1625 Christmas party here at the office. No-frills celebration. Just eating and karaoke singing; no formal program. I was not here for the party last year. There’s something new technology-wise. The LCD projector was linked to the VCD player. Hence, you see the text and the accompanying of the song on a big screen. There was exchange of gifts. I received a gift, marked number 2. It was donated by a medical company. It’s a miniature soft pillow, good to protect the eyes actually while sleeping. That was how I made of it. There is no label on this thing so I can’t tell what it is really for. Anyway, thank you for the gift whose number I had picked out of pure luck.

Same Xmas party is being held during this time of the year in hundreds of offices, public and private, here in the province. The stores enjoy brisk sales of gifts, xmas lights, lanterns, xmas trees … Christmas is indeed good for the local economy.

Hard to think about poverty when you have this round of parties. Christmas, like fiestas, must be a way to distribute proteins and blessings.

2100 Preparing to go to bed. Remember the book I have been intending to write the past two decades. Too many hindrances to fulfill this one great act. I again revisit my notes, scattered in notebooks, floppies and hard disks. Now another year will be gone and still there is no draft manuscript for the book. When will we find the time to sort out these notes?

That’s the question for 2004. Or, perhaps, this is just ego trip. Who cares about a book about development fieldworkers? I have the conviction the world needs one as a weapon against cynicism that has crept into the psyche of people everywhere in recent times. Now, may I proceed to sleep and dream and wake up again refresh in the thought that the world needs fieldworkers?

Amen.