from the horizon

The main event for bringing me to India at this particular time was a Training of Trainers which was organized by RedR (Register of Engineers for Disaster Relief) India. I has attended another on of their training in Humanitarian Logistics 3 years ago. For the past couple of years training had occupied a significant (and the most enjoyable) component of my work, as in order to successfully implement a database, staff had to be trained to use it, so I thought that it was time for me to learn how it was done. I felt that I’d got pretty good at delivering trainings, but this course was a welcome eye opener!

The lead trainer was Stephen Blakemore from the UK, who had a long history in human resources and staff development in the humanitarian sector. He was a brilliant trainer, and held our attention over the 5 days without resting on the crutch of PowerPoint slides, but with an innovative use of other props, such as a bicycle horn (great for getting attention), Post-It notes (helpful for collecting ideas and feedback), Ipod and speakers (what’s a training without a soundtrack?), and cartoons:

He also has this website, which provides a newsletter on training: http://www.nomorefruitsalad.co.uk/

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I left New Zealand with very similar baggage as I had left with for the first time back in 2005. It has been a while since I have been able approach a check in counter without having to worry about how overweight my check in will be, able to carry, rather than wheel, my luggage. I wasn’t going somewhere to live or to work: I was travelling again.

To India. I have always regarded India as a rather challenging travel destination, and I have had friends tell me how it will be a mind blowing experience. I haven’t spent a huge amount of time here yet, however I’m finding it all very… easy. Perhaps it is all relative, and after living in Indonesia, there is just a certain degree of inconveniences, communication difficulties and cultural misunderstandings which I take for granted. Sometimes you’ve got to squat and there usually isn’t toilet paper. Get used to it… and carry hand sanitizer.

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Summer (southern hemisphere, so this means December – February) is a good time to be home in New Zealand. The weather is war, it’s the holiday season and things generally slow down. Yet, I should know by now that a visit back home is not a holiday. In the three and a half years I’ve been away, I’ve been fortune to have been home 5 times, which has helped me keep in close contact with friends at home. However each time there is a rush to catch up with as many people as possible, and take care of all the little  things that need to be taken care of at home: dental appointment, new passport, buying shoes which fit me…

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