Clean Air and Blue Skies Asia Exchange

Week THREE: Getting along

2011-03-28T20:37:00.000-07:00

Third week came to an end! Feels like I am bit old here already 

Things are getting more on routine- nevertheless enjoyment is there!
And, I actually had a trip to Bohol this weekend with my office-mate, Chee-Anne. Bohol is probably of the most beautiful places- so being there was a great time out.

Down to Work-

• This week also, I was more involved in Data encoding.
This time around, I was dealing with the data obtained from the Reflectometer to provide a measurement for the calculation of the elemental carbon content of the aerosols deposited on the Nucleopore polycarbonate filters during the sampling period. I was using Black Carbon Log book to update on the work sheet.
After that, I worked on some formatting. It was basically to make an input file for the PMF (Positive Matrix Factorization) and XRF analysis
• On the 24th, I visited one of the sampling sites- Valenzuela. It was my visit to learn the activities like: changing the filters, making readings
At first, we need to take reading of the Meter, Flow Meter (Rotameter) and Vacuum gauge, which are all part in the Gent Sampler. This will act as the final reading for the filter placed in the sampling site the earlier time (Final reading of the exposed filter). The sampling is done on Sunday and Wednesday. This is to maintain uniformity among the RCA/IAEA. So, for this reason, the filters are changed every Mondays and Thursdays by PNRI:
Then, the exposed filter cassette is removed from the Sampling head and a cassette with new one is fitted there. Sampling head is usually few m (6 meters) away from the Gent Sampler.
After the unexposed filter is fitted to the sampling head, the initial reading for this pair of filter is made by taking note of Meter reading Flow meter reading and Vacuum gauge. Later the week, before changing this pair of exposed filter, final reading for the above mentioned parameters are taken in the same way as for the initial one.

Have a look at few pics from Valenzuela site

Week TWO: I’m loving it!

2011-03-21T20:17:00.000-07:00

Another appealing week to my count!

The second week was more like recalling my past memories of school. I still remember during the school days, we used to wait for the bell ring of the lunch time to just get into play; similar kind of feeling arose here. Every lunch time, a group of people are gathered at the table-tennis court room, of course to play. I am joining them and doing a bit of practice and playing. It’s really fun! Usually it is a group of 7 to 9. I am playing table tennis after long. I was into it, when I was very young around 9 or 10. I used to play with my uncles and friends back at home in a nearby park-

Another thing that I discovered this week was that they also play volleyball. Yeahh!! It sounds so exciting. We used to play in college and our batch mates and seniors used to make us practice and prepare for the matches. I just miss them a lot, those times! After playing volleyball in college, I think I played it in Hat-Yai during the HOME STAY part of our Prep Course. It was fun to play with FK frens and with the mothers of our Host Family then, but this time I was with a new team- but with as much excitement as it always brings. Oh ya, I also had a good time with the volleyball with few Sri Lankan friends.
What I like the most is they get time after work to get involved in these activities. And I’m really loving it

Down to Work:
For this week, my task was on Data Processing. The samples are analyzed using EDX X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer. I worked on the data generated from the XRF which used Ca, Ge and Zr as Secondary targets. I was involved in doing Spectrum fitting using AXIL (Analysis of X-ray spectra by Iterative Least Squares fitting), a subprogram in QXAS (Quantitative X-ray Analysis System developed by International Atomic Energy Agency and Quantitative Analysis of Environmental Samples (QAES) program.

Benj Roa, my counterpart who is posted in Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong came to PNRI to discuss on the Air Quality research scheduled few months later in the Philippines and find out potential scope for partnership for the research.

On the 15th March, I attended a Stakeholders Consultation on Metro Manila Traffic and Transport organized by Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA). It was a good opportunity for me to learn about their transport challenges and afterwards proposed priority action from the stakeholders.

Leaving you with few pictures from the Metro Manila Traffic and Transport Consultation :)

Week 1: Getting into NEW team

2011-03-13T03:28:00.000-07:00

Week ONE: Getting into a NEW Team

As you have known that I was keen in joining in my new assignment, Finally, I joined on March 7, 2011 Monday! Here is how I went through the first week in PNRI.

The very first day was about the orientation. I had had two orientations on the same day, the first one by Mr. Michael Hernandez, from Human Resources Management and Record and Communication Unit. To be honest, I was not expecting a detail presentation but he proved me wrong. He gave me a details presentation about the organization starting from history, its mandate, vision, mission, organizational function and all- you can say. I had gone through some information from the website but it was a very useful time for me, knowing more about the organization I am going to be affiliated for a couple of months. I have to know and fit into feet into the new shoe. Also, more relevant for me was the details on the OJT- what they call in short for On the Job Training Program. And, my affiliation is of this kind. Of course, the rules and regulations explained later were good to know. Then I knew about the office hours (7a-5:30p). I was thinking why so long?? But that was not applicable to me. I had to report to my assignment so my supervisor would be the one directing me about my reporting time. I am given a time sheet for DTR (daily time record)- and I have to get it signed from the guard in duty every time I enter and exit the office!! Yess…

In the office, they have dress color code> I immediately asked with Mr. Michael if I need to follow, well that is for staffs, not an obligation for me. But then I thought I can try to follow the thing they are doing-after all I am a part in there! So I checked the color for each day-

Monday- white> Tuesday- yellow> Wednesday-Purple> Thursday- Green and for Friday-Free..for color!!

After the first orientation, we went out for a lunch..it’s got to be Sea Food Island! Yup- my first impression- I liked the waiters in “Pirates” look..hehe ;)

I liked the way the food was served! Big big tray or plate- food in the middle in the banana leaf..and everybody can serve to their side! Ma Sarap..talaga!! (Eng translàtion- really very delicious)

Shortly back after lunch, I had another orientation by Ms. Sony Pabroa. It was basically to introduce with the division and unit I am affiliated and to also with the team working there. I am in the Nuclear Analytical Techniques Application (NATA), Nuclear Services Division. This unit not only works for AIR which I am into but also work in the Water and Food sectors. Details on the presentation included more on AIR for me ! to have a better idea on what they are doing, and also the science and techniques behind that.

DOWN TO WORK

I started off with some of the work as well:

1. Filter Preparation:
~I learned how to assemble filter in SFU, how and where to place it and pre-requisites of this.
~The filters should be kept in room temperature for about 24 hours.
~Coarse filter is placed on the upper part while the fine filter in the inner part, while placing the filter- the shiny part of the filter should be placed upward(outwards).

2. Calibrating Microbalance
~Microbalance is used to weigh the filter- to get initial weight of the filter and weight of the exposed filter.
~Before using this, micro balance should be warm up for about 30 minutes i.e., keep it on for 30 minutes before weighing.

3. Weighing of filter paper
~Then the weight of the balance both for 50 micro gram and 10 micro gram is calibrated!
~Finally the weight of filter is taken

So, week one went well with the new exciting team.

P>S> Photos to be uploaded soon!!

Being at NGO Booth Fair

2011-01-20T02:00:00.000-08:00

This was the first time, we represented CAI- Asia in any event after our arrival in Manila-->> in the Ateneo ESS NGO week,
The NGO Booth Fair was organized by the Ateneo Environmental Science Society (ESS). This was one of the projects under ESS Week,held from November 15-19, 2010 inside Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU). The Fair was aimed to spread the advocacy and activism of various NGOs on environmental issues. But we did take part only on the 17th and 18th November to share more on our initiatives.

Most of the visitors to our booth were the students including few faculty members. We did an individual briefing to all of them letting them know our initiatives from the Center in Air Quality Management, our Country Networks over Asia for Better Air Quality and Livable Cities. It was also useful as we had had our publications and the Year Calendar (which feature different aspects of air pollution and air quality management in Asia). Some of them were so interested that took a copy of the publications for their reference. Diverse group of students were merging their interest to a common theme on our desk and that for Air Quality Management!!

It was not only a giving side- meaning, we did not only tell about what we are doing in the region and how they can be a part but also, we got to know their own initiatives in the school and/or as a group. During these two days, I met with many enthusiastic youths. They were also actively involved in environmental conservation from Turtle Conservation Campaign to the Awareness raising initiatives.

I still remember the lines in the tee-shirt of the students, which read:
"GREEN MINDED, BLUE BLOODED", which in a way summarizes the event at once!!

For Clean Air and Blue Skies: year 3

2011-01-19T23:42:00.000-08:00

The third phase of the FK Exchange Program: Clean Air and Blue Skies Asia is in progress. Past two years have produced quality works and outputs from the previous batch of participants together with the partners. With added enthusiasm to achieve the goals of the project, 7 participants from the region are all headed to GO: For Clean Air and Blue Skies Asia

Let's have a look at these young professionals who are working in their respective host organizations & all geared UP for their tasks ahead!!

1. Muhammad Agung aka Agung (From KPBB-Indonesia, now at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, HongKong)

2. Amita Thapa Magar aka Amita (From Clean Air Network Nepal, Nepal- now based at CAI-Asia, Philippines)

3. Benjamin Roa aka Benj (From CAI- Asia, Philippines, now at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, HongKong along with Agung

4. Nguyen Ngoc Hung aka Hung (From Central Environment Monitoring (CEM)/VCAP Vietnam, now based at CAI-Asia, Philippines)

5. Prashanta Khanal aka Prashant (From Clean Air Network Nepal, Nepal- now at KPBB, Indonesia)

6. Priyantha Manamendra aka Maname (From Clean Air SL, now based in Hanoi, Vietnam)

7. Sean Ho Man Lee aka Sean (From HongKong, now based at CleanAirSL, Srilanka)

Photo Design: Ms. PakiaLaxmi Maniam (She is also one of the FK Participants from Malaysia who is based in the Philippines)

(*All the photos were taken during FK Preparatory Course*)

#FK Prep course was a 3-week long course held in Hat-Yai, Bangkok from (Oct 1- Oct 20, 2010).
This course aims to help the participants be well prepared before heading off to their respective host organizations/ countries for 10 months.

Valuable experiences sharing during Manila posting period

2009-12-28T00:43:00.000-08:00

In 2009, I spent more than two-third time on working air quality management related tasks in Manila. I participated in reviewing the clean air policies in world mega events, analyzing air quality management structure in different Asian countries and air quality monitoring system in the Philippines and its air quality status. Through participating in the tasks, I was able to learn what challenges of implementing air quality management in Asian countries and what the effective and efficient strategies in improving the air quality in mega events. This knowledge and experience can certainly benefit for my future works.

Besides works, I had a great time in Manila through visiting the provinces and enjoying the Filipino cultures with my friends. I adventured the wonderful places in few small islands (Bohol in Cebu, Borocay in Aklan and Coron in Palawan). It is hard to describe all things in words. One of the ways to express my feelings is to describe the things I like most during the posting period. The movie below summarizes my tasks I participated in and activities in my spare time.

The most unforgettable activity is snorkeling with beautiful corals and colorful tropical fishes. The colorful fishes just swam around me. I were able to touch closely the coral and fishes and appreciated the grand ocean. I got the message from them “Human needs to save the nature and the earth from now on”.

The delicious food I like most is roast chicken. The chicken is very juicy with the secret gravy. I ate the roast chicken at least once a week.

The best daily exercise to keep fit is fetching around 25L volume of water from the basement to my unit. I kept doing it almost 3 weeks due to the water supply problem in the residential building.

I was amazed at the destructive power of a strong typhoon – Kestana. This typhoon brought huge amount of water. The rainfall on that day was higher than the monthly normal in the Port Area. It caused flooding, landfall, energy supply problem, lack of communication, death, infrastructure damages. This impact raises our concerns on climate change.

One memorable activity is every Friday night dinner. I went out with two colleagues almost every Friday to taste various kinds of food and share the challenges and happiness among each other.

Some participants may ask whether I encountered culture shock. Certainly, I did but it took 1-2 weeks to adjust myself to integrate in the society, adopt the local foods and make friend with the colleagues. My motto in overcoming the culture shocks is “Adjust new challenges and Act positive”. When I stayed in Manila during the first month, I tried a lot of new things and adjusted myself to adopt new environment. Keep doing it and you will have a company with colleagues, security guards and sales clerks.

Finally, I would like to thank Fredskorpset sponsored this exchange program and CAI-Asia center facilitated the program to provide an opportunity young professionals to gain and share the experiences. From the participant point of view, the first phase of this program was successful and benefit for me so much because I not only gained the knowledge by participating the projects, but also observed and learned from real life.

Clean Air Month Activities - The Philippines

2009-12-09T00:21:00.000-08:00

The Philippines celebrates Clean Air Month as part of the ongoing Clean Air 10 Celebrations, which was hold in June. More than 10 activities have been organized in October and November 2009 to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Clean Air Act, which was signed into law on June 23, 1999, The aim of these activities is to emphasize the successful clean air actions taken in specific cities and to generalize some actions for governmental agencies, stakeholders and educational institutions to follow in the coming years.

A series of workshops and events are planned on air quality management and sustainable transport together with Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Transport and Communication (DOTC), and key international partners including Asian Development Bank, Asian Clean Fuels Association (ACFA), German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), and the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles of the UN (PCFV).

During my positing period, I attended some of these events, namely Philippines National Workshop: Clean Air for Smaller Cities in the ASEAN Region Project, Forum on Greening the Transport Sector, National Workshop on Clean Fuels and Vehicles, Rondtable on Biofuels: Trends and Updates, Roundtable Forum on Clean Air 10 Celebrations. Through participating these activities, I was able to realize the difficulties of implementing the air quality management in the Philippine and the successful stories in improving air quality for the past 10 years. A brief description of each activity is listed as below. For further information about the clean air month activities, please visit http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/propertyvalue-13724.html

The first event was a workshop “Clean Air for Smaller Cities in the ASEAN Region Project Philippines National Workshop” on October 22, 2009 in The A. Venue Hotel Suites, Manila. The aims of this workshop are to share the western countries experiences in clean air projects and provide a platform for small cities to express their difficulties and needs in implementing clean air projects. On that day, more than 30 Philippine local government units participated in the workshop and two of them (Iloilo city and Cagayan de Oro City) shared their existing clean air programs to other cities. In addition, some experts from GTZ shared some successful clean air stories and addressed the elements of clean air plan to the Philippine government agencies.

On November 12, more than 200 audiences from LGUs, city planners, government officials, transport sector, private sector and academe and civil society attended a forum named “Forum Greening the Transport Sector” in Heritage Hotel, Manila. This forum is organized by DOTC and DENR, together with CAI-Asia, UNCRD, PCA, LCP, IGES, and UP-NCTS. On that day, the National Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) Strategy and Action Plan of the Philippines to various stakeholders was presented and discussed. This EST strategy and action plan contribute towards mainstreaming such policies and contribute to our country’s efforts to achieve better urban transport systems that contribute to reducing air pollution, emissions of CO2, and dependence on fossil fuel. The additional information can be found at http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73618.html

National Workshop on Clean Fuels and Vehicles was held on November 16 in Astoria Plaza Hotel, Manila. Around 100 participants attended the workshop. The objective of the workshop is to develop an action plan for cleaner fuels and vehicles in the Philippines with the aim of adopting Euro IV standards or specific parameters of Euro IV standards. Department of Energy of Philippines presented the overview of Philippine Fuel quality standard and Pollution Control Department of Thailand shared the experience in moving towards cleaner fuels and vehicles, followed by Hart Energy described the refinery capacity and supply in Asia of Euro IV or low-sulfur fuels and Philipinas Shell pointed out the impacts on refineries based on the relationship between fuel quality and vehicle emissions and moving to cleaner fuels. The additional information can be found at http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-73652.html

A roundtable on biofuels was held just a day after the National Workshop on Clean Fuels and Vehicles in Astoria Plaza Hotel, Manila. The objective is to provide Philippine stakeholders with updates on (a) the Philippine biofuels initiatives and (b) global and regional updates on biofuel use and how other countries are addressing vehicle performance and maintenance issues related to biofuel use. The key speakers included Department of Energy (DOE) and Asian Clean Fuels Association (ACFA). The overview of Philippine Biofuel situation and its initiatives was presented and the update on biofuel use and proposed solutions to address related vehicle performance and maintenance issues was also addressed.

Roundtable Forum on Clean Air 10 Celebrations, organized by DENR, PCA, ECAP, CAI-Asia and DILG, was held on November 18 in Sulo Hotel, Manila. More than hundred participants attended this forum. During this forum, I was able to learn the stories of “model cases” on how the various sectors of the Philippines achieved some modest gains in working for clean air. In addition, this forum presented the process with visions on what they want to achieve together in the next years and provided discussion spaces on how they could get there, through the COMMITMENT TO ACTION of the various sectors – working together to achieve their end goal of ensuring a healthy and sustainable environment for all.

Clean Air 10th Anniversary Celebration, Philippines

2009-07-06T02:39:00.000-07:00

On June 23, Clean Air 10 Celebration was held at Skyline Riverbend Hotel in Marikina, Metro Manila. The theme of this celebration is “Ligtas Hangin, Ligtas Klima” and the topic is "Conference on Empowering LGU's to clean the air and address climate change through partnerships". Clean Air 10 is organized by four governmental developments [Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)] and and Partnership for Clean Air (PCA). More than 250 participants from national government agencies, local government units (LGUs), non-governmental organization (NGOs) and academe, private sector, civil society and concerned individuals joined the celebration.

The aims of this celebration are to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Clean Air Act in the Philippines and overview the act implementation in the past ten years. Key presentations were firstly addressed in the morning. During the lunch time, PCA and CAI-Aisa center launched “Ligtas Hangin” campaign. “Ligtas Hangin” means save the air. There are at least three impressions from the logo (see below):

1. The air swirl forms a smile, because clean air means healthy air
2. The shape of the face can also represent a house (indoor air), the tailpipe of a vehicle (mobile sources), the silhouette of a factory (stationary sources), or the border between two territories (transboundary air pollution)
3. Air pollution is linked to climate change, so the swirl can also depict an approaching typhoon

For details, please http://ligtashangin.blogspot.com/

In the afternoon, all participants were separated into five discussion groups (Awareness raising and Networking, Capacity Building, Funding, Policy and Technologies). I took part in a policy discussion group and realized the national air quality status, the existing air quality action plans, and boundaries of these plans in the Philippines.

By the end of the day, one representative from each group presented the views. The ten-point actions (Clean Air 10) were finally summarized and the organization encouraged the governments, LGUs, NGOs, academe, private sectors to implement the actions to celebrate "the clean air" in 10th anniversary. This celebration will be continued in November.

Conference on “Hong Kong on the Bicycle”

2009-06-05T07:40:00.000-07:00

Bimalka, May 2009

During our preparatory course at Bangkok, my self and Linh had a plan to buy our own bicycles and travel to Polytechnic University and around Hong Kong. Well, when we arrived to Hong Kong, we realized that our plan is just a dream……………. with unsupported cycling infrastructure in urban area and “No cycling” sign boards. When we heard about the conference on “Hong Kong on the Bicycle” on 23rd May 2009, we were eager to be part of it.

This was organized jointly by the Fringe Club, The Conservancy Association, Designing Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Cycling Alliance, HKCI.net and the Hong Kong Mountain Bike Association at Fringe Theatre in Central. The event was sponsored by the Consulate-General of the Netherlands. Discussion was focus on should cycling be limited to sports and recreation, or should it be recognized as a legitimate form of Transport; is Hong Kong ready for commuting by bicycle; is it possible for vehicles, pedestrians and bicycles to share roads safely.

Prof. Hung Wing-tat, Director of the Conservancy Association chaired the conference. Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) official made a presentation explaining Government plan on cycle track network in the New Territories to increase the recreational value. Transport Department representative share his view on recent trend of bicycle accidents in Hong Kong refereeing to accident statistics and their effort in promotion bicycling safety through education and publicity. Other Speakers pointed out that Hong Kong government sees cycling as a recreational activity, however consider difficult to deal as a regular transport mode. It was highlighted the policy environment and conflicts for cycling in Hong Kong. Lawren from Web master of Hong Kong Cyclist Information Net; made a presentation by giving the counter examples of the changing cycling mode in China and Taiwan, to forecast the changes of development of cycling in Hong Kong. It was also pointed out that Hong Kong has limited roads where cycling at speed can take place safely, if cycling is to be given a fair ride and given special recognition. It was further said that more education of drivers or cyclists are need as to how these roads can be safely shared. Andrew, member of Yuen Long District Youth Forum preparatory committee, explained that as an active youth group how they involve in Yuen Long District to promote cycling for low income groups. His presentation includes, bicycle parks in the area, usage and current problems that they are facing. Some of the suggestions that they presented was very interesting to improve bicycle parks in the area. Audience brought up the importance of cultivating the concept of sharing of space among road users, motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. Most interesting speaker to me was Mr. Jan van Der Grift who spoke taking examples from the cycling cases in the Netherlands. He speech gave the audiences more hope and how to put in practice on cycling as a regular transport mode.

I was glad to be part of this fruitful discussion. Sri Lanka too has similar issues in the urban areas having narrow road, inadequacy of cycling infrastructure, issues on safety/ cyclist crashes, conflict between other road users and cyclists etc...By a show of hands, the forum participants agreed to call on the government to act as follow;
•Plan and facilitate cycling as a mode of regular transport
•Provide routes and facilities which are coherent, direct, state, comfortable, attractive and environmentally sustainable.
•Initially, prioritize the New Territories, islands and new urban zones as cycling districts which can be extended to the entire territory
•Cultivate the sharing of space by motorists, cyclists and pedestrians
•Create a cycling advisory board with representatives from community cycling concern, sports and professional bodies
•Require public transport companies to review/ relax their current practices regarding carrying bikes on board so as to enhance making cycling as integral part of the whole Transport system.

Hope future Hong Kong will have infrastructure for safe and environmentally sustainable place for cyclists that inspire our dream come true.

Three day visit to Environmental Protection Department

2009-06-05T07:04:00.000-07:00

Bimalka, March 2009

After completing the literature review on vehicle emission control strategy in Hong Kong, Prof Wing tat has arranged my self and Linh to visit EPD during the month of March. During my three day visit (6th, 17th and 18th March) programme was facilitated by Mr. John Wong, Environmental Protection Officer and Mr. SM Wong, Chief Environmental Protection Inspector of Vehicle Emission Control Section, Mobile Source Control unit.

This was a great opportunity for me to clarify unclear area of SVCP. I collected related information’s such as Road Traffic Ordinance, code of practice (COP), accreditation procedures of the centres and other related regulation procedures that in return help to improve our on-going programme in Sri Lanka. It was also gave me a chance to discuss malpractices, overcome corruption, how the equipment auditing, data recording is carried out by HKEPD. I also understand how the data transfer from the testing centres to EPD, how testing proceed at the centres etc.

Second day of my visit, Mr. SM Wong made a presentation on Smoky Vehicle Control Programme. Then we went to Remote Sensing testing site with Mr. William Wong and get experience on advanced equipments and techniques used. This activity was arranged by EPD for my request to study on going research work in the field of Remote Sensing. I greatly appreciate EPD for responding for my request and making necessary arrangements with Environmental Technology Consultants (ETC) Ltd. officials. They have selected a site closer to EPD and ETC officials explained the testing procedures. This gave me experience on how remote sensing technology was used for screening dirty Petrol and LPG vehicles and also how EPD carry out research activities with relevant organizations. After that we visited the designated imported vehicle testing centre laboratory belongs to ETC. Gary Parker gave me an excellent explanation on laboratory equipments. This gave me experience on how the testing is proceed at the centres and also collect related forms and documents that in return to improve Sri Lankan Programme.

On the third day we went to Yuen Long in New Territories to visit Vehicle Emission Testing Centre belongs to Crown Motors Ltd. When I went there I felt that John and SM have selected the best center for me to visit. This centre is responsible for EPD enforcement mechanism for diesel vehicles below 5.5 tonnes and also for diesel vehicles above 5.5 tonnes (for medium and heavy goods vehicles, single and double deck buses, and special purpose vehicles. This center has a designated CTC under Transport Department providing annual roadworthiness testing for petrol private cars and light goods vehicles below 1.9 tonnes. During our stay there was two light goods trucks and one double deck bus were present for testing. Also there were three petrol cars to receive annual roadworthiness testing from TD DCTC. Therefore I got exposure of all three type of testing equipments and how the testing was proceeding at the center.

I highly appreciate EPD for taking time from their busy schedule and sharing experience and knowledge related to Smoky Vehicle Control Programme and for their hospitality during my three days visit.

WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 2009

2009-06-05T00:28:00.000-07:00

Let's celebrate world environment day 2009 with theme "Your Planet Needs You-UNite to Combat Climate Change"

The Public Forum “Review of the air quality objectives (AQOs) and Development of a long-term air quality strategy for Hong Kong”

2009-05-24T06:15:00.000-07:00

I and Bimalka attended the Public Forum which was held in the Exhibition Hall of the Hong Kong Productivity Council in Kowloon Tong on Friday, 20 March 2009.

There were three principal elements in the Discussion
- The proposed new objectives.
- The measures and process for setting and reviewing Air quality objectives (AQOs).
- The likely benefit of certain emission reduction measures

More than 400 people joined the Forum, and extra seats were needed the day before Even though the Forum was during business hours . The Consultants presented the proposed revised AQOs, 33 proposals to reduce pollution and a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of these proposals. Most of the Q&A session focused on the CBA and time table for new AQOs.

Although both the Government and Consultants have repeatedly expressed the priority of addressing public health in setting the new AQOs, the Consultant couldn’t give the explanation for how much current health impacts will be reduced by the proposed measures and how they gave the new standard in new AQOs. On the other hand the Government was unwilling to commit to a timeline for implementation full AQOs
The Public Forum widened my view about how the public reacted to the proposal from Government. Many people in many different social positions came to the Forum and contribute their comments with the strong desire to improve the air quality and the public health. Some people even wore the biological masks as one way to protest air pollution.

The Discussion was only within 2 hours, but recorded many valuable contributions for Consultant and Government in next steps.

Fruitful Activites in Manila, April

2009-05-04T02:31:00.001-07:00

Today is May 4, 2009. I have stayed in Manila for almost 2 months. Time flies like an arrow. In April, I took part in the framework of Shanghai Expo project, attended a Country Network Summit in Manila and conducted two air quality management background researches in Thailand and Indonesia. Besides, my husband visited me during the Eastern Holiday and I participated in a Firefly cycling event.

Shanghai Expo Project

In the first week of April, I followed up the Shanghai Expo project. I collected the projects of the air quality management that were implemented by the Chinese Central Government during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Since most documents are in Chinese, I translated the key words in English and summarized the findings to May and Sophie in the meeting. Finally, we generalized the framework and the work plan of Shanghai Expo project and allocated work to the center colleagues in China as well.

Vacation in Bohol

During the Eastern Holiday, my husband and I went to Bohol in Cebu, the Philippines. We did snorkeling and the scuba diving, and visited the Chocolate Hill (the Landmark of Bohol) and saw the Philippine Tarsier (one of the smallest primates on the earth). We really enjoyed the sunshine in the beach.

Country Network Summit

On April 14-15, the center organized the CAI-Asia Center Country Network Summit 2009 at Sophie home. The aims of this summit are to promote the partnership between the center and eight Asia countries and to share the experience in improving the air quality of Asian cities. The CAI-Asia County Networks include China, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Viet Nam and India. Ten partners from these 8 countries participated in this summit. A group photos was taken in the homemade tree house at Sophie home, see below.

On the first day, the center staff presented the CAI for Asian Cities Strategy and Business Plans 2009-2010 and CAI-Asia Top 10 projects for 2009-2010, and the partners shared their experience in clean air projects. All partners and the center staff enjoyed the welcome dinner in Tiendesitas, see above picture. On the morning of the second day, May and I introduced a foundation course of Air Quality Management in Asia to the partners. On that day afternoon, the center staff and the individual partner discussed the clean air plan in each country first and identify the proposed project.

This summit is very successful. During the summit, the center staff understood the need from the partners and provided the proper clean air action plans for them in order to improve the air quality in Asia. On the other hand, these countries partners shared their achievements and received an assistance of their difficulties from the center staff.

Fireflies Cycling Event

On April 19, four of the center staff including I participated in the 11th Tour of the Fireflies cycling event, which was organized by the Firefly Brigade. The aim of this event is to raise the public awareness on the benefits of using the bicycle as a sustainable form of transportation. On that day, we wore the same T-shirt with logo (Ligtas Hangin) that means “save the air”. I biked a bicycle borrowed from Sophie and completed the whole route of 43 km with the support of Bert. All of us were exhausted but enjoyed the event so much. After the event, Mike, Knowledge and Communications Manager from the center, interviewed us and wrote a blog about our feelings. For detail, please visit http://cai-asia.blogspot.com/.

Country Profile Research

In the last two weeks of April, I focused on the Country profile research in Thailand and Indonesia, under a GZT project. The aim of this research is to analyze the possibility of developing and implementing clean air action plans in the proposed cities in Thailand and Indonesia. This project covers four main tasks including air quality and regulation, legal and political framework, sakeholders and science and air quality management. My duties are to diagnose the first and the last ones. The center also employed the local to assist us to complete the other two tasks.

Firstly, I read the country synthesis report on urban air quality managements, a book “Urban Air Pollution in Asia Cities”, searched a lot of air quality management information from the world wide web and collected the air quality data. Then, I summarized the information and reported to May and Glynda. Since some documents are in Thai and Indonesian, we have asked the local to take part in this project in translating some documents and collecting air quality data from the local agencies as well.

A Roundtable on Breaking Barriers to the Adoption of Clean Air Technologies, March 2009

2009-04-24T00:47:00.001-07:00

A Roundtable on Breaking Barriers to the Adoption of Clean Air Technologies was held in SMX Convention Center, Manila on March 20, 2009. This forum was organized by the Partnership for Clean Air (PCA). PCA is a multi-sector network in The Philippines with organizational members from government, civil society, academic institutions and private sector. PCA also serves as the country network of CAI-Asia in the Philippines.

The aim of this forum is to discuss the barriers of clean air in the Philippines and suggest the possible actions from the government, NGO, academic sector to improve the air quality since “Philippine Clean Air of 1999” signed in 1999 and implemented in 2000. On that day, the representatives from the governments, private companies, NGO and the universities presented the current situation of clean air projects and opinions what barriers they have encountered and how to improve the current situation. They were enthusiastic about better air quality in the Philippines. I like them so much.

For me, I leant a lot from this forum. Since I had just stayed in Manila for 10 days, I was not familiar with the regulation of clean air in the Philippines. In the forum, I met many peoples from the government and private companies, and realized the barriers in implementing the Act in the Philippines. Now, I am staying in Manila for 10 months, it is a good chance for me to learn more about the national air quality management policies in the Philippines, other than Hong Kong’s.

OCTOBER REPORT

2009-03-23T02:09:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-19T02:37:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-15T01:17:00.001-07:00

I went to Thailand on 30^thSeptember. 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.

2009-03-11T07:46:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-03-09T07:25:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-03-08T04:41:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-03-07T22:42:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-03-07T21:12:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-03-07T07:12:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-03-07T05:54:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-03-07T04:05:00.000-08:00

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.

Meet our Clean Air and Blue Skies Asia Exchange Volunteers!

2009-02-08T20:09:00.001-08:00

The Clean Air and Blue Skies for Asia exchange program organized by the CAI-Asia Center and CAI-Asia Country Networks with support from Fredskorpset (FK) Norway sent four young volunteers, aged 22 to 35 years old, on a 10-month posting in another country to gain practical skills in air quality management and sustainable urban transport which they can use in their home countries.

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)