Three times today

Three times today, I saw young women wearing Toms shoes. I hadn't noticed any such footwear in the past, then all of a sudden, on three different occasions, I see Toms.


For those of you less fashion forward than me, Toms are casual canvas slip on shoes.  The company promises to give a pair for every pair purchased. When Anita went to Kenya, she sent an email to the company about volunteering with them. Their plans and hers didn't match, so nothing came of it.


Until today, the footwear that I've noticed has been runners, slip on flats, men's loafers and flip flops.


On the way home, in the rainstorm, I saw a lot of bare feet. One young lad was carrying his high top canvas sneakers. Bare feet made a lot of sense in the puddles. It was 33 degrees at 10 am, and only got warmer throughout the day. It was better to have no shoes than ruined shoes.


I, with great foresight, was wearing my gortex runner-style shoes. My feet were dry(ish), just like my body was dry(ish) after 45 minutes in tropical downpour. It was a refreshing walk home.


At Ba Futuru today, I had two interesting conversations. The first was with a Cultural Liaison in Darwin. She had recently been here visiting their sister city. Darwin and Dili signed their sister city agreement in 2003, a year after nationhood, and when many Timorese were still in Darwin as refugees. Darwin has contributed to humanitarian, administrative and cultural projects over the past 15 years. For example, Darwin has helped Dili establish a solid waste collection system (aka garbage pickup).


Fast forward 15 years. What stands out in your most recent visit?  The fact that we, in a richer, more developed country can learn from our sister city. Ba Futuru is tremendously successful in its capacity building programs. It uses live theatre and video to reach people on important issues of conflict resolution, and it succeeds because it involves people in the community. Each script is developed after a group of people on the community talk about experiences, events and themes in their lives. Ba Futuru facilitators take notes and incorporate everyday experiences into the scripts. Each performance is accompanied by a discussion. Ba Futuru staff talk with people, not at them.


Conversation number two. Staff, at a meeting yesterday were asked to send me project reports, so that I can glean facts and pull quotes for the annual report. Vidal said, when I asked if anyone said anything on a feedback sheet that he’d like to share, that one guy said it was really important that the training on alternative conflict resolution techniques was delivered by Timorese staff. The person said that most of the time, such training is delivered by foreigners, and it doesn't have the same impact. The commenter wanted to praise and thank Ba Futuru for this local approach.


It's nice to be welcomed into their fold.


One last anecdote: another fellow asked for help with the English version of a report he was making to the International Labor Organization. Joan, back in Victoria, will express no surprise when I say my first comment to him was “one sentence; one idea.”  It doesn't matter what language you're writing in, the rule applies. Helio and I joked about his discomfort with punctuation. I told him about a woman that I used to work with who learned to like commas. He said that he would learn to like periods.