Time Flies

On June 27 Doug and I arrived in Turin,Italy. I came to teach a week-long course at the UN Staff College beginning on July 4. The UN gig was unbelievably consuming. At the same time political events in Malaysia were unsettling. I spent pre-class time in Turin with the UN Staff College staff going over the class sessions and each slide I had prepared. The review improved the course's coherence and flow, as well as makig detailed time estimates. Problems began once the course started - its marketing had attracted students with very different expectations of its content. I spent most of the week teaching from 9-5,then going back to my room and figuring out how to pull things together for the next day, so that the participants had their needs and expectations partially met. I was so tired at the end of the day that I had no trouble sleeping.

Rather than go through a complete description of the experience here is what I learned. One, UN employees work very hard (the staff worked as long, if not longer, than I did). Two, UN jobs are particularly hard on younger employees who seem to be contract employees. They have to look for their next job, often in another part of the world. From an HR standpoint the work has many downsides. Third, the youth and energy in Asia portends that the future may be on that side of the planet. The same may be true of Africa. I met talented participants from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, and Ethopia. A woman from Kenya was excited about its future. (The women in Kenya have closely monitored the guarantees for gender equality in the newly adopted constitution.) Fourth, one remarkable woman who stood out is a physician from Bangladesh. She promoted (successfully) the Midwife Registration Act working through layers of the political system. Fifth, what one does in a UN job depends on where you work. Person who work in lower income counties spoke of meeting with various ministers. A woman who works in Russia, as part of a discussion on political advocates in middle-income countries, pointed out that it would be very hard to meet with a minister (I had trouble visualizing her meeting with Putin).

While I was trying to stay on top of things Doug explored Turin. He has promised to file in the details and pictures soon.

In the meantime we were trying to keep up to date with events in Malaysia. On 29 June the police raided the office of a NGO, took items related to Bersih 2.0, and detained the office employees. I have been volunteering at the office(doing limited research on gender equality in constitutions and statutes). I am sure that the women I had been working with, who recommended our physician and reminded us to buy wine in Italy. (Doug asked a man at the wine shop what wine we should get for a friend being released from jail.) To illustrate one point of insanity - Bersih logo was yellow and its t-shirts shirts were yellow - so by wearing a yellow t-shirts one risked arrest. BTW Bersih (means "clean" in Malaysian); the rally was a demand for Clean and Fair elections. Initially we read nothing in the NYT, BBC, or Al Jazeera. The rally was held on the 9th as planned and it was covered by The Times and other media. For anyone who wants more details Malaysiankini may be available (usually it is by subscription, but currently it is free). We are eager to get back, check in with friends, and hope that change is implemented. The country has to have a General Election in 2013, but like any party in power the government will do all that it can to keep in power. After all 51 years of one party in control can be a very hard habit to break