Workshop at Dasein Academy of Art - 27th of August 2009

Daphne, Aiza, Amna and Maria conducted a workshop at Dasein Academy of art in front of a crowd of about 50 people. The new interns accompanied to the workshop to observe. The workshop went fine, and the audience seemed to enjoy it. Thanks to everyone who came, and hope to see you again!

Workshop at McKinsey & Company - 21st of August 2009

Today, we (Mattias, Daphne, Aiza, Mariette, Hyunmi) conducted a workshop at McKinsey & Company's office in KLCC. The view was amazing from the 57th floor, and so was the workshop. The workshop was very different from what we have done before. We didn't use any presentation (no powerpoint!), and left it very flexible and open. We started with expectation settings and questions from the participants. We found out quickly that the participants were very knowledgeable and easy to discuss with. We concluded the workshop with a discussion about three value-based statements. Very interesting points and information came up during this session. We were all impressed by the participants. All in all, this was the best workshop I (Mattias) have ever conducted. We learned a lot from these great people. Sincere thanks to McKinsey & Company, the participants and our lovely hostess! Hope to come back soon!

Workshop at UKM - 19th of August 2009

Cindy, Amna, Katka and Meri conducted a short workshop at UKM during an AIESEC gathering night. It was a nice event and most of the participants were familiar with the project from before. Things went smoothly and it was enjoyable. Thanks to all the listeners!

Workshop at MAHSA College - 18th of August 2009

Me (Mattias), Amna, Cindy, Katka and our nice new intern Maria went for a workshop at the MAHSA College. The workshop was conducted for a large group of nursing students (80-100 people). We got a very warm welcome from the dean and our contact person.

The workshop went really good, and both us and the audience had a really good time. After the presentations and discussions, one of the nursing students got the microphone and started to sing a famous Indian song. Then the rest of the audience joined in. They continued by performing the Malaysian national anthem for us. A very thrilling experience indeed! Since they were so nice and sang for us, we sang some songs for them. Amna sang a Hindi song, Katka a Czech children's song, Maria a song from Hong Kong, and me and Cindy a Chinese song I learnt last year.

We hope that we will be able to come back to conduct more workshops soon! Thank you MAHSA College!

12 August: HIV Training from MAC

We were paid a visit from Victor, a representative from Malaysian AIDS Council, today to recieve training on how to conduct HIV/AIDS awareness workshops. We had useful discussions on HIV/AIDS-related issues and how to convey them to different sets of audiences. He shared with us knowledge he gained from travelling around the world in his job, which was helpful.

We went through most parts of our workshops, and he showed us some activities and energizers we could use while conducting workshops.

One of the most interesting parts with this training session was the presentations of, and discussions about, the HIV/AIDS situation in our respective countries. It really illustrated how large the differences are in how the issue is percieved in different countries, the reasons for it, and how different countries deal with it.

Most of us feel better equipped to conduct workshops after this day.

On behalf of all the interns, we would like to thank Victor and MAC for their dedication and time. Welcome back!

Red Agent Mattias

7-9 August: Trip to Pulau Besar

All the interns set out with the bus at midnight from KL towards Pulau Tioman, a supposedly very scenic and nice island on the south-eastern coast of Malaysia. Unfortunately, as we arrived at the pier where a ferry was supposed to ship us to our destination, we discovered that all boats to Tioman island were fully booked for the whole day. We made a quick decision and changed our plan to go to a smaller island nearby called Pulau Besar. After a bumpy 20 minute speedboat ride, we arrived at the island. The first thing that struck us, apart from the obvious natural beauty of the landscape, was that it was surprisingly serene and quiet even though it was a weekend - in the middle of summer holiday season.

We split up in three houses and enjoyed our airconditioning and beds. Most of us immediately changed into swim suits/swim shorts and plunged into the turqouise sea.

The remaining time on the island was mostly spent being lazy, either by the beach or in one of the restaurants. The only actual activity was a nice snorkling trip on the second day. All in all a very relaxing and calm trip. The staff in the restaurants seemed to live the laid-back islander lifestyle to the fullest, as a nasi goreng took approximately 2 hours to get after ordering it. The only disappointment I had was the lack of diving spots, which I had hoped for. Apparently, the usual groups of Pulau Besar's visitors (retired french people) lacked interest in exploring these amazing waters, so the diving business in the area was confined to Tioman island.

On the way back, we surprisingly met Emma, our house mate, in a bus station somewhere in the wilderness. She was returning from a Singapore trip.

Now it's back to the daily routine!

Red Agent Mattias