OCTOBER REPORT

MONTHLY NARRATIVE REPORT
October 1-November 1, 2008

It seems so difficult to put into words the experiences I’ve had in the past month or so. While I have kept a journal of all my activities, I am afraid my journal’s contents are for purely personal use and reference. I also fear that by putting my feelings and thoughts in writing, I will somehow lessen the “magic” of the experience. Suffice is to say that my experiences during the 10th FK Preparatory Program are those which we can be aptly described as beyond words, where the pictures indeed do not show it all.

However, I know that by sharing my experiences, I will help so many others gain knowledge or even perhaps inspire them to embark on a similar journey and support the campaign for clean air. So, here it is, my first monthly report as a participant in the Clean Air and Blue Skies Asia Project sponsored by FK Norway.

I arrived shortly after midnight at the AIT Conference Hotel in Pathumthani, Thailand on October 1, 2008. The man tasked to fetch me from the airport was late by more than an hour. I normally, would have been very upset and maybe, worried, while waiting at the airport . But I met a very nice lady and her little boy during the flight from Manila to Bangkok. 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. They helped me contact Rey Calabdan, the Project Coordinator of the FK Preparatory Course, who happened to be their family friend, to ensure that someone was indeed going to pick me up from the airport. 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. I have often traveled alone, and in all my trips, I have been the recipient of random acts of kindness from strangers. This trip to Bangkok is no exception. But whereas before, I had no way of establishing ties with those whose generosity I have benefited from, with the Lims, I have found lifelong friends.

After the Lims, I also met and befriended other people during the Preparatory Course in Bangkok. I will never forget my moments of shared laughter, fears and tears with my co-participants. To this day, Rachana Lem, of Cambodia emails me, to say “I love you, best friend.” I have helped translate class discussions and lessons to her during the Preparatory Course and I feel humbled by her affectionate words of appreciation. My roommate Linh from Vietnam also calls me “best friend.” So many other Participants still keep in touch. I never thought I would be this close to my co-participants. Now that we have parted ways, we are more vocal about our concern and affection for each other. Some like Shankar (from India), who seemed very shy in class, suddenly have the courage to write “I miss all of you” now. I pray that we will see each other again and have the chance to relive our memories of our days in Bangkok…

(Smile! Participants gather for one souvenir photo at the historic
Grand Palace in Bangkok)

(Sharing one beautiful night in Thailand.

Photo taken during the Participants’ Boat Cruise)

(The look of glee in seeing old friends. Photo

taken shortly after Home Stay when the

Participants saw each other again after 3 days

and 2 nights with their respective foster families)

(The sunny day could only be matched by the

sunshiny smiles of the Participants as they savor

their brief time in the seaside resort of Pattaya)

When Tao (Participant from Thailand) and Rada (Participant from Cambodia) arrived in the Philippines where they were both assigned, I toured them around The Fort Global City, which is a modern shopping and entertainment development in Manila. Dennis Locanas, a fellow Filipino Participant who was still awaiting for his visa to Malaysia at that time, joined us.

(It felt so good to share my beautiful country

to my fellow Participants! Photo taken in

Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, Philippines)

Aside from the friendships I have established during the Preparatory Course, I also treasure the values, insights and knowledge I have gained.

First, the Preparatory Course itself was a highlight. The Preparatory Course, fun as it may have been, was a grueling activity-laden challenge. Sessions started promptly at 8:30 AM everyday (yes, even on Saturdays and Sundays), and ended mostly around 6:00 PM. While we had 30-minute breaks in the morning and afternoon sessions, these were sometimes working breaks; with most of the breaks shortened to accommodate lecturers who usually extend beyond the time allotted to them. There were also assignments, especially during the last two (2) weeks, which the Participants had to do outside of class hours.

The activities during the Preparatory Course challenged both the mind and the body, and required the physical, mental and often verbal participation of all the Participants. Most of the activities in class sessions were done in groups—and since not everyone spoke English or spoke very little English, there was the extra challenge of explaining the mechanics, objectives, and concepts of the activities to them—all under time pressure (since the activities were to be done within a specific time limit.) Those who spoke English (including myself) had to explain to them in every possible way we could think of, like body language, loads of examples, and the use of simple and common English words which they may possibly understand. The participation even of the non-English speaking participants was just as important as the English-speaking ones so we tried our best to hear out the opinions and inputs of the former, no matter how difficult. We learned that they had valuable insights, if only they were given the chance to express their thoughts and feelings.

But the grueling schedule of the Preparatory Course was something I have been used to in the Philippines. The challenge of explaining concepts and things to non-English-speaking individuals was something I could manage. And expressing my thoughts and opinions to a group was something I did for a living. But nothing would have prepared me for the next highlight of this Preparatory Course, the home stay experience.

Unlike my fellow Participants who got a tan out of motorbiking and sightseeing in the Thailand countryside during their home stay, I got a tan out of working as a lemon grass cutter with my foster family.

My foster family consisted of the father, mother and their 18-year old daughter, who has stopped schooling and who has opted to help her parents in their lemongrass work. I reckon that my foster family is not poor. They have a vast tract of land, with two prawn ponds, 3 motorcycles, a small truck, and a “longhouse” whose floors were long planks of solid hardwood. All around their vast tract of land are lemongrass, which they sell for 2Baht per 1 ½ kilo. Here are pictures of my foster family’s farm:

My foster family owns the land to the right and

left of this dirt road. At the end of this road is

their farm house (see wooden structures ahead).



The open-air garage is where we do our lemongrass work.
The house to the right of the garage is the home of my foster family.

View from the balcony of the house--my favorite

spot for eating and writing in my journal.

Shortly after I arrived in my foster family’s home around lunch time, they offered me “kayasath,” a sweet delicacy made up of crispy rice, sesame seeds and nuts. I was so hungry that I ate a lot of the kayasath offered to me. The daughter named “Pie” and I ate the kayasath at the balcony while the father and mother worked at the open air garage. After a few minutes the mother and father called their daughter to join them to help with their lemon grass work. Of course, I offered to help—otherwise I would have been the only one in the house not to be working! And so began my career as a lemon grass cutter—I cut the roots of the lemon grass such that only the sweet-smelling part of the stem is exposed! I also helped wash the cut lemon grass and joined the family in selling the same. I got so good at it that the next day, the family gave me “working clothes” so I could continue my work as lemon grass cutter. They seemed to like the work I have done and kept on saying “Di” meaning good. Indeed, there was a time the next day that they (father, mother and daughter) couldn’t keep up with me. They could not sort out enough lemon grass for me to cut—I was too quick for them! After lunch on my second day, the family refused my help already. They wanted me to just enjoy the rest of my home stay. They brought me to a Buddhist Temple where I saw the most number of monks in my entire life.

To be very honest, I felt so relieved when the family refused my help already. I was so tired and my hands hurt. It seemed that there was no end to the lemon grass that we had to work on. After a huge pile was done, the mother will bring another pile of freshly harvested lemon grass anew. But I couldn’t complain—not when the father of the house woke up before sunrise to work on the fields and eat his dinner past 9PM after a long day of back-breaking work . I couldn’t complain when the mother, possibly twice my age, was tireless in working in the fields gathering lemon grass and clearing the farm of weeds. I never saw her rest beyond ten minutes in a day. How could I not help when their 18 year old daughter, so sweet and innocent, was also working under the sun? And how much did we earn for a hard day’s labor? Just over a 100Baht or 2-3US dollars since the price for lemon grass was 2 Baht per 1 1/2 kilo and we only had 77 kilos during my first day there and a little less than that on my second day.
My home stay was a long way from where I came from. It was a truly humbling experience. But it was an experience rich in life’s lessons which I will always treasure.

See the difference between the lemon grass

still untouched my skillful hands (left) and

lemon grass with roots and stem cut to perfection.

Another highlight of the Preparatory Course for me is the Digital Storytelling Presentation. And this is because the activity made me realize how committed I was to the cause of the environment. The topic of our group was environmental sustainability and I managed to provide the background poem for our presentation for under ten minutes! While I had some inspiration from the internet, the lines were mostly from me, from my heart—“will my children ever see the beauty of the sunrise and enjoy the endless summers of my carefree youth?” The pictures in our presentation were also mostly from my own personal pictures. I have the most beautiful pictures of nature from my travels –a testament to my enduring affinity with Mother Earth. Indeed, how can one love something that one does not know? My commitment to the cause of the environment began in my youth; in vacations spent in the white sands of Samar, playing under coconut trees. I love Mother Earth because I have seen it in its most beautiful state and I will do my very best to protect it.

The last highlight of the Training Course for me was our Country Presentation where the Participants were required to make posters of their respective host countries—the do’s and don’ts, the culture, the people, the must-visit places, etc. in the country. Again, this was a realization for me about the passion that I have for the environment. Our group, the Participants going to Vietnam, was the only group which did not request the organizers to purchase any material for our poster. Consistent with our desire for environmental sustainability, we wanted to just make use of the “left-overs” of the other groups; we wanted to borrow; we wanted to recycle. And because of the generosity of the other Participants, we succeeded. Ours was one of the top contenders for “Best Poster,” losing to the winner by just one vote. We also made used of Nature’s own works of art—the beautiful things we see all around us which are free—leaves, flowers and twigs—consistent with our environmental advocacy.

Our success in our poster-making endevour was made sweeter by the fact that so many other Participants helped in finishing the same. Some shared practical tips; others lent their own private items. Many others helped attach our pictures and other items to our poster. In fact, shortly before our Presentation, I brought the kalachuchi or frangiapani flowers I have gathered that morning as final touches to our poster. I was immediately approached by the other Participants so they could help attach the flowers to our poster.I was so touched by that gesture of help from my friends. It was a truly fitting ending to a full 3 weeks of friendship, sharing, and caring.

Working on the poster with my groupmates:
Pong (from Laos) and Kikay (from the Philippines)
and my Vietnamese roommate Linh.

The most popular poster for picture-taking purposes.
Our poster symbolizes our appreciation of nature’s beauty and
treasures and the realization of our responsibility to protect it
in all aspects of our lives [even in a simple task as preparing a poster].

There are hundreds of little other highlights of my experiences during the Preparatory Course—indeed, sometimes, it is just a fleeting moment, an insight from a co-Participant that touched me personally, a beautiful flower in a temple, a smile, an unforgettable dish in our lunch buffet. Due to limits in language and time, I cannot share them all. But I will keep them all in my heart always…I hope that what I have managed to share shall benefit many others...

Preparatory Course in Uganda

On 16 November 2008, I arrived the Enable airport, Kampala and I met Rita (Co-coordinator of the preparatory course) and two Fk participants. I went to the center with Vicky and Teddy. That was the first time I explored Africa (Uganda). I was excited to meet Africans and stayed with them for 2 weeks.

During these 2 weeks, I attended the lessons organized by Uganda Media Women’s Association (UMWA). The fruitful lessons included the introduction of Fk, Health, Safety and Security, Intercultural communication, Personal Development, World views and web designing and Fk participants sharing. Before the program started, each participant introduced himself/herself to the others.

UMWA also organized two field trips for Fk participants. We visited Jinja and Masaka. I enjoyed traveling and exploring wildlife. In Jinja, I saw the local people play canoe in the river. Then, we took a boat to another side of the island to appreciate the dam work in Uganda.



In Masaka, we visited St Jude family Projects and Rural Training Center and the teacher shared the organic farming in the center. When we went back to Kampala, we stopped in the equator (Uganda). I brought a GPS receiver and marked the coordinate of the equator I arrived.






On 26 November 2008, the UMWA organized a culture night for all participants. The culture night started at 9pm and some participants grouped together to present their culture in their countries. In addition, we dressed traditionally. For me, I presented the traditional activity in Chinese New Year with three friends in a drama. I loved their traditional clothes and dances as well.

On 29 November 2008, Rita drove Vicky and I to the Kampala airport. I felt so sad to goodbye to Vicky. That was the end of preparatory course in Uganda.

Report for October, Linh

I went to Thailand on 30^th September. This was the first time I went aboard and I went alone, so it was ineluctable with the nervous feeling. My flight to Thailand was smooth and safe. It was quite lucky for me when I found the women who picked up me at the airport. She showed a sign board with the name Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) on it and gave me a warming welcome. It took us 1 hour to travel from airport to AIT campus.

Three weeks in AIT was a long time and also a short time for me. That was a long time with my not really good English, I couldn’t talk and communicate much with all participants, I could neither enjoy entirely with all sessions. The schedule was so full that I didn’t have enough time to go to the library, even I was delivered the library card, to go around some shopping centers and enjoy real atmosphere in Thailand. That time was also so short because when I felt friendlier with all participants, FK members and teachers, I had to say goodbye with them.

In October, I had two important periods of time, one was three weeks in AIT and another was the time in my country before I left it for Hong Kong.

It is so difficult for me to describe about my memories about the time I had in AIT. Before coming to Thailand, I thought there would have 4 participants who came from Vietnam, Srilanka, Hong Kong and Philippines in CAI-Asia’s project. However, it was not the same. There were twenty five participants from 10 countries. They arranged for me to stay with Karen who come from Philippines and went to Vietnam in November. She was my nice and sweet roommate. She speaks English very well and also she taught me a lot. I am an only Vietnamese participant, but I didn’t feel alone, because all participants were very friendly and open-mined. The schedule for three weeks was so perfect with many indoor and out door activities (but if the schedule had been little less full it would have been better). They arranged for us to get acquainted together in very natural way. In the first day when all participants already came, we had a group photograph and coffee break to know each other. After that we joined a very nice game, each person had one chair, and we drew other person. I drew some details on the face of one participant and then moved the paint for somebody to continue after about 1 minute. One after another, all participants had own painting from some person’s drawing and then we could introduce about our self with all. It was really nice. Many paintings looked fun and in fact they didn’t look like the face of participants. :)

For me, in the first some days, I was a little bit scared because it was the first time I talked with many foreigners like that. However, after outdoor and indoor building activities and participants-partners meeting, I became more confident, shared and enjoyed more activities with all participants. I could remember the day we had outdoor team games clearly. Our team had 8 persons presented for CAI-Asia with partners and participants. “We want clean air, now!” was our slogan. All of us jumped and clapped, even Mrs. Glynda, Prof. Wing Tat, and Dr. Tung. I was made a real impression on other team games.

In the three weeks, we had a series of sessions with many topics: coping with personal challenges during the exchange program; FK exchange alumni sharing; Fredskorpset and its network; Poverty alleviation and sustainable development concepts/principles/strategies; Participatory approach in community development; Effective cross-cultural communication practices; Adaptation and adjustment to new environment; Responsibility and accountability; The roles and responsibilities of a development worker; Gender responsiveness in development; Special session on HIV/AIDS; Protection and promotion of human rights; Basic emergency response; International travel health and personal security aspects…three weeks with many different knowledge in many various fields. In the first week, it was very hard for me to hear and understand all. However, FK and teachers made a really good atmosphere for enjoying sessions and changing the air. Before starting each session, normally they organized a game which sometimes was given by participants who went to the class late. At 10:00 -10:30 am and 3:00 – 3:30 pm, we always had a coffee break and an interesting task “walk and talk”. “Walk and talk” is the program for all participants. We were arranged to walk and talk to someone for each coffee break and then change the talking partner in next turn. It was useful. After some coffee breaks we became very friendly and understood more about each other. :)

Each session had from one to two teamwork activities. The teachers gave the topic, we had to discuss in the group and give the best answers for writing on the boards. If someone didn’t understand something, FK members always sat beside and help. They were very enthusiastic and nice. All participants could join these activities, gave their own ideas and had a chance to present the answers of their groups. For me, my group always encouraged me to present, therefore I became little bravely.

Each day was an opportunity for two participants to give their reflections and insights. “No need to repeat the questions, the previous sessions, just go through the point and explain”, Mr. Reynaldo, the project Coordinator of the FK Preparatory Course, repeated many times like that for all. Accordingly, all reflections and insights were very succinct and effective. A lot of new knowledge for me, the first time I found the roles and responsibilities of development workers and I am a development worker, all participant are the key of this program

The best memories with me were two days in home-stay. Each participant lived in each Thai family in a village which was far from AIT. My host family has four members. Mother, father (the owner told me to call like that), and two children. I got friendly very fast with one child, his name is Boom. He protected me from five dogs (I always fear dogs) and brought me to go around that place. I took for him many pictures and he took for me also even when I slept. He liked taking photos. Anytime when I raised my camera, he smiled and created a good form immediately. An interesting thing was happened. The first sight when the owner met me, she couldn’t recognize me because she said I didn’t look like in the picture she had. I looked more beautiful than in the picture and one girl had to help me to tell her. It was so fun for me. In two days in home-stay, I slept in the bed with “mother”. She cooked for me many Thai foods and taught me some Thai words about fruits. Before leaving home-stay she gave me some gifts which she made by herself. All we brought to home-stay were only some words “sa wa di kha” (hello), “khap khuon kha”(thank you) and our hearts, but all of us had a very nice time. We took many group photos as the way to store our memories.

Besides lessons, outdoor and indoor activities, home-stay, we had some social and cultural activities. We had a big party on a boat, had a chance to see many nice views along the river at night. All participants had a true party with singing and dancing. I didn’t join dancing but I took many photos for them. I thought it was one way to enjoy. We also had nice times in the seaside resort and Grand Palace.

For me, one activity I couldn’t forget was the country information presentations. All participants had to give the presentation about the host country which they will come. We are divided into 10 groups according the host country. Normally, each group had from 2 to 3 participants, but some had only one. Our group had two members, me and Bimalka who come from Srilanka. It took us 3 nights to make the presentations. All worked very passionately and our presentation might be the most colorful one. All presentations became the background for taking pictures, and the most popular taking poster was the presentation about Vietnam. It was fresh and beautiful. It was the idea from my roommate, Karen.

It was very difficult for all of us when we have to say goodbye on the last day. Gifts and tears made us closer. At that time, three weeks became so short, we wanted more time together. We gave many best wishes for each other during the time on the host country and we hoped the time to go back AIT will come soon.

I went back to Vietnam on 21^st October. While I was waiting for my working visa, I had to finish all of my works in office. My visa came quite late than I expected. But it was also good. I had more time with my family, my friends and my colleagues, and I could meet Kikay who is one of the participants, come from Philippines and had already come to Vietnam after three weeks in AIT. I visited her place, brought her to go out for visit some places, go along some beautiful streets in Ha Noi and also go with her to buy some necessary things. We enjoyed some foods and she said she really liked them.

October became the special month with me. I had many feelings and it changed me a lot. The first time going aboard with many nice memories provided more knowledge for me to live and adapt to the new environment in Hong Kong.

I am graceful to FK, to my organization and all for giving me this change. Simply, this is the record accurately my feelings and I hope this can be considered as a monthly report for October.

Meeting Green NGO’s in Hong Kong and China
Bimalka, November 2008

I experience my first international conference in Hong Kong by participating on “Building Green Partnership for Sustainable Development; collaboration of Green NGOs, Businesses and Government at University of Hong Kong, organized by the Conservancy Association in 29-30 November 2008.

Conference was organized in celebration of the Conservancy Association’s 40th Anniversary (1968-2008). Participants include Green NGO from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau, business sector and government officials who have been engaged by green NGOs in sustainable development initiatives, researchers, experts etc share their experiences.

Conservancy Association is the first ever green group of Hong Kong and involves in many activities with different group of stakeholders and diversify group of professionals. Some of their activities are focused on trees/ habitat/ heritage conservation, urban greening, educational activities, waste reduction and recycling.

This was a great opportunity for me to get the exposure of green NGOs working in Hong Kong and China and it was a good start for me. Topic mainly focused on: Changing role of green NGOs; public-private partnership; engaging the community and the government; capacity building; professional’s role in capacity building for sustainable development and funding models. Issues that are discussed related to Sri Lankan Green NGOs too. I made a discussion with WWF HK whether we could use WWF HK check list for grading Sri Lankan Industries and accordingly they said that this will take up at their March meeting for discussion. If so we could make link with WWF in Sri Lanka.

In the afternoon of the second day of the conference we joined with the traditional visit to Long Valley in the New Territories. This includes a traditional tour in the rural area of Hong Kong and to understand some of the projects under taken by the Conservancy Association. Under the sustainable habitat management scheme which was completed in March 2008 in Long valley by the Conservancy Association, successfully engaged local people to carry out wet agricultural, organic farming and feng shui wood conservation and educational work. They are currently joint hands with Hong Kong Bird Watching Society and caring out a new project on Natural Conservation Management for Long Valley. This gave me an opportunity to get exposure of another side of Hong Kong Culture and visit one of the fresh water farmland in Hong Kong. It was a grate escape from the busy traffic flow and air pollution in Hong Kong. We got to know about the traditional Hong Kong Customs, “Haka” people and involved in bird watching and learned about the organic farming and many more. “Haka” people have a long history in this village. It was also noted the Hill fires in the area. I am thankful for Prof. Wing-tat for including Linh and my self for this fruitful conference.

Experiencing Research work at Poly U with Prof. Lee’s Research Team
Bimalka, November 2008- February 2009

There is a roadside air quality monitoring station in poly U established in 2003 and managed by Prof. Lee and his research staff. My self and Linh went and visit the station with Cheng and Jennifer who are in the research team. There are five different types of particulate matter monitors fixed at this station and each has different functions. During the research period back ground air monitoring is carried out at the Hok Tsui atmospheric research station which also belongs to Poly U. In the early days this station involved in monitoring NO2, CO2, humidity and temperature apart from the PM measurements. However currently there is no air quality monitoring occurs at this station as the project has completed and new project yet to come. This gave a real understanding of different types of PM analyzers that are available in Poly U for research activities and what kind of instrument to purchasers for particular research activity in future.

I have carried out VOC sampling at the University premises with Prof. Lee’s students and carried out analysis of the collected samples at the Air laboratory using GCMS. This research was focused on exhort emissions from the laboratories of one of the building (Y block) in the university premises. We have observed and made notes on the activities happening in the laboratories and then went to the roof-top of the building and fixed the VOC samples with the relevant exhort lines for 15 minutes. Collected samples were analyzed using GCMS. This research is facilitated by the University Health Safety and Environmental committee and carried out by Prof. Lee’s Research team. To reduce VOC emissions, the Hong Kong government has implemented control measures to recover petrol vapour released during petrol unloading and refueling at petrol stations, and to tighten emissions standards of motor vehicles in line with the European Union standards. The VOC regulation, effective from 1 April 2007 under the Air Pollution Control Ordinance, controls the VOC content in architectural paints/coatings, printing inks and six broad categories of consumer products (i.e. air fresheners, hairsprays, multi-purpose lubricants, floor wax strippers, insecticides and insect repellents); and requires emission reduction devices to be installed on certain printing machines. VOC Analysis is an important tool for me to learn and apply in Sri Lanka. Apart from the primary pollutant measured such as SO2, NOX and PM, we should focus on VOC analysis. It gave me an opportunity to learn sampling techniques of VOC and to have hands on experience with the GCMS. It also gave me a chance to get to know the Research team better.

There are many instruments available in the Air Laboratory of Poly U that is used for different purposes. Hands on experience on these instruments make me understand its functions better. Certain instruments are very expensive such as (OC/EC Analyzer / thermal/optical carbon analyzer) therefore it is very unlikely that I will get a chance to use them back in Sri Lanka. However this gave me and idea what kind of in-depth research that we could focus with the help of collaboration studies.

I also involved with indoor and outdoor air quality monitoring project carried out by the Air Lab. Went for Indoor Air Quality sampling out side Poly U at Sham Shui Po- Public Housing Estate with Prof. Lee’s students. This was one of the researches carried out in University of Polytechnic by Prof. Lee’s students. Research has focused on indoor air quality monitoring in a construction site of one flat of the Public Housing Estate. Measurements were carried out for 8 hours during construction and painting period, with pre and post measurement days. This gave me an opportunity to learn and get hands on experience about most of the sampling equipments used at the air laboratory. This also gave me an exposure of the public housing estates and culture of these people living in Hong Kong. These apartments are given by the government for low income people and the living area is quite small with a small toilet and a kitchen where four to five people share.

As part of the same project I went for sampling at Tin Shui Wai (a newly developed town in rural area) in New Territories, Public Housing Estate to collect the air samples. Various pollutants were measured for 8 hours inside and outside one of the apartments (corridor). Moreover some air samples were collected in air bags for further analysis of NO2, CO and NMHC using Air Lab analyzers. This research contains lot of hard work, one research assistant has to stay continuously for 8 hours at the sampling site during measurement period and it was far from Poly U. There are many instruments to be move from laboratory to sampling site. This was a great experience for me to learn the indoor air pollution research techniques.

I have attended for lectures on Indoor Air Quality Management by Prof. S. C. Lee. Under this lecture series, I was able to learn about indoor air pollutants and sources, Hong Kong’s IAQ management programme, available indoor air quality standards in HK and Indoor modeling and many more. It also revised what I have learned at University of Moratuwa. These lectures were very interested to me and I was passionate by his lecturing style. Limited indoor air quality research has been done in Sri Lanka and this knowledge make me felt that there is lot more to do in future. Hope I can contribute my knowledge back in Sri Lanka to improve indoor air pollution.

The Green Lungs of Hong Kong- City Speak

Bimalka, January 2009

There was a public discussion on “Green Lungs of Hong Kong” co-presented by “Designing Hong Kong” at Fringe Theatre in Central on Saturday 17th January from 9.30am and my self and Linh joined for the discussion.

Hong Kong has an abundance of country parks, islands and beaches, but they are not easily accessible to the community. It was discussed whether Hong Kong should make them more attractive by adding more facilities so that more visitors can enjoy or should restrict them for people’s access to them in order to protect nature. It was also discussed whether Hong Kong should create a park of similar stature and size like in New York- Central Park; London- Hyde Park. It was also highlighted whether Hong Kong park and Kowloon Park fulfill that role. Hong Kong is a very hilly territory and has clamed land from sea. Some areas of Hong Kong are among the most densely populated in the world.

Paul Zimmerman, Designing Hong Kong carried out a presentation on urban parks and government approach in this regards. Markus Shaw, WWF spoke more positively on country parks and said that younger generation in Hong Kong should get exposed to real nature in the country parks, not artificial urban parks. In contrast to this view some stressed that need of more green areas to city limits and difficulty of finding land areas for such urban park is a grate challenge. Audience discussed plus and minuses of development of more urban parks. I also gave my comments on need of more urban parks for Hong Kong as an outsider. Mike Kilburm from Kadori Farm gave an excellent presentation on Maintaining Ecological connectivity between protected areas in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Marissa Yiu, University of Hong Kong share here experience on research work on how Hong Kong urban flats could grow green plans in limited space.

It was also suggested introduction of electric tram to the country parks for easy accessibility and extends of the escalator to country parks for more children and old community to enjoy these areas. It was also pointed out the importance of conservation and difficulties arise when more people have accessibility. It was also stressed that when more and more people can visit it should be done in such a way that combined with community participatory activities (eg: in long valley activities carried out by Conservancy Association) to minimize the damage.

This was a quite nice discussion and learnt a lot about country parks and ecological conservation in Hong Kong. It gave me better understand about Hong Kong community by listen to local people.

Visiting the Atmospheric Research Station belongs to Poly U in Hok Tsui

Bimalka, December 2008

Went and visit the Cape D'Aguilar (Hok Tsui) atmospheric research station in the Hong Kong Island, which is belongs to Poly U with Dr. Ka Se Lam (Teresa’s PhD supervisor), Teresa and their research team. This station is located at the southeastern tip of Hong Kong in coastal South China (at a rural site near the sea in a mountain) and used as a Back ground monitoring station. It has been established in 1993 and since then it involves in monitoring air quality levels of CO, O3, AOD (aerosol optical depth), and solar radiation. It also has the multi gas calibrator therefore instruments are getting calibrated automatically every day and data will be received to Poly U every hour. In the early days of monitoring involves SO2, NOx and particulates measurements. These instruments are more sophisticated and sensitive to measure low level of pollutants.

Primary objectives of this monitoring station are to monitor the composition of the atmosphere, document important trends, and study the processes affecting the fate and transport of air pollution in eastern Asia such as Taiwan. Situated on the boundary between the Asian continent and the South China Sea, the station receives continental outflow in winter and maritime inflow in summer, making it suitable for studying both natural and anthropogenic trace gases and aerosols. Dr. Ka Se Lam and his research team visit the site very often and looked after the instruments very carefully; especially for the solar radiation measurements surface of the instrument need to be cleaned and they check for malfunctioning of the instruments.

At the beginning they have involved in monitoring metrological data also however now they have a near by meteorological station managed by Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) which is the designated Meteorological Authority in Hong Kong. Therefore metrological data is available in the website and obtain free of charge for research work. Poly U is conducting a very good relationship with the Environmental Protection Department (EPD). Therefore air quality data is sharing among them for research activities. EPD has installed some of the instruments in this station to measure CO and O3 from last month. This research of EPD will continue for one year. In the past also EPD has conducted such research activities at this site. EPD has 14 air quality monitoring stations including the background monitoring station at Tap Mum. During our stay EDP officials also were in the site carrying out their research activities. It was very motivating to see the research activities carried out by Poly U and also the coordination between the relevant institutes such as EPD with Poly U.

Experiencing Boat Riding and enjoying the suburban atmosphere

Bimalka, December 2008

During the Month of December we went out with Dr. Gao Ha, Dr. K.S. Lam and their research students to Tai Mei Tuk which is situated in Tai Po, New Territories and had a Barbeque (BBQ) party. This Barbeque site is managed by the Hong Kong government. This was organized as one of their research student- Fai is going back to China after finishing his study period in Poly U. This was a great opportunity for us to visit suburban area of Hong Kong and to make more friends at Poly U.

My self and Linh enjoyed riding boat with Fai and his friend from one of the little boat wharf and after that we had a barbeque party with all our friends. Here people enjoy riding bicycle while some of them like to walk on the dam and some do hiking, fishing. There is a government water sport centre which provides dinghy sailing, wind surfing too. “Plover cove reservoir” is the second large reservoir in Hong Kong. It is famous for its magnificent main dam. Measuring near 2km in length and some 24 hectares in area, it is Hong Kong's longest dam. It is also the world's first "reservoir in the ocean”; however currently Hong Kong is receiving fresh water from main land China.

Working with Vehicle Emission Testing Research Team at Poly U

Bimalka November 2008- January 2009

Prof. Wing-tat arranged my self to engage with the research team of Mechanical Engineering Department. This was a project carried out by the University of Polytechnic with collaboration of Environmental Protection Department Hong Kong (HKEPD). Research was focused on diesel, light goods vehicles/trucks and LPG taxis. Vehicles with manufacturing date 2, 4, 6, and 8 years old will be testing in this project. There is another similar research project for other vehicle types such as cars and vans also carried out by the University of Polytechnic with collaboration of EPD HK.

In this research project automated instruments/ real time monitoring equipments are used and they are very expensive including GPS system. Instruments are borrowed from the EPD for the research proposes. Exhaust pipe is fixed with the instruments and after fixing the instruments, on-going measurements were carried out. Emission Factor Model is used. (PEMS Operation -SEMTECH-DS). Measurements includes: CO, CO2, NO, NO2, total HC. At the beginning it was planned to measure PM also, however due to error occur in the instruments, EPD had to send it back to USA to replace certain parts and to carry out necessary calibration. Apart from the pollutant measurements, metrological factors such as Temperature, Humidity, Pressure of outdoor air is also measured. All these data are connected to a laptop during on-road measurements and every time data is appearing on the laptop screen. Power supply for the instruments was given by a generator and from two batteries and every hour we stop the vehicle for few minutes to check the fuel of the generator and check whether instruments are in order.

To measure the speed of the vehicle, there are three instruments used; 1.Microwave Sensor-this gives most accurate results; 2.GPS- which fixed on rooftop of the vehicle and it need at least 4 satellite signals to give accurate results, when the vehicle is passing through tunnel there will be no satellite signals and data will be lost for that period, GPS system is connected to another laptop and pathway can be observed; 3. Camera which is fixed on the front windscreen it also records the traffic flow in front of the vehicle in a memory card for later clarifications and cross-check.

We have carried out testing for two diesel light goods vehicles/trucks; manufacturing year of 2007 and 2005 already. Truck with manufacturing year 2007 has Euro IV standard with catalytic converter and Truck with manufacturing year 2005 has Euro III standard. On-road testing for each vehicle/truck need to carry out for 12 hours cycle that include quite lot of hard work. For taxis it is even more difficult and has to carry out for 24 hours. When on-road measurements are carry out, every three hours we had to come back to Poly U to calibrate the instruments by the standards gas. For this study, two type of standard gas were used. Again next day research was carrying out for the hours that miss during calibration period of the previous day and complete the 12 hour cycle of 7am to 7pm. It is also interesting to see when on-road measurements were carried out; always the vehicle/truck was following a similar type of a light good vehicle/truck which was on-road to get the natural truck driving speed. Research vehicle will only be driving in the urban area of Kowloon and if the followed vehicle/truck changed it’s route, then research vehicle/truck will find a similar truck again and follow it’s path and speed. This will increase the accuracy of the testing. There was a check list made by EPD and relevant details were noted during the process such as weather observations, vehicle weight, fuel consumption, equipment used etc… Based on the data obtained from this research emission rate and emission factor calculations are carried out and findings of this study will lead for future policy decision.

I got friendly with the research team and learn many things. It gives me more knowledge about related research work of the VET programme. This also gave me understanding of which pollutants emit more when the vehicle is idling and which pollutants emit more with increase speed. This research will study with different type of manufacturing age diesel trucks and LPG taxis and I will be able to explore more.

Language is no longer a barrier -Brief stay in the Thai home

Bimalka October 2008

The home stay activities aimed to expose the participants to cross cultural environment that enable to practice our cross-cultural communication skills. It gave us better understanding about cultural adaptation and adjustment to a new environment during our brief stay in the Thai home. We were spread in rural villages in the province of Chachoengsao (about 150km from AIT to spend two days in homes of Thai hosts. Chachoengsao is located on the bank of the Bang Pakong River and people are mainly involved in the Agriculture and Aquaculture (Inland shrimp farming and fishing).

We were expected to perform all activities that the host arranged to us. In my case Thai host was underprivileged people where their dwelling was situated on dirty water body, no chairs or tables in the house. Rain water is collected for drinking purposes and toilet facilities were very primitive. They were unable to communicate in English and with the little Thai language I learnt and the sheet provided by AIT and lectures we learnt was very useful during my stay. “Sawatdee” (Greetings) and “Khrap / Kha” (Thank you) was very useful words to me. I made Thai sweets (Kanom thai thai, Koniyan Sankaya) and food packs (Kaniuowana pahan ) with the host family to sell these items in the market. Further I went to the field with them and collected green leaves (Paka cheath) that float in the water bodies and packed them in such a way to sell it in the market.

It was horrifying on the second night, when I clean my mattress before sleeping; there was a long slippery lizard cruelled under my pillow. It must have come inside due to heavy rain in the evening. It was a great experience for me to adopt my self to live with limited resources and comforts. Thai host family became very friendly with me and offered me delicious Thai food (famous traditional Thai food including “Tom yam”, Papaya salad, fried fish and Thai style shrimp soup etc..). They were warm, loving & caring and I realized that Language is no longer a barrier for me.

Experiencing Air We Breathe- Public Health Dialogue...
Bimalka, January 2009

During month of January, I participate for the “Air We Breathe” Conference at Convention and Exhibition Centre, in Wan Chai which was organized by “Civic Exchange”, one of the reputed NGO’s in Hong Kong and funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. Actually this conference held for two days; first day for the officials to discussed regional air pollution issues with Mainland China, Macau and Taiwan and second day for the public dialogue which I participate. Theme of the conference was to focus the air pollution debate on health-based facts and science; what policies do the government and the public need to adopt project public health for this and future generations. Crowd of around 500 people attended for the conference.

“Air We Breathe” is a very farmiler term to Sri Lanka, as we are having “Air that We Breath” National Symposium every one and half year’s time since 2004 to bridge the gap between policy makers and researches. I met Sophie and May from CAI-Asia at the "Air We Breathe" Conference and I was really happy to meet Sophie after 2007 "Air that we Breathe Third National Symposium" in Sri Lanka. I'm thankful to Prof. Wingtat for informing me in-advance to get register and participate. This conference was really good and I had a chance to learn many new concepts including excellent conference format that will help to improve our conferences in return. Hope we can organize "Air that we Breathe Fourth National Symposium" in Sri Lanka when I return in Nov. 2009.

Ms Susan from Bloomberg news gave a dynamic presentation explaining exactly where Hong Kong’s air quality stands with facts on public health and air quality levels. Actually if you look at Hong Kong’s Air quality with AQO values it is not so bad, however comparisons with WHO guidelines shows that in all cases it excesses the guideline values and highlighted the importance of review in the AQO’s which has published in 1987 in Hong Kong. This makes the audience to act more lively and express their suggestions.

The Hedley Environmental Index (the Index), the world’s first website to quantify the external public health and monetary costs of air pollution in real-time was launched. This grate invention was done by Prof. Tony Hedley who is a leading public health researcher at the University of Hong Kong. Mr. Edwin Lau, Director, Friends of the Earth (HK) ran a demonstration of the Index.

There was a session to look at different policies that have been implemented overseas. For this several experts from Beijing (Prof. Zhu Tong- Peking University), Bangkok (Prof. Nuntavarn Vichit- Vadakan- Thammasat University), California (Dr. Alan Lloyd- President of the International Council on Clean Transportation and Dr. Judy Chow- Atmosphere Scientist at the Desert Research Institute in Nevada), Europe (Mr. Anders Wijkman- Member of the European Parliament) were gathered and shared their experiences and looked at what could Hong Kong learn from them.

Delegates and experts gathered in small groups and discussed on four main topics: reduction of health risk and regional sources of air pollution; address local sources of air pollution; improve the dialogue on air pollution. I join with a small group discussion on issues addressed on local sources of air pollution. I felt that small group discussions are more effective and productive and every one of us has chance to express our selves. In my group there were mixture of European and Chinese representatives and it was a great experience for me to listen to air pollution problems and solutions suggested by local community of Hong Kong.

International expert, Professor Ross Anderson gave a presentation on applying the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines to Hong Kong. Prof. Anderson is based at ST George’s University of London and has been a member of the major WHO committees dealing with health and pollution. Most importantly, this conference provided an opportunity for delegates to discuss the issues with local and global experts and to propose solutions for Hong Kong to a panel of stakeholders that included Secretary for the Environment, Hon. Edward Yau and Legislators Hon. Audrey Eu. Representatives from the Government and community heard short presentations outlining delegates’ solutions. Importance in this session was Hong Kong Youth representation and how lively they present to Secretary for the Environment, Hon. Edward Yau. This conference is one of the best conferences that I have attended.