have been talking about in action.

We were given an hour break for dinner and then we went to the Night Zoo in Singapore. (Nazir missed the zoo…ask us if you want the long version….) The night zoo was fun. There was a show and then a tram ride in the dark where you get to see the nocturnal animals - lions, elephants and of course water buffalo which are a common sight throughout Sigli. We got back to the hotel by 11:30…and reserved wake-up calls for 4:30 a.m. the next morning to get us on our way back to Indonesia. We were completely beat but we still managed to have a glass of wine and a beer in the lobby…we couldn’t believe how long this day was.

Day One - Singapore Tour

2008-01-12T20:53:00.002-08:00

We all met in the lobby and made our way to McDonald’s for breakfast..yep you read that right. We made this choice since it was close to the library, affordable and halal. We were able to have a meeting in the McD’s before we started the tour and gave everyone a chance to ask any questions.

When we got to National Library of Singapore (NLS) we were met by Lian Geok and Shankari and given an overview of their structure and the steps they have taken to achieve their current level of success. It was nice to see TPL’s statistics along with NLS’s. The Sigli team were quick to point out ‘Toronto’ when the word turned up on the Power Point screens.

We were then given a tour of the many of the floors of the NLS. The focus was on the many galleries and Asian collections. The staff were quick to point out items that were familiar and ideas that they could apply to Sigli. The highlight of the tour was to see the circulating collections on the basement floor. The place was abuzz with people and it was colourful and welcoming. Special attention was given to the Children’s section where the furnishings and contests received a lot of attention from the Sigli staff. They were able to see the different ideas that Katherine and I have been talking about.

Roy took us to lunch at an Indonesian restaurant….we were slow to leave and got caught in a torrential downpour. The ever gallant Roy borrowed my umbrella and dashed across the street to the NLS and got us all umbrellas. We then walked through the Raffles hotel complex and then on through the shopping complex maze and made our way to the community library called the Library@Esplanade that was located in the Esplanade performing arts centre. The Esplanade is akin to Hummingbird Centre and is a focal point for the arts….Broken Social Scene are performing there in March.

The arts library focused on four villages: music, dance, theatre and visual arts. We were shown the collection, including an incredible array of scores. There was an amazing view of the harbour, as there was from the pod of the National Library. These downtown libraries take full advantage of the highlights of downtown Singapore.

We then went to the Merlion for the classic tourist shots. BY then there was a lot of walking and we were a bit concerned about the footwear…but the Sigli staff charged on. We had the sense that the SIgli folks were not used to this kind of all-day walking. So we generously gave them one hour rest at the hotel before taking them off to Little India that night.

Roy accompanied us on the MRT (two transfers) and they got their subway experience, complete with getting their own tickets from the automated machine. We ended up taking a city bus too. All new experiences. We shopped at Mustafa Centre, luggage seemed to be the main items purchased…they didn’t seem to enjoy the Indian food…too hot. Aceh food is really not that spicy…Simon was OK with it because it was similar to the Padang food from his region. We then piled into taxis to get back to the Pan Pacific for the night.

Wednesday – travel day

2008-01-12T20:53:00.001-08:00

We headed out to the airport to make the to trip to Singapore. We were all on the first flight together and then for the flight from Jakarta to Singapore we were on separate flights. Due to the late departure of the flight from Jogja, Katherine and I had to make a mad dash to get to the next flight. We made it with about 5 minutes to spare…time enough for Dawna to buy Dave a magnet, but not for Katherine to get a coffee.

When we got to Singapore we were happy to see Roy Won at the airport. Katherine and I had met Roy in Toronto in November when he came to tour TPL for a couple of weeks. We discovered that our flight flew into one terminal and the Indonesian team was on a flight coming into a different terminal. It was actually the first day that this new terminal, T3 was open. We took a couple of trams to get there and meet them.

When we got there the Indonesians were nowhere to be found. The luggage carousel for their flight had stopped and there was no one left to come off the plane. We paged for Simon, the FCM staff person who was traveling with the Indonesia team. We waited and waited. Katherine and Roy went back to our original terminal, thinking that perhaps we had missed them and they were trying to find us. Four hours passed!

Eventually another fight from Jakarta came through and the team was on it. We had used Roy’s cell phone to call Simon and we were able to get through to Simon once they had landed. Our relief was palpable and it was so good to see them after the long wait. Lesson learned – we should all travel together and we should have cell phones to keep in touch when plans go astray. We were so thankful to have Roy with us, logically working through the steps until we were all reunited.

We taxied to the Pan Pacific hotel. It was a tremendously grand hotel and we were all in awe. The elevators were liked jewelled globes going up the interior and exterior of the building. We checked in and had to explain the rigorous no smoking laws and the fact that one would be charged for even touching a bottle in the mini-bar. (There was an electronic sensor in the mini-bar…you had to call room service to get it deactivated and emptied in order to use the fridge to keep your own stuff cooled.)

Roy took us all out for a walk and orientation around Singapore. We were able to walk from the hotel through a maze of shops and covered walkways to the MRT (subway system). He gave us an overview of how to use the MRT and also walked us to the National Library where our first scheduled meeting was set for Thursday. We walked back to a food court where we had our dinner and then found a money changer.

By the end of the day we were all exhausted but keen to get ready for the days of touring in front of us. Katherine and I stopped by Club Sev (7-11, where you can buy beer at a price much cheaper than any bar or restaurant) and had a relaxing drink in one of our rooms before we called it a day.

Day 2 in Jogja

2008-01-12T20:52:00.000-08:00

We were taken to a community centre that the Sleman library staff had strong connections with. This centre had a variety of supports for the community, including a small library funded by the Coca Cola Foundation. It was interesting to tour the various rooms and spaces and see how the community made use of the space. There was a music room, that was really quite something, with traditional instruments, big gongs. They said that quite a few men came in to use that space. They had a bakery and a room with sewing machines, along with the library.

The next stop was to visit a bookmobile stop. There were a lot of children making use of the bookmobile and it was a good opportunity for the Sigli staff to see how another library handles bookmobile stops. They even had a computer on the bookmobile.

We got some great photo ops with Dawna doing ‘Round and Round the Garden’ with the local children. The kids got a big bang out of it and it demonstrated immediately the benefit of this for early literacy because the kids tried to mimic the rhyme. Later in the van Yurni showed us a similar Indonesian rhyme. So it seems universal that there is a benefit to link tickling with early literacy

We ended the day with a temple tour, this time it was a Hindu temple. Earthquakes had caused substantial damage to the area and we were not able to walk too closely among the ruins. Because of the damage we weren’t able to enter the temple or closely tour it like we could Borubudar. Truth be told, we were really beat by the end of the day…we may not have been able to truly appreciate this spot because we were all so tired.

First 24 Hours in Jogjakarta

2008-01-12T20:51:00.000-08:00

We didn’t know what to expect with the exposure tour in Jogja….we just knew that we were going to visit the library that won the ‘top’ library award in Indonesia.

The day began by us being a half hour late….traveling in a group of 8 means you don’t get anywhere in a hurry. We were met by about 12 staff from the Sleman library. (Slemen is the district that the library is in, just like Pidie is the district the Sigli library is in.) It was really quite a formal morning; there was a head table for the Vice Bupati and Mr.Mukhtar, along with the head of the Sleman library. There were microphones and it took place in a community hall, that wasn’t part of the library. There were a lot of formal speeches, all in Indonesian, with no translations. They seemed very long and there didn’t seem to be any jokes. We had to follow along and nod whenever we heard our names mentioned.

Both libraries gave power point presentations. Sleman library had a video describing their services. It was pretty cool (Katherine just told me this was sounding pretty dry so I added the word cool) because the videos helped with the language barrier for us. It was great to see Mukhtar’s presentation….the bar graph showed that between October and December the number of visitors to the library shot up. December was ten times higher than October. The difference seemed to be that in December they increased their open hours, by two hours…so they are now open some days until 4:00. The best part was that the Sigli staff was thrilled about this growth, almost as much as we were. It was really exciting news.

It turned out to be so good to visit Jogja because the size of community that they are responsible for is almost the same as Pidie. It demonstrated that a lot of the ideas that we are proposing are almost the same as what Sleman is doing and for which they are winning awards. We then drove about 500 yards to actually visit the library because it was in the middle of a torrential down pour. We toured their ‘technical services’ room where they process and load the book information on to their catalogue. They are semi automated but for reasons we couldn’t get answers for….they are still hand charging items at the desk. You’ll laugh, but they drill all of their books with holes along the spine and then sew them together for extra protection. And, very much like Sigli, they have never withdrawn a book from their collection.

The library had several rooms. Two notable spaces were the Children’s room and the Computer Centre. You take your shoes off to go in the Children’s room. There were a few shelving units for children’s books, but they didn’t have enough money for shelves. There was a computer station in the children’s room and while you couldn’t borrow any movies or music, they did have them for kids to enjoy while they were at the library. They had several programmes for kids, including storytelling.

The computer centre was also pretty cool, well it was sorta cool. They had a photocopy machine, for which they were charging. They were also charging for the use of the internet. It looked like an internet café with cubicles. There was a point of interest, the room had a metal grill that was pulled over the door at night, along with a CCTV for branch video surveillance. The room had somewhere between four and six work stations. The room was about 8 x 10..maybe a little bigger but not that big at all.

The most significant thing about the Sleman group, was that all of the staff were involved. A number of staff gave presentations. There was a real pride in their work. The whole structure of the system was community based library service.

We all went out for lunch to this really snazzy place with separated eating huts and a little waterway ran through it with koi. There were rice paddies in the background and still there was the proverbial motorcycle noise and trucks roaring by. Nevertheless it was a delightful place and it was very amenable. We were all seated on the floor around tables. The food was a bit scary at first…pretty much all whole fishes (with their heads on) but there were familiar dishes too, like calamari. There was no cutlery and Katherine had to remember to use her right hand to eat (she is left handed). She ended up sitting on her left hand. We took the plunge and just started tearing into the fish with our hands and were surprised at how good it was.

What was really special was that after the meal there was a group discussion with all the staff, and everyone was free to make comments and asked questions. The best part was that the Pidie staff and the Sleman staff really connected. Very little translation happened, which was fine…it was all about them talking to one another, learning and networking.

There was gift exchange…which actually happened pretty early on. Interestingly, the Pidie people brought a plaque with the insignia of the District. The Canadians gave maple cookies! And it should be noted that the Protocol office of the City of Toronto supplied pens, calculators and pins with the Toronto logo.

In the afternoon we were able to do some touristy stuff. We drove to Borubudur, which is the largest Buddhist temple in the world. The building of it began in the 8th century. Dawna bought a book about it if anyone wants to know more. It was tremendously beautiful. The day was overcast which made hiking up the many stairs and around the different levels enjoyable. There were thousands of images carved in relief in the brick rocks that made up the temple. It was clearly a spiritual place and the relief work was stunning.

We just left the cerebral peaceful walk among the Krishna carvings. Katherine commented on how serene it all was…then as we stepped out of the gates we were overwhelmed with hawkers. The kind of hawkers you had to be rude to, just to be able to step forward. They were insistent on us making a purchase. We ended up buying masks and puppets and even two huge patchwork bags. We had to run to the car and the hawkers even pushed their hands and wares into the car through the window. It was too much! The funniest story from the hawkers was about the patchwork bags…I really liked the look of them, they reminded me of my family of quilters. The price began at 150,000 rupiahs…we said no. They kept following us and they brought the price down to 50 rp….Katherine told me not to weaken, that I didn’t need a big patchwork bag. Finally the bag man shouted through the car window…30 rp! Katherine said, “We’ll take two!” Now we have these big honking patchwork bags. Katherine has loaded hers with stuff already. And for the curious…they ended costing us $3 each.

Getting the blog going again

2008-01-12T20:47:00.001-08:00

We haven't had internet access beyond what we can scavenge at the airport terminals....so today we worked at trying to capture all of the excitement, ups and downs but MAINLY huge ups....that we have been expereiencing over the past week or so.

I will make up several posts, breaking the trip down into various parts.

I hope you enjoy it along with us.
Dawna.

more about Singapore

2008-01-11T14:54:00.000-08:00

I'm throwing in this picture of Borobrudur - outside of Jogyakarta, hope I have the spelling right. We didn't get much in the way of pics posted this time so am doing after the fact but can't always put them in the right spot.

We didn't really note the slogans and sayings this time in Singapore. Went to the National Library, a regional and community library and the Library Supply Center. This shopping obsession here really hits everyone. It seemed every arrangement revolved around when and where the shopping would be.

Hit the Night Zoo last night and had a very brief visit with my friends in Singapore.

The Indonesian group weathered the culture shock quite well really - and we were in a very fancy hotel and the libraries were so beyond anything they imagine to be possible.

We'll get to Banda today and hope to see our friend Sosi who was our translator last time.

Singapore WOW

2008-01-11T14:52:00.000-08:00

It was intense..the library was fabulous, amazing...so much for our group to take in. We did have a bit of 'herding cats' sensibility working with a group that couldn't speak English.

We only have a few minutes as we are about to board the plane and will post again once we have more time.

We can't say enough about our guide from the National Library of Singapore, 'No Worries' Roy who troubleshooted and got us through various wrinkles and semi-stressful moments. All's well and we're just getting ready to hit Medan.

More later,
D&K.

Arrived in Jogjakarta

2008-01-06T07:10:00.000-08:00

We had been hearing about Jogjakarta (or Jogja as most Indonesians call it) since our first trip here. Turns out they also have an award winning public library here too. So this mission we are visiting the Jogja library along with four staff from the Sigli library and the Vice Bupati (like a vice mayor).

Our morning began in Hong Kong. Even though we were at the airport 2 hours early, the line ups were such that checking in took over an hour and a half....we had to get expressed through security and then do a MAD dash to get on the plane. We had about 5 minutes to spare. Good to start the day with a cardio workout. We flew to Jakarta where we met up with the Indonesian team. It was great to see them again but hard to catch up because everyone had things to say and there was only one translator. We all kept wishing we were more fluent in the others language.

We checked in to the Novotel and had dinner out at a street restaurant. The food was so-so...beef satay, prawns, rice and local beer. At the restaurant we were serenaded by different street singers, singing and wanting some money. There were some street youth with piercings and tattoos and even a tranny singer. Somehow, singing 'Leaving on a jet plane' seemed to be a popular choice. We hadn't seen this diversity in Indonesia before. Jogja will prove to be an interesting place to stay for the next few days.

Enroute and in Hong Kong

2008-01-05T06:37:00.000-08:00

The long trip gets longer, but hey, upgrades can make all the difference. We discovered that our 'Elite' travel status with Air Canada has real benefits. Dawna's suitcase weighed in at 65 kg which would have meant a $75 surcharge, but as 'Elite' there is no cost and we each could have 4 bags! It gets even better, when we got on the flight from Toronto to Vancouver we were bumped up to Executive class and each had our own sleeping pod. Man was that great!

Sadly, we didn't get that treatment for the second flight, which was 14 hours from Vancouver to Hong Kong. The flight was ok, long but manageable. We are at a very nice hotel and will sleep a bit and head out for the final two flights tomorrow.

We have our traditional first photo taken at Vancouver....we don't know if we get any better at taking our own photo but we have a lot of fun trying.

Getting set to go again in January 2008

2007-12-11T18:23:00.000-08:00

Here we go again beginning travels on January 4. First stop is Jogyakarta, then a couple of days in Singapore and back to the library in Sigli. So more to come after Christmas.

More pics

2007-08-21T09:08:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-18T17:04:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-16T02:06:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-12T05:19:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-11T06:18:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-09T18:05:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-08T23:28:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-07T05:30:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-05T19:50:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-04T20:38:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-02T21:30:00.000-07:00

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,

Home

2007-06-11T06:10:00.000-07:00

We arrived home last night. It was great to see Dave and Wylie at the gate.

I have put some photos up 0n the previous posts.
Here are some more photos.......

The blog will go on hiatus for awhile until the next mission begins.

Dawna.

The flight home continues

2007-06-09T22:08:00.000-07:00

We are in Hong Kong now, the final 15 hour flight looms in front of us. We flew from Banda Aceh to Medan last night, and then on to Singapore. We met up with Katherine's friend Steve in Singapore. He took us to a local outdoor market where we had a great late night chatting, enjoying dim sum and beer. It meant that we only got an hour sleep before heading out this morning, but it was worth it.

We have been strolling around the Hong Kong airport, buying gifts and things that caught our fancy. I bought myself a travel purse that will serve me well on future trips. Soon we will check in for the flight...sleep and watch some movies and get home.

We are both looking forward to coming home.

Dawna.

Day at the Beach

2007-06-09T00:49:00.000-07:00

Today we start the flight home but we started off with a morning of sightseeing. We met up with our friend Mary Ann's cousin Cordero (Cord) and he took us out for a great morning of sightseeing. We went to a fishing village and also had a good walk on the beach. Cord works for the Asian Development Bank and has been living in Banda Aceh for the past 8 months or so. He had some great stories to tell us and showed us some places that we wouldn't have known about.

It was a fun way to spend our last day here. He even took us to a surfer pizza place that was just perfect.

We are now waiting in the lobby of the hotel. A big Indonesia rock band has just checked in so there is a lot of excitement happening. It is sponsored by a local cigarette company so the air is thick with smoke.

Our ride comes in 90 minutes and then the L-O-N-G ride home will begin.

All for now,
Dawna.

Last day in Sigli

2007-06-07T08:35:00.000-07:00

Today was our last day with the Sigli staff. It really was hard to say goodbye.

We had a hands on morning. Katherine reviewed our work plan with key staff. While she was doing that Rob gave the collection a thorough review and I worked with a group of staff at the computers.

My task was to support them in setting up some basic templates in Excel, to help with some performance measures. The thinking is to have a baseline to measure now so we can track the changes that will occur once some of the changes that we are planning to achieve happen. Each time that we work one-on-one with the staff we find more strengths. I worked with Yurni for about an hour and we had a good time together at the computer. We don't have a language in common but were able to understand each other for the most part. We were both showing each other tips in Excel. I give the staff credit for working in Excel (and Word) because they work with the English version and they have to learn all of the English commands. Just think of having to work in Excel and all of your commands were in Bahasa Indonesian. It actually helped me with my language learning this morning. I am getting most of the library terms down...not that it will help me in the market when I am trying to buy food!

Later in the afternoon we met with the Bapeda (the lead politician for the area) to thank him for letting us work with the staff and to show our appreciation for the opportunity we have been given in Sigli. He was equally gracious and permitted us to have a photograph. The other team was with us for this meeting. They had a good morning with their team too, so we were all on a bit of a high.

The afternoon was spent working on the various reports that are due and wrapping up details. For dinner, we went out to our favourite outdoors restaurant. Manon had a hamburger (which was really more like a roast beef sandwich)...this was the first time we had ventured past the regular satay and noodles. We had so much fun with her ordering the hamburger that we documented it with copious photographs...I even took a video! (I think this shows you how little it takes to amuse us these days!)

We head back to Banda tomorrow and slowly begin the journey home.

Dawna.

Eensy Weensy Spider

2007-06-06T08:56:00.000-07:00

We began the morning with a review of the equipment list. This list itemizes all of the items, services and equipment that will be necessary for the project. Yesterday we had asked the Sigli staff to start thinking about this list. We were very impressed when they presented us with a full list today. Their list was fairly complete and a lot of thought had been put into it. It really felt like we were working together.

Later in the morning we focused on 'Children's Services in the Public Library'. Katherine and I had prepared some presentations before we left and this was one of them. It was fun to talk about ways to interact with children...this was all new to them but I could tell they liked what we had to share with them. At one point we spontaneously started showing them 'Eensy Weensy Spider' and it made everyone laugh. It will be interesting to see the programs that they develop based on local customs and traditions.

On the home front we have been exploring more food preparations. Manon (on another FCM project and staying in the house) and I had gone into the market yesterday afternoon and purchased a lot of different vegetables. I was a bit too squeamish to go into the fish market (you had to go in barefoot with rolled up trousers) but Manon braved it and got some super-sized prawns for our supper. We also bought some beans and noodles that were wrapped in banana leaves. It was take-out Sigli style.

The food has been interesting here. Some days we go to local restaurants and eat whatever is being served. I had a crab dinner that was one of the best meals I have had all year. Today at lunch we went to the local beach and had noodles and chicken. We tried a local drink of chocolate and avocado. It was a different combo and the texture and colour was unlike any beverage we have at home. (For anyone wondering about my stomach....I have been quite fine in that department.)

Tomorrow is our last day with the Sigli team. We are having a photo taken outside the library to place on the cover of our project plan. We have made some connections with the staff. They have tasks to do while we are back home and we have things to move forward too. We are anticipating our next mission will be at the end of the summer and before Ramadan.

I will get to the next level of blogging and add some pics when I get home. Web 2.0 here I come.

Home soon,
Dawna.

Sigli

2007-06-04T22:46:00.000-07:00

The journey back to Sigli was good. I think we are getting more accustomed to the curves, cows and chaos of the trip. There is a wonderful chip stand that we stop at that has eggplant chips and potato chips. There is also an amazing local chip that is made...they are so delicious I will bring some home. We stopped to see some elephants. I was this close to getting on one but realized it would have slowed the convoy down. Drats. Maybe next time. We were travelling up with another van of FCM volunteers. That group is working on supporting the municipal government here. We share the house with them too.

The library staff were all set for us yesterday morning. We went through some basics of strategic planning and visioning with them. We had found out over the weekend that two of the staff had gone through this process with another FCM workshop so they were well primed for our discussions. (Sorry Ruth - this may be another five minutes you don't get back!).

Yesterday afternoon we talked with the staff some more. We were amazed to find out that they had wifi in the library. It is one of those situations where unless you ask the right questions you don't know what you will find out. They had mentioned that they get visitors to the library and when we asked what the visitors do...we were told about the wifi. We checked the connection out today but it was pretty slow and we were unable to show the TPL website as we had hoped.

It is such a different work flow here, The staff typically work just a few hours a day, from 9-11:30...even though the posted library hours are from 9-2:00. When we asked about that we didn't really get an answer. Prayers are at set time throughout the day and most activities stop for prayers. We also awake to prayers every morning at 5:30 a.m. It makes me think a lot about Khartoum and the time I spent there.

We took it as a very positive step when the staff agreed to meet with us in the afternoons, after prayer.

Today we gave a presentation on Canadian libraries. We were a little bit nervous about how it might go, knowing that libraries at home have quite a different look and feel from the Sigli library. We had a powerpoint presentation and set it all up in one of the offices. It went really well. The staff focused on all of the positive differences....lots of light, welcoming surroundings and the set spaces for children, youth and adults.

They had some questions about how things are set up in Toronto and were pleased and surprised to hear that TPL had a woman at the head of it.

This afternoon we return and will talk about getting some benchmarks in place and deciding on what tasks need to get accomplished between this trip and the next one. We only have a few more meetings with them and then we learn how it works to be moving the objectives forward from afar.

I cooked lunch for us today....made from a hodge podge of ingredients that were around the house. This afternoon (after our work session) I am going to the market to get food for our dinner. We have a cook who looks after us very well. She keeps our rooms spotless and also does our laundry. I will miss it all when I get back home.

I am trying to learn a little Bahasa Indonesia (the local language) each day. I am finding that the people we meet speak a little English and when I try to speak their language I get more English from them. There is also a little bit of Arabic that sneaks through so that is good too.

All for now,
Dawna.

Heading Back to Pidie

2007-06-02T18:09:00.001-07:00

We have been in Banda Aceh for the weekend. I'll re-cap the first few working days in Pidie.

When we got to the public library in Sigli we met with the staff and the head of the District. Louise (FCM leader) reviewed the reasons we were there and began a discussion with the staff about their library service, what they were happy with and what they felt needed attention.

All throughout this discussion there were motorcycles racing around the library and I could hear Celine Dion music in the background. It was somewhat surreal.

There is a staff of 23 at the library and generally about 75% report for work each day. The staff get paid whether they attend work or not. They want to have an automated library system yet only about 4 of the staff are comfortable with computers. They have a bookmobile that serves 30 districts over a 120 km territory. They are proud of their service to the public but acknowledge that their collections are not strong.

We met with the head of the library and the head of the district on Thursday night. We talked through the objectives that we felt had been identified during our conversations with them and the staff. The key part was that the head of the library (Gusmeli) had not been able to be present for the discussions that we had been having and we wanted to make sure that the ideas made sense to her.

The evening meeting could have been a commercial for Deep Woods 'off' bug spray. The mosquitos were everywhere and we were trying to be discreet with our slapping and arm waving to get rid of the pesky bugs. We agreed to return in the morning to review it all again with them and the staff. Friday was a civic holiday so we were not sure how many staff would choose to come to this meeting.

On Friday, we were very pleased to see six staff, including the director and the head of the library was in attendance. I was pleased to see that they were not in their library (almost military style) uniforms....they had come in on their day off and were dressed in their regular clothes.

Once again we went through a process of reviewing and confirming the main goal of the project which is to improve the library service that is available for the people of Pidie. They were very responsive and made some good suggestions as to how they wanted to see this happen. It was an altogether different feel than the evening before when there was little comment given about the project.

They agreed to meet with us all the next week.

We headed back to Banda Aceh for the weekend. We had our work cut out for us. We still have to finalize the project plan, with the objectives and a plan lined out for future missions. Over the weekend in Banda we visited with our local resource partner, Sanusi, the head of the university library. He showed us around his facility. We now have an idea of how his operation works and if there is potential for staff training or job shadowing at the university library.

We went to a local book store to see what sort of materials are available. We also discovered a public library in Banda. Finding out more about the book industry in Indonesia and investigating the public library in Banda are some future steps for us.

Today we head back to Pidie to begin the next stage of our work.

We are having a lot of fun and enjoying the people we meet. I am trying to learn a bit of the Indonesian language each day. Katherine thinks this post is rather dry, but I wanted to make sure that I covered all of the details.

D.

First 24 hours in Pidie

2007-05-31T03:53:00.000-07:00

The drive to Pidie was incredible. It was like a Formula One race track without the safety bumpers. Our driver was most skillful careening around other vehicles and going around curves while going uphill. The back seat passengers got a bit queasy and we have negotiated the shotgun seat to be rotated on subsequent trips to Pidie.

We are being driven around in fancy vehicles. There is much evidence of the NGO element in the area.

We're in some kind of villa. It is quite a lovely setting. There is a soccer field beside us. There is another team here working on local government. They arrived first and have the best rooms....we'll get one of those rooms next week when we come back. The house itself is quite huge and grand. We are delighted to have air conditioning in our room. We bug spray it at night. In the morning we awake to prayers at 5:00 a.m. It really wasn't that disturbing but then they are on Rob's side of the house. He particularly appreciates the raspy voice of the chanters.

We had an 8:00 a.m. meeting with the Bapada (local administrator/town manager). He fully endorses the project and sees the role that library can play in community development. He wanted us to 'improve human resources'. This is very forward thinking as we have found that most people do not think of the library as a place that is important.

We were then taken on a tour of two school libraries; (one trade school, one high school) and the public library.

The library needs everything, as we had guessed. They need shelves, The only thing they don't need is the ton-o-books that are on their shelves.

More later gotta go for dinner now.

D & K.

Pluses and Minuses

2007-05-29T07:44:00.000-07:00

We had a mixed day today. A pretty good flight into Medan. At this stage a 1.5 hour plane ride seems like a walk in the park. The scale of things has really changed....much smaller, much grittier. For instance, your belongings go through the security machine and land on the floor in a melee of people. After lining up for our visas, we found our luggage was already gathered by a KEEN porter who we then had to chase after to keep up with, while we moved from the arrivals to the departures area for our next flight.

We had some time to spare so we ventured into the city of Medan. Note - we had no knowledge of the Indonesian language or even how to parrot the word 'airport' back to the taxi driver. However, we made friends with our driver Tom, who gave us his phone number so we could call him back for the return trip to the airport.

We walked about Medan, slightly nervous, as we were carrying the laptops, while dodging traffic and taking it all in. We don't know how it happened but the minus of the day was that Dawna lost her wallet. Yes, you read that right, the sad news is Dawna has no wallet, no money, no credit card...you get the picture.

The good news is, we were visiting a bank around the time we noticed the absent wallet. The friends we had made at the bank helped us to call Tom the taxi driver. Alas, no wallet left in taxi, but he did come back for us and return us to the airport for our final flight to Banda Aceh.

The silver linings abound, Dawna's ticket and passport were in a separate pouch (Thanks Ruth) and Katherine is helping out with the lack of cash etc. So we are now staying at a nice hotel in Banda Aceh and it seems to be quite pleasant here. We know we will be spending our weekends here and there will be a lot of interesting areas to explore over the different missions.

We have met our third colleague, Rob. He seems like a great seasoned traveller/worker who has been working on library related projects in Asia since 1986.
We meet With FCM folk tomorrow, have a briefing at the local office and then head to Pidie in the afternoon.

All in a days work here on the great adventure. Dawna has a lovely new lime green wallet.

We've managed to roll with today's pluses and minuses.

Time for bed.

D&K.

Singapore Airport

2007-05-28T15:55:00.000-07:00

It's Tuesday morning and we have two more flights in front of us today.

The VERY long 15 hour flight from Toronto to Hong Kong was the biggest challenge so far. The time crawled by even though we had great seats with lots of space and leg room. We had the coolest rejuvenation at the Hong Kong Airport, in the 'Traveller's Lounge'. $40 US got us a shower, seated massage, GOOD coffee (for Katherine), internet access and all you could eat food and drink. We spent our time internetting and massaging so we did not get to eat too much.

Next stop was Singapore, where we had 12 hours and stayed in a lovely upscale boutique hotel. We ventured out for a walk to get a phone card. We didn't quite get to the 7-11 but laughed when we passsed a Sally Ann. Much to Katherine's disappointment it was closed since it was late in the evening.

We seemed to have kept up with the sleep and the time change. We will see if the jet lag kicks in.

We have been trying to take photographs of ourselves for the blog at various stages of our airport jauntings but we are miserable at it. It does keep us laughing though. Perhaps it is the subject matter!

We have been prepping on the flight for the project, getting our heads around different approaches. I keep wanting to get there to really understand the lay of the land before making too many assumptions. We haven't met anyone with first hand knowledge of the area. Any Indonesian people we have met have not ventured that far north. There are so many islands (depending on who you talk to it's 5,000 to 10,000 islands. What we do know is that Indonesia is the 4th most populated country in the world.

Over and out,
Dawna and Kat.

Leaving the Rock

2007-05-26T04:33:00.000-07:00

I am heading back to Toronto today, leaving the rock after a really wonderful time here. Someone has requested that I slide a little Newfoundland post into the blog, so here goes.

Ten things that I learned while in Newfoundland....

Cod cheeks are actually delicious.

The wind blows cold at Cape Spear and the landscape is ruggedly beautiful.

People from Newfoundland are exceptionally kind and friendly.....barring last night's wacky cab driver.

You can come to St. John's and not get screeched in.

Puffins are a lot smaller than you think.

The coastal drive to Bay Roberts loops through beautiful little towns.

The painted houses here are an integral part of the character of the place. I was drawn to them continually.

The hills of St. John's could make mountain goats of us all.

You need to come back to Newfoundland again and again.

And last but not least I have learned that Aimee is a wonderful travel companion and I look forward to future jaunts and excursions with her.

I head to the airport in less than an hour. Rush home, throw my clothes in the washer, pack, try to sleep (although I am certain this will be impossible!) and then head to the airport to start my next adventure.

WOO HOO!!!
Dawna.

before it all starts

2007-05-24T09:23:00.000-07:00

Now settled into the going. Have a wack of files in a toolkit hopefully to cover a range of themes or concepts to help out with libraries in Pidie.
Strange to be waiting to get going with the long flight at the front end of it all.
now to check what my partner has posted!

Packing for Pidie

2007-05-23T13:31:00.001-07:00

It has been a bit of a scavenger hunt and a guessing game packing for Indonesia. There are a few things to conside for sure. It is a Muslim country and I will be expected to wear a hijab on request. This is fine by me. The harder part will be to have to wear long sleeves and long trousers in the humid heat. I'm told that I'll be glad of the long sleeves for mosquito protection.

I am the type of traveller that likes to have all of the things I need to make things comfortable.

To date, some items I have packed:
A light to clip to my ear (like on 24!) so I can read at night and to help if power is unreliable.
A super huge quick dry towel that will serve as a wrap and a beach blanket and towel all in one.
Things to make things comfortable on the 4 flights to get there: eye cover, neck pillow and travel yoga book.

I know I will likely not have stuff I wish I had and vice versa but for now it is fun to imagine what I might need and how things will be.

Still hard to think that by this time next week I will have had my first day of work in Pidie.

D.

How it began

2007-05-22T18:55:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe, but less than a month ago I heard about an opportunity for a special project in Indonesia. I put my name forward and to my big surprise I was asked to work on the project. The news was made even better when I heard that my friend and colleague, Katherine would be joining me.

We leave in five days and I wanted to establish a way for me to keep track of my thoughts along the way. We will have 4 missions to Pidie District and we will re-build their public library system. Currently there is one public library, which sustained significant damage during the tsunami. The library has also been covering for about 40 school libraries that were totally lost in the tsunami. By all accounts it will be a challenge.

I'm in Newfoundland at the moment, having a mini-holiday with my friend Aimee before the CLA conference. We have been to Cape Spear to see the most easterly point in Canada. I kept thinking as the wind chilled through me, that by next week I will be hot and humid. I have been enjoying my time here and treating it as a way to relax before the big trip and first mission to Pidie District.