and then the earth moved

Took a couple of hours off from answering emails and preparing for the workshop tomorrow - so I could go snorkelling. met a nice Kiwi called Mike and his Scots wife (who never told mer her name) who have been here for 15 years. They run Big Blue Scuba.

We went out into the bay to a place called Pango Cove - 6 people were diving - 3 first timers - and I was the only one snorkelling - so I had my own guide - Max. (are all dive masters called Max?) Young bloke, asked me all about my work and was interested to hear about the problem of lack of skills training in his own country. I told him how lucky he is to have a job where he gets training for an international qualification (PADI)

I've just learned - from their website - that you can do PADI qualification by elearning - yay! I've always struggled with learning to dive because I tend to do resort diving with John when we are on holiday - and the lessons are just too short for someone as thick as me! John gets it all first go but I really struggle with calcualating 'bottom times' and working out whether the air in my lungs in expanding or contracting! And if I don't get this stuff right I'm going to DIE! I've always said that the PADI manual is one of the best examples of distance learning I've ever seen - I expect their elearning is pretty good too!

That's why I stick to snorkelling most of the time - still get the views but I don't have to worry about too much about the physics. Except there was a scale 4.5 earth quake while I was in the water this afternoon!!! That was rather different.

Anyway, I saw loads of beautiful coral and tonnes of fishies - parrot fish, angel fish, bright, bright blue starfish as big as a dinner plate and so many more that I have never learned the names of. I try to memorise what they look like so I can check their names when I get back - but never quite manage it. I need to get some underwarter identification cards.

Snorkeling in Vanuatu? - one for the bucket list!

Vocational training in Vanuatu

I am working with the Vanuatu National Training Council - there's only 4 of them but I have to say they are the most efficient group I have ever met! It is a real pleasure to work with them - Sam, Gerald, Emmanuel and Janet. They have arranged my programme so that I have had meetings with all the key TVET and skills development stakeholders in Vanuatu. They pick me up and drive me to all the meetings and make sure I have important stuff like water and SIM cards. VNTC are hosting a workshop for COL which starts on Sunday - to plan pilot programmes to deliver vocational literacy in Samoa, PNG, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu. They have me organised right down to the last name badge and workshop folder - great stuff! We are very much in the hands of our partners when we work in Commonwealth countries and usually things are a little haphazard - but not this time :-)

Today we drove around the entire island of Efate to visit the Epule Training Centre. 5 staff, less than 50 students - 4 vocational areas. We got there at 11am and they had already broken for lunch. Unfortunately I think the students spend more time cooking and gardening than in the classroom and workshops. The facilities were better than I expected. The centre is between Onesa and Matarisu. We started in  Port Vila.

Great roads in Vanuatu! great beaches ... great food (but very expensive because of the cost of transport) ... strong tourist industry ... all sort of quietly efficient!

If you ever get the chance to come here ... come!

Port Vila

Vanuatu must be the nicest Pacific island nation (although I quite enjoyed New Zealand - does that count?) There are good roads and everything seems to work pretty well ... they speak English and they have French chefs! What more could I want? It's pretty hot and humid but I'm used to that and after the dreary weather in Wellington - this is quite a change.

I'm here to work with the Vanuatu National Training Council - and some people from Samoa, PNG, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu. From Sunday, I am facilitating a workshop to help develop vocational literacy courses in these countries. Before that I've got lots of meetings with people who work in skills development here. They've also arranged to take me out to a rural training centre - looking forward to that - I always enjoy meeting students and seeing how things happen in situ.

Go here if you want to learn more about Vanuatu!

Bangladesh

Arrived late last night in Dhaka after a long, long flight. I spent 8 hours in Changi airport in Singapore which must be the most beautiful and interesting airport in the world.I was last at this airport in 1988 so it's changed a bit! They really cater to transit passengers with gardens, massage and beauty services, kids playgrounds, computer games areas, free internet cafes plus the usual assortment of high-end retail. They even offer a free city tour – which I was going to take but then the weather was terrible and I got sucked into shopping! There is a butterfly garden and a Koi Pond garden both are full of orchids – absolutely stunning. Can't show you the pics because I brought the wrong camera cable L

Reading matters

One of my quiet enjoyments in my new life in Canada, is my journey to work on the West Coast Express train (which my dad says is so slow that it can't call itself an express!) It gently winds its way along the edge of Burrard Inlet and you can look across the water to the North Shore and see the mountains - snow-capped for about three quarters of the year.

When I reached the Waterfront Station today and climbed three fligths of stairs to the street level (thighs burning and lungs wheezing on a Monday morning!) I noticed something I'd never seen before - a book exchange box. it's such a wonderful idea and I was reminded that we saw them at every station on our epic train ride around BC ... yes, I know, I still owe you those stories! But what a charming, friendly thing to do - people leave their unwanted books on a shelf or in a box at every station and other travellers can exchange their books or just take one - for a small donation.

I was just thinking how well endowed we are in the western world when I was reminded that in Rwanda, there is still not even a single public library. My friend Paul who is a staunch Rotarian, told me recently that even thought they have made great progress, they are still trying to raise funds to build the first public library in Kigali.

You can read the full story here ... and of course, if you want to make a donation to help the Virunga Rotary Club in this fantasic effort, that would be wonderful. (Although I was a little disappointed not to see our names on the list of Founding Members even though we made our donation ... maybe Paul will fix that?)

I've just seen that you can support the fund raising effort just by making your next Amazon purchase via their search engine on this website. Go buy yourself books and support a nation to develop a reading culture ... made even more important now that Enlgish has become the official language and millions of francophonie are busy learning English.

Time to go home

Victoria Inner Harbour & Empress Hotel

Of course the sun is shining today and Victoria looks glorious - the sea and sky are blue, there are multicoloured flowers in the hanging baskets all through the harbour and downtown area ... everyone is happy and smiling ... there are street markets and entertainers and .... we have to go home!

As we speak, we are winding our way between the beautiful Gulf Islands of the Spirit of Vancouver Island ferry on our way to Tsawassen. It's great that they have internet service except that I'm supposed to be writing a conference paper, not writing my blog!

All in all, a lovely weekend of R&R - just what the doctor ordered. We've eaten too much, laughed a lot, had some nice walks and of course, enjoyed some unparalleled shopping! And I'm looking forward to having a few more weeks at home/in the office before my next trip - which is going to be Bangladesh - New Zealand - Vanuatu! Stay tuned for more travel news ....

Weekend in Victoria

John and I are spending the weekend in Victoria on Vancouver Island. We were here in June with the wrinklies and liked it so much that we decided to come back. There's lots to see and do - we especially like the BC Museum where we're learning all about the history of Canada and especially the First Nations People. It's raining today so that's probably where we will go - also to the IMAX theatre - I love those movies.

We are staying downtown near the harbour - which is really pretty. It's great to sit and watch the boats and the people go by (when the sun shines). The BC Parliament building is right here too - and at night it is all lit up - beautiful!

I've discovered there is also a cider farm so we might go there on our way back to the ferry tomorrow. Oh and of course there's lots of opportunities for retail therapy!

Make a plan ... come visit!