Valentina's visit

Hello,

It has been a long time since I wrote my last blog. I have been really busy lately. I went to Romania for a training workshop on the Learning to Live Together manual on the first week of November, came back very tired and engaged in a strategic planning meeting in the office and now I am preparing for another workshop with young people next week in Geneva. On Friday I will go to London for a meeting and will visit some friends and my sister during the weekend.

During the next month I hope to blog about a trip to Basel, my Master, something about masks, the workshop in Romania, the trip to London and the next workshop here in Geneva. There are so many interesting reflections and ideas that I am really looking forward to having the time to sit down and write.

Let me just blog this time about Valentina's visit to our place some weeks ago. Valentina is a very good friend of us from Colombia who is now studying in Neuchatel and working in Lausanne. Even though we live very close to each other, and Switzerland is quite small, we don't meet so often, so this was a very nice weekend together.

We went to Chambéry, a very beautiful town in the Savoy region in France. Chambéry is a city with small streets, beautiful monuments, natural parks and very old buildings that are preserved as historical heritage. We just went for the day, met very nice people and had a good lunch. To our surprise, local people were very talkative, trying to become friends with us, asking us why we decided to visit Chambéry or just telling us where to find a good restaurant or what to do. It sounds funny that I find this surprising, but this is not very common in Switzerland and people here rarely try to help a stranger or to establish a conversation with them.

Thank you Valentina for a very nice weekend together. It was wonderful to talk to you, to listen to you, to learn from your experiences, to be reenergised by your passion to do things and do more than what average people do, and for your company during that weekend. It is wonderful to have the opportunity to meet old friends, reconnect and just enjoy the magic of friendship.

Hope to see you soon again.

Big hugs and love,

Malu

Where is Matt?

Hello,

This can be a strange post for many and for others a very exciting, fun and inspiring way of seeing the world. This post is about a guy who travelled to different parts of the world dancing. There is nothing really special about his dance but what caught my attention is the freedom to do it, his capacity to enjoy the moment, to make others laugh for a while and his spirit of adventure and of bringing people together with the simplicity of being himself.

I guess making life enjoyable, simple, meaningful and inspiring, it's pretty much what makes us happy. Read more about Matt and watch the video! It makes you go around the world!

Peace,

Malu

"Matt is a 32-year-old deadbeat from Connecticut who used to think that all he ever wanted to do in life was make and play videogames. Matt achieved this goal pretty early and enjoyed it for a while, but eventually realized there might be other stuff he was missing out on. In February of 2003, he quit his job in Brisbane, Australia and used the money he'd saved to wander around Asia until it ran out. He made this site so he could keep his family and friends updated about where he is.

A few months into his trip, a travel buddy gave Matt an idea. They were standing around taking pictures in Hanoi, and his friend said "Hey, why don't you stand over there and do that dance. I'll record it." He was referring to a particular dance Matt does. It's actually the only dance Matt does. He does it badly. Anyway, this turned out to be a very good idea.

A couple years later, someone found the video online and passed it to someone else, who passed it to someone else, and so on. Now Matt is quasi-famous as "That guy who dances on the internet. No, not that guy. The other one. No, not him either. I'll send you the link. It's funny."

The response to the first video brought Matt to the attention of the nice people at Stride gum. They asked Matt if he'd be interested in taking another trip around the world to make a new video. Matt asked if they'd be paying for it. They said yes. Matt thought this sounded like another very good idea.

In 2006, Matt took a 6 month trip through 39 countries on all 7 continents. In that time, he danced a great deal.

The second video made Matt even more quasi-famous. In fact, for a brief period in July, he was semi-famous.

Things settled down again, and then in 2007 Matt went back to Stride with another idea. He realized his bad dancing wasn't actually all that interesting, and that other people were much better at being bad at it. He showed them his inbox, which, as a result of his semi-famousness, was overflowing with emails from all over the planet. He told them he wanted to travel around the world one more time and invite the people who'd written him to come out and dance too.

The Stride people thought that sounded like yet another very good idea, so they let him do it. And he did. And now it's done. And he hopes you like it."

Taken from http://www.wherethehellismatt.com

ELCG Youth Group!

Hello,

This is just a short post to share some photos and thoughts about a sleepover at our place for the youth of my church. The purpose was to have a get together, learn more about each other and visit CERN the next day.

We had a wonderful time. We were only six: Maki from Japan, Roy from Zimbabwe, Amrita from India and Paulo from the Philippines, plus Paul and I.

We decided to cook Thai chicken together, have some Colombian patacones, play video games, talk and have fun.

Paulo and Roy cooking!

Amrita and Maki

Having dinner together!

The ELCG youth group aims at building bridges among youth 13 to 16 and being a space to have fun together, discuss issues of interest and build a community among us. It is becoming a very interesting group and I am looking forward to continue meeting them more often. There is so much we could do together that I am sure our next meeting will be even more exciting.

The youth at CERN. Paul explained to them about CERN, the experiments and its importance while walking and discovering the CERN Museum.

Hugs,

Malu

Motivation and Work

Hello,

Just wanted to post some reflections about motivation and work, and I want to do it in bullet points because I haven't thought of the connections between the different ideas. These are just random thoughts in the midst of a busy week, month and year!

- I have been thinking of those people who have family problems, who have lost a loved one, who are affected by emotional problems. What do they do at work? How do they manage to fully concentrate in their working places when there is so much going on in their minds?

- Are working places, venues for motivation, creativity, support and solidarity, or are they places where we need to use masks to be able to forget what's going on in our personal lives?

- Can working places help employees feel secured and motivated not only doing their jobs but at the personal level? I mean, are working places equipped to support employees in their personal development and with their emotional state?

- Do you have team building exercises, monthly team meetings, yoga breaks, or any other activity that help you harmonise your job with any possible disruptions?

- Is it possible to reconcile financial priorities, income generation and profitability with socially responsible practices with employees? I am sure it is not impossible, it's just never a tangible or clear need for companies and employers.

- Can a clear reward and recognition system in your organisation increase the motivation of your employees and therefore their performance, productivity and results?

- And what do you do when you feel saturated with work, tired of the routine, and in need of a break but can't have it now?

These are just random thoughts that come to my mind when I think of the working conditions of many people around the world, the distress of those who feel tired and overwhelmed, and the emotional needs that are rarely taken into account at working environments.

Hugs,

Malu

Meeting wonderful friends in Bombay

Hello,

This was an amazing encounter! Less than four hours together and yet it was a very exciting meeting. Nazly's first day in India, Martha receiving two Colombian friends more or less the same day, and my short stop in Bombay on my way to Coimbatore. Definitely, the universe conspired to make our reunion possible!

If there is something I don't get tired of writing about in my blog, it is the opportunity to meet my friends and have the chance to get reenergised by them. This was one of those powerful moments when you realise how much you miss being able to share your thoughts, go for a good breakfast together, talk about banal things and just be enriched by the power of friendship.

Thank you Martha and Nazly for these wonderful three hours in Bombay, for the jokes, deep thoughts, updates and fun. Hope we can meet again in another part of the world, when the universe conspires again to make it happen.

Big hugs and all the best in your new projects and initiatives,

Malu

Possing for the camera! Casual photo!

Natural pose!

Dualism

Hello,

This week has been a week of many reflections about the way things happen and work at different levels in my life and around me. There is one particular reflection that is going on and on in my mind all the time and it is about dualism in our lives. Good/bad, rejection/acceptance, sincerity/hypocrisy, jealousy/trust, strictness/flexibility, among others. These are some of the many blocks that are organised in our heads since we are children and make us see the world from a very reductionistic perspective, most of the times exclusive. A perspective that can make us self-righteous and intolerant.

I think life is enriched by both aspects and one's wisdom lies on the capacity to balance those and find strenght in what seems to be opposing us. Just think of moments in your life when you have to deal with dual forces. What do you do? How do you react? When someone opposes what you think, do you try to win the argument or do you try to find common points of agreement? When someone doesn't think like you, do you place him/her in a corner of those who are "bad" professionals, parents, friends, teachers, colleagues, etc? When you pursue a very important goal, do you think of how it could affect negatively or possitively others, or do you only think of yourself? Do we keep a balance in our life between work and family, parents and friends, hobbies and work, or work and rest?

Well, I guess it's not very easy to find a way to balance opposing forces, but I believe that being aware of considering both aspects is important. I don't think this means that we can't ever take sides or support one over the other. It means that when we do it, we consider that the other aspect is also connected to the decision we make and that it can't be isolated. I guess we have been taught to think under a dualistic mode and that somehow inhibits our creativity and sense of freedom. It makes us restricted and in one way or another goes against us being human.

I experience frustration when my mind can't get out of this dual world or when my decisions and life seem to fit into one side or the other. I feel like a prisoner of a world that doesn't let me see beyond or find different ways. I feel upset when others are also prisoners of this dualism and try to impose it to me. Again, I think finding ways to struggle with this dualism is what life is about...and what is important is to be aware of it.

In the midst of these reflections I have also thought about how dangerous extremes can be in our development in society. Can we totally separate everything into different compartments in our lives? Can we escape from the other side, person or idea? Can we isolate ourselves from things we don't want to touch or let touch us? If we do it, isn't it like disconnecting ourselves from what enriches us, from diversity, from what is beyond our own way of thinking?

I would like to find ways to challenge this dualism in the educational systems and find ways to teach ourselves and children how to get out of this dual world. I am happy to make a step forward to breaking this dualism by acknowleging how much it can affect the way I see, perceive, enjoy and live my life individually and in society.

I look forward to continue learning about it. If you have any ideas, suggestions, books, or reflections, please do share them with me.

Hugs,

Malu

A special guest at home: Nadeen!

Hello,

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to host a wonderful girl, Nadeen Nashef. A Palestinian who lives in Wahat al Salam/Neve-Shalom, a town where Arabs and Jews live peacefully together.

Nadeen was in Geneva working with Arigatou translating some interviews I did during a program for interfaith learning run by the GNRC in Israel (See Massa-Massar Programme) and she also helped us making a video about the Massa-Massar.

Nadeen stayed for a week at our place and Paul and I had a wonderful time with her. Her sensitivity, creativity, reflective skills, intelligence and quiet personality make her a very genuine person. Nadeen is also very good photographer and video editor/maker. 17 years old, she has already done exhibitions of her work and is now starting Photography studies in Jerusalem.

You can visit her gallery with some of her pictures at http://headphonesnn.deviantart.com/gallery/

We enjoyed a lot Nadeen's company. It made us feel like lucky parents with a very smart and wonderful daughter!

Thank you Nadeen for your sweet smile, your company, your reflections and care about things that happen in the world. We are sure that you are changing the world by being a voice for those who are voiceless and by raising awareness about important issues through your art. We wish you all the best in your studies and you are welcome at our place again whenever you feel like coming to Geneva or wherever we are!

Enjoy some photos!

Hugs,


Malu