Arnaldo just published a short article on the role of Buddhist pagodas in dealing with poverty in Cambodia in the development magazine Just Change published in New Zealand. Buddhist aid: Pagodas reducing poverty in Cambodia This article tells the story of the Pagoda Association of Botum, a pagoda that has survived a devastating totalitarian regime to become a source of real poverty reduction in the community. Available in .pdf here (2.3Mb)
Here is the introduction and link to an article I just wrote with Eddie Borup on Management and change in Vietnam. Available at Projects and Profits Transition Management: The Key towards Achieving Results Nothing in this world is as certain as change. At the same time, the search for a definition of `change’ has been taking place for a long time and is still unresolved. The Greek philosopher Aristotle, has said, “change is the […]
I remember collecting sign books for some years. One day I got hold of one of the Italian publishing house Adelphi. Pink color, with just one sentence on it by, Gayus Plinius Secundus also known as Plinius the “Old”, born in 24 B.C. in Como. The rough English translation of Plinius sentence could be: ‘there is not such thing as a bad book where you cannot learn at least one thing’. After that i bought […]
Only once in a while, while zapping an endless number of TV cable channels you come across a movie which is a little gem. Just once in a while. That is when time passes, you know that is getting late, that tomorrow morning will be an early wake up, but you do not care. It has happen tonight, here in Ha Noi, coming across ‘Once’ by Glen Carney. Had the same feelings I had when […]
There are two Zanzibar. One is the idea of Zanzibar. The second is Zanzibar itself. This is often the case with travelling destinations but it is still interesting, I think, to compare the idea of a place with the place itself. Thus when I was on the ferry on Saturday morning from Dar es Salaam I was thinking about the books and stories I red in the past which told of kind of magical places: […]
In the playground in Dumaguete from Katja Pellini on Vimeo.
I arrive at the track and field track and am already sweating. The bicycle ride from home is just 10 minutes. The air seems cool at the sunset but is just an impression. As soon as you stop moving the sweat starts. I jump down. Pay the 10 Pesos offer at the entrance. Lock the bike. Fix my iPod Shuffle. Earplugs. Walk to the loop. For the first time in my life I find myself […]
Here is my contribution on working remotely in the last issue of ODEye, the internal newsletter of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) Far away, but still so close (with a little help from IT and PRINCE2) The Wim Wenders movie Der Himmel über Berlin is– the story of two angels who comfort mortals, but cannot be seen by them. Images from that movie came to mind when I was asked to contribute to ODEye […]
Almost midnight. Quiet evening. House is almost empty of furniture. Luggage are ready upstairs. In few hours we will leave from Ha Noi. We have been living here for two years and three months. This afternoon I was sitting in the garden in front of our house at the Swedish Camp in Ha Noi. It just stopped to rain. Drops where falling from the leaves of the bushes. Gray clouds and a nice breeze. I […]
“As an economist in good standing, I am quite capable of writing things nobody can read. Indeed, unreadable writing – my own and others’ – played a key role in helping me arrive at the views presented here [i.e. in this book]. But what the world needs now is informed action; and to get that kind of action, ideas must be presented in a way that is accessible to concerned people at large, not just […]