At the beginning of this end...

There is an end to each beginning...

It was so cheesy?

I know!

"Cheesy" is actually a word that I learned in this path. This long path I mean.

Was it that long?

It was supposed to be! Nine months is not a short time, is it?

For what?

For a life to begin. For beginning of the bonds that you don't believe today that are not supposed to last forever. You don't believe that you were supposed to come, live nine month and go searching for your own path of life...

Are you kidding?

Please tell me that you are. Do you really think that you can live days and days together, sit till early morning in the very popular kitchen which is the heart of the house and hear the most intimate stories of each other's life, laugh, be sad, and suddenly

Done?!

No way! It is not like that. It can't be! So what about all those friendships, memories and smiles? How can we say goodbye to all nine months of living with those strangers who are part of the family now and the unfamiliar city that is currently among the most familiar parts of the world?

No!

I am sorry but it can't be like that.

There won't be any goodbye or an end this time.

This time, our beginning won't have an end. The friendships that started in this red house on 1514 Dr. Penfield ave., won't be finished.

Hey Amruth, Jess, Kyle, Michelle, Carlos, Tope, Lilit, Arcie, Thiha, Anu, Andrew, Lisa and Dami!

Where will we see each other next time to review all those sweet family stories?

There is no price for friendship in this world. How can I forget you my best friends?!

Without any goodbye, Lets start the future. A future full of eternal friendships.

Visit to St. Johnsbury Academy (Vermont, USA)

The excitement to visit a high school in the States and interact with high school students was there from the beginning. However, the trip to St. Johnsbury Academy (www.stjacademy.org/page.cfm) in Vermont was much more than we would have expected. Five of us - me, Anu, Roozbeh, Temitope and Damilola - were the guest speakers at the academy for a few days. We had a chance to do formal presentations to larger number of  students, as well as engage in talks and discussions during their classes. The topics we touched included environmental challenges, women issues, youth participation, health concerns, culture. It was incredible how knowledgable and smart the students were, the depth of the questions they posed, and the curiosity they expressed about global issues and various cultures. Hopefully this experience was as interesting and useful for the students as empowering it was for us.

Tea anyone?

Every couple of weeks, the Sauve Scholars engage with leaders in a rather informal setting we call Tea Talks. All 14 of us gather in the Salon with tea, cookies and a leader who tells us about their work, their reasons for engaging in such work, and their personal experiences and challenges in achieving their life's goals. Some of the people we have had visit Sauve House are Kristen Johnson, an expert in humanitarian aid; Len Blum, a screenwriter turned yogi; and David Creigton, the president, CEO and founder of Cordiant Capital - a fund manager of emerging markets.

Aside from the foundation organizing these talks, scholars themselves have also organized their own powerful and irresistible Tea Talks, beginning with Marie Wilson of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission; Eloge Butera, a former scholar and survivor of the Rwandan Genocide; and Rex Brynen, a professor and researcher of peace-building and conflict, particularly in the Middle East. Yesterday, Michelle had organized a talk with Christian Novak to speak to us about Micro-Finance Institutions, since so many of us have expressed an interest in this topic.

The passion and experience have brought with them kindled many of the new thoughts and ideas that I have been drumming up this year. Part of the Sauve experience is about a intense exchange of ideas and experience. It was nice to have an opportunity to invite special guests to the nice and relaxing Salon of the Sauve House.

La Rue des Artistes

Speaking at the McGill University International Development Studies: An Experience Worth Sharing

The workshop was an amazing experience for me. It was able to present what I am doing in the Philippines to the undergraduate students of International Development Studies in McGill and to some guests/professors of same field. I shared to them how I was inspired, what are my motivation in trekking the route to community development and other development projects. We were 6 speakers in the panel (http://www.mcgill.ca/isid/undergraduate/intd/march9event/).

The good thing also, is that one among the audience is the internal director of End Poverty Now, named Alicia Bruce, and she liked my presentation. She is inviting to another speaking engagement on March 30. It will be taking place at Vanier Cegep. It will be hosted by End Poverty Now and Education Beyond Borders.

I hope that my talk inspired the students to make a difference in their world, to be able recognize a need and to be able to think about the most basic approach to solving the problem sustainably, rather that simply a “band-aid” solution.

CIVICUS 2010

Acting Together For A Just World

 The city of Montreal has always, to my understanding had a strong process of assimilating new ideas into an existing cognitive structure taking into consideration its citizens and ensures the involvement of its people in civil society. The fact that the Venue for the CIVICUS world Assembly was right here in Montreal did not come as much of a surprise when the opportunity to participate in the same were extended to us.

At the CIVICUS I witnessed how few people who come together with an organized thought and an extended vision could transform the lives of millions of others across the world. A sense of hope is what we saw to say the least. Discussions and presentations were made on the challenges and the solution to meet economic justice the discussions took each group to various perspectives on how civil society could be a part of contributing to the Millennium Development Goals and to the welfare of standing up for the fight against Poverty and climate injustice.

The uniqueness of the conference was that the forum was always open and there was enough and more opportunity to extend the understand from the Plenary session to the workshops where questions often not weighed or even thought of were discussed. An issue that is often talked and worried about was finally on the table to be dissected by us the representative of the Civil Society to comprehend and assimilate perspectives.

The catastrophic effect the earthquake left on the survivors in Haiti, the effectiveness of development and the different perspectives on social development with that of participants from across the world was but a pleasant reminder of how much in common we shared through the unity of thought on goodness. For us Sauvé scholars who came from different parts of the world, it was more than an opportunity to dwell on issues close to our heart and hope with like-minded individual leaders through a community that addressed social, economical and Human rights issues impartially and uniquely.

In a certain workshop where we broke down for consideration of constituent parts on working together to eradicating poverty and surprised ourselves when the result showed surprising trends. Factors were pinned on to a board and saw that we had one or more incisions reaching to the mid rib of an issue so large. Sustainable community development is a topic close to my heart and the workshop on tapping into uncommon wisdom for participatory and inclusive governance was in Joanna Ashworths’s words “Arts serve as vehicles for public learning and engagement” It was more or less a re affirmation of my thoughts on using theatre as a tool to educate and empower the underprivileged and the ones who have no access to a decent education. Meeting people who have dedicated their lives to a certain cause leads future leaders of change like us Sauvé scholars learn through their years of experience and wisdom.

What was even more interesting was the choice of topics for discussion. The economic role of Women and Men and the questions on how to link practical needs to strategic interests, I felt was relevant in the context of any culture or country, In fact that frames the very economy of a country. There reached a point where I felt that this one conference gave a socially responsible citizen a certain level of understanding in the phenomena that evolves from a previous phenomenon. The energy was unstoppable and the learning continues. Acting together towards a just world now seems just a percent of what than CIVICUS world assembly initiated and wished to achieve. With it was born many believers.Believers in togetherness, believers in Global Citizenship, Believers in accountability for life of others across the world..Count me in, if you didn’t already!

Anu George Canjanathoppil

Visit to Cirque du Soleil

Note: The conversational quotes used in this post are based on my recollection and might not be an exact reproduction of words uttered by the people involved.

*      *      *

There is only one word that can attempt to describe the feeling that all of us experienced last Tuesday, March 1st – Wow! Here’s a short attempt to give you a glimpse of the magic that we experienced during our visit to the renowned Cirque du Soleil headquarters – a visit made possible thanks to Sauvé Scholar Carlos Rueda.

“There are three words that I want you to think about while you are here” said Welby Altidor, the Creative Director of Cirque du Soleil as we sat with him after a truly awe-inspiring journey to different divisions inside their company. “The first is creativity. In my view, creativity is the lack of rigidity – no rigid mindset, no rigid rules constraining our ideas, no rigid protocols controlling our behaviour within the organization – that is how I look at creativity” he proposed, waiting for us to disagree with him. Though we took some time to warm up to the idea of arguing fervently with the director of one of the most successful performing arts company in the world, ideas started bouncing out of our minds pretty soon.

And that is a strong reflection of the culture that oozes out of everything that you see at Cirque du Soleil. Every person you meet, every sculpture, every painting, every costume and all the things that for a lack of a better name I’ll choose to call ‘crazy things’ that you stand admiring call out in the strongest possible way for you to express yourself in the most creative way you can imagine.

“But creativity alone is mere decoration, just like everything else that you see around you in our company or on stage during our performances” interrupted Welby. “Our eyes get used to decorations very quickly” he paused to see a few puzzled faces around him before he continued “it is the meaning behind these decorations that lingers on in the minds of the audience. That is what converts a creative decoration into a Wow! And that is the second word that I want you to think about – Wow.” We were slowly getting absorbed into a magical world as we listened to Welby explain to us about all the different ways in which they strive to add Wow! into every experience that they create – be it on stage or within their company. Their administrative staff members work sitting beside huge glass walls that separate them from artists who are training adjacent to them. “It helps them remember why they are doing the work they are doing, even when it gets less exciting at times. It connects them to the Wow that we create for our audience and their role in taking that experience from our offices to the hearts of people.”

As Welby explained more about how their internal business processes work, we realized that if intelligently & creatively planned, the abstract, non-quantifiable aspects of a company’s culture can often influence the performance of a company a lot more than rules and protocols that we assume to be necessary for an organization to run efficiently. What impressed me greatly is the way they constantly related the work that they do with the social change that they wish to inspire. “We broadcast no messages through our performances, but we give people a pretext to bring out what is already there in their hearts. That’s our vision – to revoke, to provoke, to invoke. We are in the business of selling inspiration” explained Welby. “And that brings me to the third word that I want you to think about – Social change.” (None of us bothered to mention that there were two words in “Social change” – it turns out that there is not much of a difference between 3 and 4 when you are looking at it through the lens of creativity.)

“I wish that all of you will think about how what you want to do contributes to a positive change in the world around us. And the only thing that can help you in your efforts to change the world is imagination.”

When we walked out of their company at the end of the day, I can speak for everyone when I say there was only one feeling that filled our minds – WOW! We were introduced to a corporate culture that transcends the boundaries of the popular management & leadership theories that get thrown around these days like sea shells on a crowded beach. And I am sure what we learnt at Cirque du Soleil will stay with us for a long time to come.

Hats off Welby & Hats off Cirque du Soleil!

*This post would be incomplete without special thanks to Sauvé Scholar Lisa Rae who lent us the photographs used in the post.