Dear Readers

Welcome back to the Asian Voices!

Five months already passed since 2016started. The SCI activists might startbusy days for preparing workcamps allover the world.

Hope this Asian Voices add some energy for your actions in SCI movement. Also hope you can share this Asian Voices with the new comers in SCI toexplain how SCI in Asia-Pacific-Mauritiusregion doing.

We have 10 articles for this issue from various topics with enthusiasm (of course!:)).

Wish your happy reading!

Editor teamMaria, Wilbert, Nurul, Pat & Hanae

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1 Note from Editors & The Latest News

2 Peaceful Communication by William Leam, SCI Malaysia

4 Development & Delivery Of Emotional Literacy by Linda Fancy, SCI China

6 Joint International Group Workcamp by Carmen Chong, SCI Malaysia

7 Service In Another Continent by Wilbert Helsloot

9 First Timers by SCI Malaysia

12 After The Project by Stephen Horn, IVP Australia

13 Branch Activities by SCI Bangladesh

17 Report On Social Media Training by Kanam, SCI Japan

18 The Leaders Of Leaders by Lasantha Pethiyagoda, SCI Sri Lanka

20 Blue Rose Special School by Marie Ledent

21 APAD Fund - Call For Applications by Asian Development (Committee) Secretariat

22 Workcamp at Parthali, Dhunkarkha by Punya, SCI Panauti

End Note

Communication is the most important skill in life. The question is whether we have been communicating effectively?

Have you seen a small disagreement turned into a heated argument? It doesn’t have to. My hope is that these tips could mitigate some of the issues and then we shall have peace within and without.

Tip 1: Never say “You’re wrong”Why on Earth would we say something like that? Obviously we must have disagreed with the other person’s view. If we seek to have peaceful communication and co-existence with everyone, then we must accept that we have different view on the same subject.

We should let the person express his/her view to the extent that they felt understood (see the next tip). After they have fully expressed themselves, rest assured that you’ll have your chance to express yourself too.

When the other party felt respected for their views, they would reciprocate your attitude with the same treatment. Beware! Likewise if you show disrespect when they are talking about a topic, then be prepared for it!

Accepting other people’s differing views does not mean you have to agree with them. It means you respect the persons’ views. Respect itself is a universal value that we all want. If you want it, show and give it as well.The wise man says: Let’s agree to disagree

Peaceful CommunicationBy William Leam, SCI Malaysia

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Tip 2: Seek to understand before being understoodAgain we should learn to listen emphatically with the intention to deeply understand where the person is coming from.Our tendency is either pretending, screening for words, just nodding or active listening. The difference between active and empathetic listening lies in its intention.

In active listening, we reflect some words and feeling back to the speaker. What is the missing component? The heart: how do you know that?; you feel what the speaker is feeling, you understand and the speaker feels understood.

Tip 3: Watch your body languageRecently I had an experience that many could relate to: the person we talk to seemed to focus on something else but to your conversation. Don’t we feel irritated by such behaviour?Sooner or later this negative action would only lead to unfriendliness and even a sense of contempt between both parties. Eventually this will end up with a personal conflict.

Tip 4: Be sensitive to the local cultureA culture is the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time.If you have been to certain countries, you might find that it is OK to wear shoes inside the house but certainly not in Japan and Malaysia. Simple thing like this could give rise to misunderstanding. They might feel offended by your unintentional action.Think of some real examples in your real life.

Tip 5: Learn from conflictConflict is inevitable in any kind of relationships. As much as we wish to avoid this unpleasant encounters, it is bound to happen to us.

As a response to this, at least we could learn a lesson or two from it. If it’s really the other party’s mistake, we could forgive him or her first. Then we should have an honest communication about the conflict.

In response to the body language of my friend, I told that person that it’s irritating to see that sort of behaviour. When

I said that, I also watched my own body language including my tone of voice so that the listener would see it in a positive way.

If we show our anger or say it in a harsh voice, the matter could get worse. It’s a skill that is worth practising.

Tip 6: Open mindednessWhat this means is that we are receptive to arguments or ideas because we are open to being influenced by others. Normally we become defensive when people express anything that goes against our values, beliefs and opinions.Must we agree with these? Not at all, we listen to the speakers not in order to disagree but to see things from his or her perspective. By doing so, they sense your sincerity and the impeccable attitude of yours that could open up their own hearts to listen and understand you in return.

Most of the time, we are driven to state our opinions in reaction to what we listen (Opps....hear).

Tip 7: Practise non-judgement of othersThis is perhaps the most vital point and the hardest to practise among the seven tips.

Why do we judge people and phenomena? It’s owing to our judging mind. If you are mindful of your thoughts, you find that they are pretty critical about many things.

Since this is a mental habit, we must train it mentally then. Learn to see things in a positive manner regardless of whether you like it or not.Let’s say your boss didn’t fulfill her promise; you can still forgive her and give her the benefit of the doubt. You can use the tips to talk her out.

Believe me, if you can make her feel understood, she would fulfill her own obligation to you. In the end, non-judgement is meant to calm your mind and thus you could also unleash its power to solve your problems beyond your relationships.In a nutshell, our strive for a peaceful life and world must start from our communication skills.

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Emotional Literacy became the theme of the camp due to the increase of thenumber of suicides among local studentssince the start of the school year.

The intention was to help the studentsbetter understand the nature of emotions,where they come from, and how to selfmanage their state appropriately so theydon’t feel overwhelmed.

Experiential games and interactiveactivities provided creative contexts and outlets for the students to express and process their emotions.

Emotional overload has been hitting the media headlines as Hong Kong has been facing the harsh reality of how academic pressure impacts young minds and their inability to cope.

“We live in such a fast paced society with both parents working full time in most cases, and leaving their children to be cared for by a domestic helper,” reported a local mother, Mrs. Lam.

SCI Hong Kong joined hands with MeManagement in the development

and delivery of Emotional Literacy weekend workcamps for local

HK school students at Mt Davis Youth Hostel during April.

In it’s fourth year, the programme was part of the Global Education

project facilitated among 40 students from four local schools.

Joining the international team included volunteers from SCI branches.

Development & Delivery of Emotional Literacy By Linda Fancy, volunteer of SCI China

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“As parents we feel that children should be given every opportunity to learn and experience all they can at a young age to increase their chances as adults. We fill their every waking moment with extra lessons, like in language, sports and music classes. Then there are the extra curricular studies for enhancing the child’s understanding of a particular subject they may not be doing well in. Not to mention the standard daily homework load given by the teachers. All this is becoming too much as children just don’t have time to be children anymore.”

Feedback from the students at the end of the camp included how it has deepened their understanding of different emotions, and the importance of releasing feelings in a suitable way rather than keeping them bottled up inside. The morning meditation was acknowledged to be useful to release stress, help them to feel more calm and relaxed, and for problem solving.

Other creative activities like writing, drawing, music, dance and drama were seen as good ways for them to express their feelings and have fun. One consistent message from the students at the work camp was the sheer joy of being able to engage in the activities in a relaxed way without the everyday pressure to perform, and the free time permitted for them to just be their young selves.

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My name is Carmen Chong, committee member of SCI Malaysia. I joined SCI Malaysia since 2009 and I have the privilege to lead a workcamp since August 2015. Among all the workcamps that I have joined, my favorite workcamp is definitely the recent Joint Workcamp that I attended.

SCI Malaysia and Hong Kong with joint Partner - Yayasan Salam Malaysia is organising a back to nature community project with the Temuans community at Kg Pertak, Kuala Kubu Bahru in December 2015 (The Temuans are one of the indigenous peoples or Orang Asli of Malaysia).

This workcamp was held in a village called Kampung Pertak during December 2015 with 24 Hong Kong City University students, Maduka Roshini Karunarathne from SCi Sri Lanka, Kevin Sullivan from VSI Ireland and 18 local volunteers including SCI Malaysia members.

Volunteering experiences in the village including teaching the children in the village, wall painting, learning their arts and crafts, donating basic necessities to the poor, river cleaning and many more. It was fun to get to know the local villagers, experiencing their living as we stayed together with the villagers.

I was responsible for delivering creativelearning and play activivities to the children. It was a satisfying experience as I was ableto create fun activates, materials, observing child development and conducts. I enjoyedworking with the children as I love kids andI always believe that children represent thehope of the country.

The diversity of the workcamp wasincredibly exciting and the idea of workingwith people from different country to learnof new cultures, sharing different viewsand achieving the same goals was apriceless experience for me.

Joint International Group WorkcampBy Carmen Chong, SCI Malaysia

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When I approached Sathya for an interview with Asian Voices, he reacted with full enthusiasm. Before I was aware, he composed in Skype the following sentence: “After coming over to Europe and staying here for the past few months, I feel my exposure has opened up so many opportunities to meet new people, cultivate friendships, explore and understand new ways of life and understand various cultures. This brief but eventful stay here has so far taught me new insights on the history, politics, customs, food and culture of different regions / Countries of Europe. It was a Non- formal education albeit, leading to a deeper understanding of the life style and greatness of this European Continent.”

And the interview did not even start! This was kind of promising. At the question of the sentence above was a famous quote of him, Sathya answered: “Hehe… I just wrote what I felt . Those are thoughts popping out of my mind when someone asks about my pleasant experience here in Europe.”

At the end I spoke to Sathya by Skype on a Friday- afternoon. In order not to be disturbed by colleagues and to be able to talk more freely and openly, he settled himself behind his laptop in the office of VIA-Belgium (same building, but separate room).

How did you become aware of the position of Tech-LTV in the International Secretariat?I was studying Information Technology. The head of the department of I.T knew Mr Jayaprasad Sir (national secretary of SCI India, WH) and got to know about this possibility and informed me.

Did you apply immediately?Yes, I thought it was a good opportunity. I got full guidance and support of Jayaprasad Sir, whom I would like to thank very much.

And then you left for Europe… Was it difficult to adapt to European lifestyle?It was much easier than I was told. Several people warned that I would experience a culture-shock, sort of being treated as “other people”, “other mentality”. But that was not the case at all. I was also warned about the food and weather but they too were not bad either. By the way, I soon started attending an Integration course and till now attending lessons in Dutch language regularly too.

Service In Another ContinentBy Wilbert Helsloot

Sathya (21, from Mumbai, India) is since September 2015 the so-called tech-LTV face at our International Secretariat. He thoroughly enjoys his time in Europe, gains new personal skills and for sure plans to stay in Europe, if possible, even after his service ends.

An interview with the intercontinental long-term volunteer about time-management, recipes from Mum(bai) and freedom of life in Europe.

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Did you face obstacles (especially in the beginning?)Well, I did have to deal with time-management. It is much more time bound and organized in Europe. Now I am getting more used to it. The work was also sometimes very demanding in the beginning.

Do you consider yourself as a member of a minority-group in Europe?As a person representing India, yes I am minority in that sense. But, in the broader perspective of hard working people wide, I belong to the majority and consider myself as that.

Do you miss Indian food?No, not really. On occasions I go to an Indian restaurant in Antwerp…… And I learned cooking here by asking my mother in India for recipes. I also have a like for different kinds of breads here and other vegetarian cuisines to name a few.

What do you consider as typical Europe (or Antwerp)?The lay-out of the city is typically European. Besides that, there are lots of historical monuments and buildings. Not to say the least of all - the bikes in the city landscape and the freedom to enjoy your ride safely. Eventually it is good against pollution also and eco-friendly

Did Europe broaden your horizon and in what way? Yes, I experienced there is lot of freedom here. Freedom to shape your own life, to choose your field. It is not viewed by the destination from where you come. Rather it was measured by the desire you wish to reach your goal. That is not always the case in India frankly. I am lucky in the sense that I have supportive parents and can make my own choices. Not many can boast of such supportive environment.

You are EVS in the International Secretariat (IS) of SCI. What are your tasks in the IS?I have basically 3 kinds of tasks associated with my work • IT-support and software-development • Working on different Technical platforms / projects • General Administrative tasks

How is it like: working in the IS?It is truly enriching for me. My colleagues are very supportive and I especially would like to thank Ms Ela, Ms Sara and Mr Ossi a lot. I had my mid-term evaluation that was very positive and encouraging. I also have a good relationship with members of the Tech Team of SCI towards the role and responsibilities.

And when does your service end? And do you have plans after your service?I really hope it will last for quite a while, but officially it is to end by August 16. My plans are not defined yet clearly after this but for sure I would like to stay here in Europe in pursuance of my goals and knowledge for sure.

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Hi Alagesan and Sherlock!

First of all, thank you so much for agreeing to do this interview. I heard many wonderful stories from your training and trip. It will be good to share with others. Through your sharing it will benefits all the readers and also maybe welcoming new volunteers too.

Q1 : Introduce yourself…Alagesan: My name Alagesan Ayaru from SCI Malaysia, Penang Chapter. Hometown Bukit Mertajam- Penang. Profession as Business Director and Sports and Workcamp Director portfolio with SCI Malaysia, Penang Chapter. Assisting President for all official matters as well. Working closely with other affiliates NGOs and building Youth Development group under SCI banner

Sherlock : My name is Liew Shan Kun also known as Sherlock. I come from a small peaceful town, namely Kuala Kangsar, Perak. Currently, I am currently studying Bachelor’s degree programme in Mechanical Engineering in University Sains Malaysia. One more year of study then I will graduate to be a real qualified engineer =)

Q2: First time overseas? Do share with us on your preparation for this training…Alagesan: For me, I’ve been travelled throughout Global including Europe. Preparations as simple as book the tickets, learn about the country that I will be visiting, check on climate and foods/beverages as well. For training portion, get existing and upcoming activities details. I also bring some display items including souvenirs for Facilitator and participants.

Sherlock: It all began with a call from Uncle Stephen about an extra vacant slot for this Social Media Training Program in Hong Kong in the coming week. Without second thought, I immediately accepted it because it was indeed a rare golden opportunity to have the honor to represent SCI Malaysia to be part of this program. Despite that I had to skip classes for a week which I need to deal with my lecturers in university and especially my parents. At first, my parents were so against the decision that I made to participate in this program as it was too sudden and they were too worried about my studies as I had to skip classes, and also my safety in overseas. After days of repeated explanations, I managed to convince them to let me join this program. It was my first time! I’m taking a flight away from my dear homeland, Malaysia to the other country. I was so thrilled for it. Again, a big thank to Uncle Stephen whom helped me to book the flight ticket for me as I really had no idea how to do that. Next time, I will do all that on my own.

Hi everyone! Welcome back to the latest issue of AV. In this issue, I had

the opportunity to interview wonderful and passionate volunteers of SCI

Malaysia. They are Sherlock Kun and Alagasen Ayaru. Both of them had

participated in the training organized by SCI for the first time. Sherlock

participated in the Social Media Training in Hong Kong (February 2016)

and Alagesan participated in the Training of Campleader Trainers (April

2016) in Greece.

First-TimersBy SCI Malaysia

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Q3) Tell us your experience attending training overseas. Alagesan: Training was very useful and beneficial. No culture shock as I’ve been travelled Europe previously. No home sick as well. Comfortable accommodation and delicious healhty foods.

Sherlock: In old days, people promote their products or activity via poster, phone call, radio and television. But now the world has stepped into a new transformation where internet connects everyone all over the places. Thus, in the current generation, social networking plays an utmost important role in spreading information. Though this training program, I’ve learnt to utilize social media as a platform to publicize workcamps or any peace related activities to the mass on behalf of an organization.

In this training program, we were divided into four working groups, and they are content curation, photography and video editing and social media planning. I was in the photography working group. In short, what my group members and I did were taking tons of photos throughout the whole training program; filtering out the ones that contains SCI values; figuring out the quotes that relates the photos to the SCI values; editing the photos with PicMonkey, a simple-to-use online photo editor; finalizing the poster by adding SCI logo and website to them so that they are ready to be published.

The processes sound simple but it takes a long time to complete and there are formats, rules and regulations to be abided by which I never knew until I joined this training program. Really a big appreciation to our awesome trainers Marta and Vio for their patient and relentless guidance. We had a great support and input from them.

Besides the knowledge gained, I also made new friends of different countries, races, cultures and backgrounds. I was the youngest participant in the training program and probably because of that, everyone treats me very well and I really cherished the friendship that we forged throughout the one whole week program. Shall we meet again in coming program in future.

To me, Hong Kong is a country with a much faster living pace compared to Malaysia. The culture of Hong Kongese are roughly the same as the Chinese culture in Malaysia. So I do not face any culture shock throughout the time spent there. However, there is one thing, the way that Hong Kong people speak aren’t as friendly as the people in Malaysia. This happened many times when we order food in

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restaurant, the waiter that serves us are so robotic and they don’t give any facial expressions like smiling or asking “how are you”. What the waiters did was just asking what you want and then leave. Furthermore, they get frustrated easily if you don’t answer them immediately. Also, I learnt that it is common thing to share a table with strangers when eating as there are limited spaces in every restaurant. Aside from that, there is one session in the training program where all of us went to a secondary school in Hong Kong and conducted human library for the students there. Through this activity, I was so grateful that I can share with the students about my own homeland, Malaysia and in turns, they share with me about the lifestyle of being a Hong Kongese and the famous food in Hong Kong. So, there is cultural exchange going on between the locals and me.

The accommodation in the training program were superb. Heater, air-conditioner, Wifi, kitchen, all the basic facilities were well-equipped and provided. However, I didn’t manage to sleep well every night. Maybe, I was homesick and the weather is too cold.

Q4: Would you like to attend more training/ meeting/ exchanges in the future? Did you know more about SCI?Alagesan: Yes, I am looking forward to join and attend Training/Meeting/Exchange in future. I also did some research about SCI previously and still exploring more about SCI.

Sherlock: Definitely, if I’m given chance, I will be taking the opportunity to attend more training program, meetings or exchanges in future. In my point of view, joining this program allows the SCI people from different countries and also the people from other organizations to be connected together

that makes me think that we are actually a big big family despite of different backgrounds. =)

Q5: How to encourage more students/ youth/adults in joining volunteer work? Alagesan: Through building/ developing Youth SCI CLUB which planned and working on it. Visits schools and college’s by organising Youth Development programme. Bring level of understanding about Volunteering work among younger generations

Sherlock: To encourage more people to join volunteer work, I think the best way is to show them a model by start doing it ourselves. Then, share with them about the experience we’ve gained through volunteering. By doing this, we can only influence people to join us and to be part of us in volunteering.

Q6: Say a few words to your readers…Alagesan: For SCI members- Learn more about SCI.. be passionate.. get involved and attend Training. For readers - SCI is good platform for younger generations and also adults. Keep supporting SCI.For volunteers - Keep Serve Without Expectations

Sherlock: Thinking won’t get us anywhere, only action can make the thought come true. Don’t think further, start by moving a step forward, join us in volunteering. SCI always welcomes you. =)

Thank you so much Sherlock and Alagesan. I really hope our readers will be motivated and passionated as you both. Thanks again for your time and I wish you both All the best!Compiled by Nurul Syahida Ahmad Said (SCI Malaysia)

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On Monday 9th May pupils at Taralga Primary School met a group of international volunteers who had been working to restore woodland at Stonequarry cemetery. The volunteers introduced themselves to the children using colourful charts and interesting facts about and where they were from - France, Malaysia and Chile. Stephen Horn gave an overview of what the group had been doing in the small woodland section to the north of the cemetery and placed it within local geography through stimulating questions to the children.

The students then took part in sessions to underscore the role of birds in the Stonequarry project. Nikki Taws from Greening Australia brought along a wide variety of nests that the children could touch and examine as she elaborated on the different needs of the birds and the variety and ingenuity displayed in the nests. Then under Jane Lyons direction they created a group art work with paint and collage, depicting the colours, shapes and habitat of birds typically frequenting local woodlands.

Cold and rainy weather prevented the other planned action of tree planting with the children at Stonequarry, so a community planting day will be organised soon to plant in the holes prepared by the small group from International Volunteers for Peace. For the preceding ten days, the group were working on the Stonequarry site, following the work of earlier groups of volunteers in the last two year. As a result the site is now largely free of debris as well as blackberry, broom and hawthorne. A walking path has been established enabling the public to become familiar with the variety of wildlife and small and large native plants that makes this small fragment of grassy woodland home. It is known that this area of this part of the cemetery reserve was used for unconsecrated burials over much of its long history. The IVP project is collecting more information and evidence of these practices, and volunteers came up with ideas for recording the local history through the interesting graves and headstones they found in the cemetery proper. A highlight of the work camp for volunteers was the appearance of its mascot family of swamp wallabies, posing for photographs on several of the days and a sighting of a grey currawong feeding on the ribbon gums, now largely restricted to the site, but once providing tree cover in the surrounding paddocks. While the clearing of woody weeds has been a great success, challenges are to replace these with similar native species as the thick cover is required by smaller birds and animals.

After The ProjectBy Stephen Horn, IVP Australia

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Volunteers engaged with local community members at a musical session at the Taralga hotel, organised by Goulburn Club singers and the Taralga ukulele group on the first Sunday of their stay. On the second Sunday they called on the Taralga museum and they also engaged with cemetery visitors and neighbours. The IVP connection with the Taralga Sports Cooperative was renewed when Kevin Thompson turned up one morning with ice creams and water bottles. He had a cheerful reunion with Mylene, from France, who had been on the 2012 camp based at the showground. Kevin, drawing on his horticultural experience, provided advice and contacts for furthering the aim of presenting the woodland to the public as an integral part of the cemetery reserve.

IVP is keen to see a future care plan negotiated with The Shire who areresponsible for the reserve, using appropriate plantings and maintenance,which should be at lower cost than thepresent methods and sustainable forthe cemetery reserve as a whole. Othercemeteries in the area under shiremanagement have already embraced thiscombination of environmental and cultural

principles in their management plans.Certainly the infectious enthusiasm of the visiting volunteers has put the treasuredsite on the map, and not least amongTaralga Primary School students for whomit can serve as an accessible open airclassroom through the year.

The Stonequarry project is funded by the State Government through the Foundation for National Parks as part of Kanangra to Wyangala (K2W) Great Eastern Ranges Initiative. It has been guided by experienced bush regenerators from Friends of Grasslands, and by the Taralga Historical Society, and carried out under the auspice of the Taralga Cemetery Committee.

Further weekend working parties will be held leading up to another 2 week work camp for international volunteers in February next year. Local involvement is warmly welcomed. Contact Rita Warleigh, 0450 900276. To find out more about international volunteers for peace visit their site: www.ivp.org.au. Information on the K2W link is available on: http://www.greateasternranges.org.au/our-partners/ger-regional-partnerships/kanangra-boyd-to-wyangala-link/

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PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTED

Work Camp:SCI BD organizes three work camps From June 2015 to April 2016

1. Sitakunda CampSCI BD and Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) have jointly organized a summer work camp from July 28-04 August, 2015 where 12 volunteers participated in the camp (01 volunteer from IVS UK and four local volunteers). John Orin from IVS has fly back to England on the second day of the camp due to his mother’s illness. Work camp focused on environmental issues. Volunteers planted environmental trees, Clean YPSA premises, Volunteers participated in a series radio program on Climate change issue, setup sanitary toilets in local communities.

2. Rangabali CampSCI BD organized a summer work camp from September 09-17, 2015 at SCI BD project premises, Rangabali, Patuakhali. Though the camp was scheduled for 12 days but due to bad weather condition it was reduced to 08 days. Volunteers were involved in earth work for fencing and prepare the ground for the construction of Mother and Child care Centre.

3. Medical Camp SCI Bangladesh in collaboration with Lions Club of Dhaka Ideal Green and BNSB, Patuakhali has organized a three days long medical camp from 18 – 20 February 2016 and earth work at under construction Mother & Child care Centre in Rangabali from 21 – 26 February 2016. The medical camp was provided various services that would include eye camp, dental care, cleft leap, paediatric treatment, primary gynaecological services and general surgery and medicine to 2,700 patients. 28 patients were referred to BNSB, Patuakhali Hospital for cataract surgery. A total of 18 doctors from various disciplines from Dhaka, 12 national and 2 international volunteers from Japan and a good number of local youths were participated in the medical camp. After the medical camp the volunteers were clean construction debris, levelling the premises and made a walkway by bricks & brick chips.

Branch ActivitiesBy SCI Bangladesh

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GOAL 2017: 160 Million Tree Plantation:The UN Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2011 had cited that Bangladesh ranked 1st and 6th among 162 countries in terms of human exposure to floods and cyclones respectively. Densely populated and with low development indicators, Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to increased frequency and intensity of hazards.Trees can play an important role to mitigate climate change. There is huge potential for tree planting, forest protection and agro forestry in Bangladesh to mitigate climate change. Roadside plantation has also been one way to increase tree cover. Trees reverse the impacts of land degradation. Trees help communities achieve long-term economic and environmental sustainability.

Under the above-mentioned backdrop and as partner of Create a Climate for Peace Campaign of SCI International, SCI Bangladesh in collaboration with Green & Clean Movement set a GOAL 2017 and launched a two years (2016-2017) country wide campaign titled “GO GREEN BREATH EASY” to Plant 160 Million trees (One person One Tree) to fight against climate change. The Campaign was launched through a day-long cleaning and tree plantation program on 28th March, 2016 at Tungipara, Gopalgonj, Bangladesh.

Create a Climate for Peace Campaign:SCI Bangladesh initiated a two days workshop followed by two days weekend camp at Kuakata, Patuakhali from November 11-14, 2015 to strengthen the capacity of SCI’s volunteers as well as members of other voluntary organizations on the causes and consequences of climate change and possible measures to reduce the risks of climate change with the financial support of GAIA MicroGrants.

Workshop on Climate Change Impact & Adoption policiesThe workshop was conducted using participatory method. Two key note papers were presented in the workshop. Participants were divided into four groups and they have presented their thoughts and understanding of the consequences of climate change.

Weekend Camp on Climate Change IssueVolunteers took part in cleaning the beach and conducted campaign with local communities, tourists and representatives of the local administration on climate change impact and importance of beach cleaning and volunteers visited Rakhain village (local indiginous community) for cleaning campaign and to aware them about climate change impact.

Weekend Camp:SCI BD organized two weekend camps 2015 at Khalia and Kuakata under C4P Campaign activities. Total 32 local volunteers were participated in those camps. It was a cleaning campaign at the Kuakata Sea Beach and Khalia Peace Centre. Volunteers were clean the sea beach, remove debris and clean Khalia Peace Centre premises.

International Volunteer Day (IVD) 2015:SCI BD has organized two events to observe IVD 2015. The program includes daylong camp and a Blood Donation camp.

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Day Long Camp: Volunteers were repair the village road and road side cleaning. Students from local school were also participated in the IVD camp.

Blood Donation: With the technical support from Bangladesh Red Crescent Blood Centre SCI BD organize Blood donation program on the occasion of IVD and 42 bags of blood were donated by SCI volunteers.

Blood Donation Camp:SCI Bangladesh organized 03 blood donation camps from June 2015 to April 2016 and total 136 bags of blood were collected.

Vocational Training:Netrokona unit of SCI BD send 25 volunteers to BITEK a government institution for vocational training on Refrigerator/TV and welding for two months.

Regional Exchange:October 2015 Tamzid Hasan Unique volunteer of SCI BD took part in work camp in Nepal, and December 2015Tapan Das & Tamzid Hasan Unique Took part Work camp in Tamil Nadu, India

Participation in AEEP 2015:After a long break, last year Maksud Hasan was selected under AEEP 2015 program for two camps in Switzerland and Germany. He only participated SCI CH work camp and due to family reason he has come back in the middle of the program.

Mother & Child Care Centre Project:Rangabali situated in the coastal belt of Bay of Bengal. Due to its geographical location, Rangabali is one of the remotest areas of Bangladesh and there is no primary medical service available for the most vulnerable habitants of this island. Under this backdrop, SCI Bangladesh has recently taken an initiative to establish a mother and child care center with the financial support of SCI Japan, Rotary Club of MEIEKI Japan, Rotary Club of KIANSENG Taiwan. The center will be opened in June 2016.

UPCOMING PROGRAM1. Opening of Mother & Child Care Center, June 20162. Seminar on GOAL 2017: “Go Green Breath Easy”, 2-3 June, 20163. APM 2016, July 16, 20164. Workshop on Conflict Resolution July 17, 20165. Peace workcamp (Post APM), July 18-23, 20166. Physiotherapy Camp, 28 July-08 August, 20167. Work camp on River Erosion Affected Community, August 10-21, 2016

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I participated the Social Media Training organized by SCI Hong Kong in this February. Due to my schedule, I could participated only for 3 days, but I could learn a lot of things. I’d like to share my report in Asian Voices.

In the training, I learned some tools for making posters which can be circulated in SNS. It was not only lecture, we could practice how to use it as well. We made pairs among participants and each pair made 1 poster on the theme of “What SCI is”. I learned that the tip for making posters is not showing detail info such as date/place, but trying to touch the feeling of the people who see the poster.

I also participated in the lecture & workshop about how to collect the information on specific topic which I pay attention to by using “Paper li” and “Google Alert”. Through the training, I could learn PR methods of other branches. Example, SCI France use app, “Pages” for their monthly letter. SCI Sri Lanka makes good website. SCI Catalonia uses moving images in which SCI Catalonia members appeared, so that when they share the moving images, ex on Facebook, the images can attract friends’ attention more. Some participants from China introduced us webpage making tool, webchat. I could also learn about some tools for tweeting in certain schedule, checking the number of viewers, getting advice of our own Facebook pages.

Besides the training, we could go to junior high school in Hong Kong and we did activity of “Human Library”.It was great for me to meet the member from SCI Hong Kong whom participated the 1st East Asian camp 4 years ago in Japan which I took part in as well.

It was also great to meet one member from SCI Korea, he is very passionate in SCI activity and we promised to join the next East Asian camp which we (Korea, Hong Kong and Japan) organize in every February.

Also it is inspiring for me to meet many SCI activists in the training. Like them, I’d like to activate SCI in Japan too. I share what I learned in the training with other SCI Japan members.

Lastly, I’d like to say Thank you very much to SCI Hong Kong to give us opportunity to learn about practical social media skills which we need to utilize a lot.

Report on the Social Media TrainingBy Kanam, SCI Japan

This is very much the case in Southern Asia. Efforts that are informed in this manner and are dynamic in responding to changing needs have probably the best chance to successfully deliver development services, whereas SCI has traditionally singularly relied on Work Camps.

My years of experience in education suggests that learning and innovation may be the key to designing developmental initiatives. Understanding isolated communities; their ability to play with the changing world conditions; their changing needs and the like require continuous learning and sharing at all levels in the development space. From donors and governments to researchers, field workers and community members, all need to learn from each other’s experiences to make a real dent in poverty, which threatens more communities every day.

In the Training of Work Camp Leaders workshop setting in Athens it was often easy to apply learning since the environment was usually supportive. The workshop venue provided an isolated space which was removed from the largely young learner’s realities especially because it was held in a location far from home.

Participants bonded quickly with each other and they often felt comfortable testing out new methods or tools especially when they felt as though they came from shared levels of understandings although we were culturally diverse, coming from Asia and eastern Europe.

It was easy to generate energy for the tasks at hand, as the facilitators were full of enthusiasm and held untiring commitment against the challenges that are often likely to surface when learners return home, and find themselves isolated, without a need or enough incentive to apply what they have learned. Appraisal and online reviews have been regularly continued, and a scenario for work camp leader training is due to be submitted by mid-May.

In general, using a mixture of activities helped to maintain the interest and motivation of diverse learners. Activities that appealed to the diverse ways people learn (e.g. listening, doing, watching, engaging with theory, presenting and/or giving feedback, working alone or in groups) engaged individuals on different levels (e.g. activities engaging learners’ intellect, emotion, sense of fun or humour). We were also entertained to local sites of interest, given the rich history of Roman conquest in Greece.

The Leaders of LeadersBy Lasantha Pethiyagoda, SCI Sri Lanka

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The world’s most difficult development problems relate to

improving lives of remote, isolated and marginalised communities.

Problems typical to such communities need specialised responses

taking into account the local context, culture and practices.

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In rural areas where most of our SCI work is based in, it is often hard to relay messages of such program activities, hold field visits and involve local participation in upcoming events due to poor communication infrastructure and isolation..I would suggest we Identify the people who travel in and out of these communities frequently. Paying particular attention to shop own ers, monks, transport operators to these areas, boarding school children who travel home on the weekend from town and social-minded workers.

Take some time out to visit and talk to these people. Establish good relationship with them and explain properly about the vision of SCI so that they understand and feel the importance of doing this work.

Talk to the people in the community. Identify who are the local “reporters” in the community. These persons are always up to date with what is happening in the community. This person will be able to relay our message to the right people and to all people in essence.

The local representative of SCI can perhaps co-ordinate their services and help promote local welfare development without prominently advertising SCI as an NGO or foreign entity. In addition, potential work camp co-ordinators can be periodically trained on challenges facing such projects, how to diffuse conflict situations

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After the completion of a bachelors program, I decided to take a gap year and achieve some of the projects I had in mind for a long time. In that light, I volunteered for three months at the Blue Rose Special School in the city of Kandy, in Sri Lanka.

When applying to this project, I had no experience with special needs children. It felt like a challenge, of course, although it was very abstract and hard for me to picture how being there and taking care of the children would be like. For example, I didn’t know to what extend the children were disabled, and what activities they could do. I joined the adventure anyway, and all the questions and unknowns were very soon cleared by children’s smile and welcome, which made me feel quite at ease since the beginning. I needed a little time to adapt at first, and really enjoyed the experience fully as soon as I got to know the personality and behaviour of the children better.

I was really happy to be able to count on a very supportive staff, always trying its best to answer the many questions I had. It might not appear at first sight, but there is a lot of knowledge to grasp about the various disabilities, and the way each child expresses it. Teachers possess very good skills, and tailor activities according to every child’s needs and abilities.

Sri Lankan people are kind, smiling, welcoming, generous, happy to get help, and always willing to help. I admire the devotion of the teaching staff, which is extremely patient and loving with the children. I think the teachers do an amazing job, they really do, and it was a pleasure for me to be among them when encountering this completely new environment. I’ve had a lovely time, and I was very well-surrounded. Meeting these people is probably what I will mainly remember from my school volunteering.

All in all, my stay at Blue Rose Special School was an enriching and wonderful experience.

Marie Ledent, Belgian volunteer, 3 months stay from mid-February to mid-May 2016

Blue Rose Special SchoolBy Marie Ledent

Blue Rose is a school for special needs children. Today, there are fifty children registered, and eight full-time staff members. The school offers activities like day care, music and dance classes, swimming lessons, and daily physical exercises sessions. It also has a vocational training unit, in which the oldest children get to sell some creations they make, with the purpose of rendering them responsible. Children at the school suffer from a wide variety of disabilities. Among these disabilities are Down syndrome, autism, slow learning, Noonan syndrome, micro-cephellous, or multi-disabilities. On top of this, quite some students are hyperactive, or have trouble focusing.

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Dear SCI Asia-Pacific and Mauritius,

The first round of the Asia-Pacific Activist Development Fund is now open for applications. The guidelines and application-form are ready and available. At this stage is does not matter that a suitable project for the applicant to attend has not been identified. The important first step is to identify candidates.

An amount of E490 is available to each branch or group in the region. The money can be used for travel costs, visa costs, participation fee. It can be divided between up to three participants and can be used in 2016 or 2017. The fund will cease at the end of 2017. If a Branch/Group is unable to identify a suitable applicant, the money will be returned to the Fund.

Who can apply? - Young members of SCI Branches or Groups who are seen as potential for succession plans. - Preferably under 35 years of age- With a minimum of two years active participation in their branch/group- Willing to take on new tasks and responsibilities

How to apply?- Guidelines and application-form can be obtained from Stephen, stephennah@yahoo.com - The application must be accompanied by a letter of consent from the Branch/Group.- Applications should be sent to the ADC Secretariat at: sci.adc@gmail.com cc: stephennah@yahoo.com - The cut-off date for the first round of applications is 30th June 2016. There will be three more rounds: Dec 2016, June 2017, Dec 2017.

Looking forward to receiving your applications.

ADS Asian Development (Committee) Secretariat

APAD Fund - Call for ApplicationsBy Asian Development (Committee) Secretariat

The Asian Development Committee (ADC) has recently introduced the Asia-Pacific Development Fund to raise capacity among young activists of Asian branches. Asian Voices would like to support this important initiative.

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This is how we did at Balthali with your help,The little effort you

gave brought the smile in many people faces.We are calling for

your help to bring smile in Parthali,Dhunkarkha(NP SCI7,2),

come join us in July

Workcamp at Parthali, DhunkarkhaBy Punya, SCI Panauti

SCI BhaktapurRecently the local group of Bhaktapur opened an own Facebook-page: https://www.facebook.com SCINepalBhaktapur/Visit us and if you like, ‘like it’

Dear Readers,

Congratulations! You reached the end of this Asian Voices! We hope that the stories, many with the theme, ‘spreading out overseas’ have inspired you. Meanwhile SCI-Asia is preparing itself for the upcoming Asian Platform Meeting mid of July in Bangladesh, where Asian branches, IVP Australia and SVI Mauritius are all invited to come to discuss the development of SCI in the Asian region.

An inspiring meeting-place also, because e-mail/internet -and even Asian Voices!- are simply not able to take over where SCI Is actually about: meeting other people, creating intercultural friendships and volunteering for peace.

More news about the meeting and related events (workshop about conflict-transformation and loyal to the SCI motto ‘words and deeds’ a mini-workcamp) in the following Asian Voices. Dear readers, stay tuned!

The editing team,Hanae, Maria, Nurul, Pat, WllbertWe would love to hear from you. Do write to us at asianvoicessci@gmail.com

End Note