Photo shows Participants and Partners in the Clean Air Blue Skies Asia Exchange Program (Year 1), including the Project Coordinators Chee-Anne Guzman and Glynda Bathan
from the Clean Air Initiatives for Asian Cities Center (CAI-Asia Center)
Ms. Pham Thi Vuong Linh (Vietnam) &
Ms. Gamage Bimalka Sajeevi Perera (Sri Lanka)
Linh and Bimalka are both settling in well in Hong Kong. They are are working with Prof. Wing-tat Hung's colleagues at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Linh is also enrolled in an English language course by the British Council in Hong Kong to improve her language skills. “In my opinion,” says Linh, “this exchange program is not only a challenge but also a good chance for me to enrich my mind, to learn more, to get knowledge, to improve my English and to integrate by communicating.” However, English isn’t a problem for Bimalka; it’s finding the right kind of vegetarian food!
Ms. Teresa Fung (Hong Kong SAR, China)
Teresa will be working at the CAI-Asia Center in Manila. Although her one-year work visa is being processed, we have found an apartment for her just across the CAI-Asia Center office. During the two-week Preparatory Course in Uganda, Teresa attended the seminars organized by Uganda Media Women's Association (UMWA) where Teresa learned how to cope with the challenges of living in another country. She said that she loved the people in the Fk course; all Fk participants opened Facebook accounts and promised to share their experiences during the next 10 months.
Ms. Karen Baydo (Philippines)
Karen is now staying in Hanoi at the Vietnam Clean Air Partnership (VCAP) office, and has been quite busy getting to know the different stakeholders in the field of clean air in Hanoi and in Vietnam, and reading up on the issues. Among the items on Karen's work plan is to help the Environment Ministry by sharing how the Philippines came up with the Clean Air Act of 1999.
Prior to relocating to Hanoi, Karen attended the 10th Fk Preparatory Course held at the Asian Institute of Technology Conference Hotel. "I met a very nice lady and her little boy during the flight from Manila to Bangkok,” she recounts. “By some stroke of good luck, the young mother and her child were also going to AIT to visit the boy’s father who was a student at AIT. When the father arrived to fetch them at the airport, they did not want to leave me until they were sure that I had a ride to AIT … To this day, the Lims remain to be my good friends. I consider my encounter with them as the first highlight of my trip because the Lims reinforce my belief in the innate goodness of Man."
Reprinted from CAI-Asia News Issue No. 5 (Special Holiday Edition)
