First, Sonny, my son on visit here in Laya from Manila, was able to
retrieve last night, the content of our old website,
www.povertycafe.org, which was discontinued early this year due to
non-payment of the domain fee. The website contains in its archive
consultant reports, discussion papers, notes on projects, reports from
my work in several countries since 1981, the year I came to Bohol to
establish the UNICEF-assisted Ilaw International Center. Hence, I
feel secure that it will be easy to show with these blogs some kind of
linkage to my past efforts.
Second, my boss from UNDP, Jeff Liew, visited me two weeks ago here in Bohol, some ten years after my retirement with the advice that when my current project ends next year, I should take a break from development work and do business activities for a change. This was to make me recoup huge financial losses for paying for unsound decisions regarding project work which could not be refunded by donors. To blog again means to continue this “record of my passage” to a life different from the development journey I have taken since the 1970s.
Third, since my last blog I have been in a frency of activities involving two donor-assisted
projects which have given me some precious insights on development work and I regret that I do not have a record of how my thoughts and concepts have evolved during the past two years or so. Blogging will force me to be a little more disciplined in documenting experiences in project work and their effect or possible impact on my beliefs regarding development work or life in general.
Fourth, in responding to Sonny’s questions over breakfast, I realized I have not clarified well enough where I am now in this development journey and why it is important for me to write a book in the future based on this seemingly tortuous journey among characters who are either heroes or villains in this melodrama of fighting poverty “wherever it is to be found in the world,” as the great Mandela put it. I think blogging will enable me to be more systematic in looking for milestones in day-to-day experiences and extracting precious lessons of potential benefit probably to development workers who may emerge from the current chaos of plans, programmes and projects.
Fifth, I must blog again because I have run out of reasons not to. Sonny, who is an IT
practitioner, has offered to host the blog in this new site where he can keep watch and
probably will have the time to review and edit my posts if they become literature too much in a hurry.
Let me start this journey once again after all these months of not writing down anything
and missing opportunities to record some insights and thoughts as a result of looking more
incisively on the events that happen to me or those that I make to happen in this wonderful
world of development projects.
Now for the hard part: let me start to think and write and blog again.
NMP/Tagbilaran City
Second, my boss from UNDP, Jeff Liew, visited me two weeks ago here in Bohol, some ten years after my retirement with the advice that when my current project ends next year, I should take a break from development work and do business activities for a change. This was to make me recoup huge financial losses for paying for unsound decisions regarding project work which could not be refunded by donors. To blog again means to continue this “record of my passage” to a life different from the development journey I have taken since the 1970s.
Third, since my last blog I have been in a frency of activities involving two donor-assisted
projects which have given me some precious insights on development work and I regret that I do not have a record of how my thoughts and concepts have evolved during the past two years or so. Blogging will force me to be a little more disciplined in documenting experiences in project work and their effect or possible impact on my beliefs regarding development work or life in general.
Fourth, in responding to Sonny’s questions over breakfast, I realized I have not clarified well enough where I am now in this development journey and why it is important for me to write a book in the future based on this seemingly tortuous journey among characters who are either heroes or villains in this melodrama of fighting poverty “wherever it is to be found in the world,” as the great Mandela put it. I think blogging will enable me to be more systematic in looking for milestones in day-to-day experiences and extracting precious lessons of potential benefit probably to development workers who may emerge from the current chaos of plans, programmes and projects.
Fifth, I must blog again because I have run out of reasons not to. Sonny, who is an IT
practitioner, has offered to host the blog in this new site where he can keep watch and
probably will have the time to review and edit my posts if they become literature too much in a hurry.
Let me start this journey once again after all these months of not writing down anything
and missing opportunities to record some insights and thoughts as a result of looking more
incisively on the events that happen to me or those that I make to happen in this wonderful
world of development projects.
Now for the hard part: let me start to think and write and blog again.
NMP/Tagbilaran City
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