Ponsinuane Primary School

I wish you all could meet the wonderful children I spend my afternoons with at Ponsinuane Primary School! This local public school has only 90 children and 4 small classrooms, but the spirit of the place is anything but tiny. Since 2002, youth from the community have been serving as volunteers with the village children, and one year later, they began to introduce after school activities into the primary school including: storytelling, reading, drama, games, music, garbage dividing, recycling and composting. The Ponsinuane Volunteer Group (PVG) now has its own building at the school and operates after school programs each afternoon, as well as volunteer taught English classes as a part of the regular school day. MCC supports a part time staff person (who is himself a young adult from the community) to help with the implementation of PVG's activities as well as sending me as a half time volunteer to teach English and help with the after school program. It is very special for these children to have the undivided time and attention that the volunteers give each day and for our part it's very meaningful to build relationships with the children!

World Views Make a Difference Towards Global Transformation

The 3rd International Conference on “Gross National Happiness”
Nongkai/ Bangkok, Thailand

I admit, I was more than a little skeptical when I was first told that I would be joining a delegation from our volunteer peacemaker team to attend a conference in Thailand on “Gross National Happiness” (GNH). What purpose could it possibly serve to hold an international conference on the hazy theme of happiness? And aren’t there more important things to be worrying about these days? My skepticism quickly faded, however, when the conference began and I learned what the concept of GNH was all about. You see, the king of Bhutan initiated the first GNH conference in 2004 because he was tired of the way the world judged the success of a country based solely on their Gross Domestic Product. He decided that in this age of environmental degradation, rampant globalization, cultural decline and scarce resources, it was time to work together towards a new paradigm of success. At the first international conference in Bhutan, the four pillars that “GNH” works towards were created. They are as follows:
· Good Governance
· Sufficiency Economy
· Sustainable Environment
· Cultural Recovery


This year’s conference had two unique parts. Firstly, we, representatives from Bhutan, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Fiji, Burma, Sri Lanka, Tibet, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, U.S., England, Russia and Serbia gathered in a forest temple for three days in Nongkhai, Thailand. Monks, nuns and spiritual leaders from various religious backgrounds deeply enriched the experience. It was a meaningful time of religious and cultural dialogue, relationship building and discussions on such topics as “engaged spirituality”, “local wisdom”, “the urban/rural gap”, “right relationships with the environment”, “peace building” and much more.

After this informal, preliminary part of the conference, we traveled 12 hours by bus to Chulalonghorn University in Bangkok. It felt good to be back on the familiar ground of a university campus. In Bangkok, academics and representatives from governmental and non-governmental organizations from all over the world presented papers, held workshops and premiered films, all surrounding one or more of the four pillars of GNH. The Prime Ministers of both Thailand and Bhutan even made an appearance to offer their support at the opening ceremonies.

Highlights for me from this portion of the conference included a paper presented about conflict resolution used to help transform conflict between Buddhist and Muslim youth in a juvenile detention centre, a workshop about the storyteller’s role in society, a film By Helena Norberg-Hodge called “The Economics of Happiness”, a concert by a famous Sri Lankan musical ensemble and a conversation I had on a bus with an American woman who started an eco-village in Brazil 30 years ago. I don't know that I have ever been in the presence of such an eclectic mix of people before.

*If you want to learn more about the GNH paradigm, visit www.gnh-movement.org

Gross National Happiness Conference, Thailand

A version of the festival I talked about in my entry "Light in the Darkness" is held 1 month later in Thailand, so I got to participate in it again! Pictured here are my friends Kalia and Nic from MCC's peacebuilding team.

We marchedthrough the streets in a festive parade with banners bearing the four pillars of "GNH": Good Governance, Sufficiency Economy, Sustainable Environment and Cultural Recovery.

In a village close to Nongkhai, villagers organized a feast for all three hundred of us, complete with music and dancing! This group blended traditional Thai instruments with drums, a violin and an electric guitar.

Conference banners guided us through the forest at this Theravada Buddhist temple compound in NongKhai, Thailand.

Heart Dance

In the cool of the night
in rhythm with the ancient drums,
my heart pounds like love.
Love of a planet.

I’m afraid to look down at this page,
for already each second is speeding away
like the paper lantern we have flung into the heavens,
a new star
a new vision.
A vision of happiness for this continent
and for the planet it calls home.

Gathered from the far reaches of Asia
and beyond
we dance feverishly,
as though the fate of each sentient being rests in our spiraling arms,
no telling what may happen if we fall still.
still.
still as the monks in our midst,
wrapped warmly in their fire coloured robes.
Deep red for Bhutan, brilliant orange for Thailand.

And if I close my eyes and squint a little
every pounding heart will rise
into the night like so many paper lanterns.

*I wrote this poem during a particularly meaningful evening of the "Third International Conference on Gross National Happiness" held in Thailand. I will post some pictures and highlights of the conference very soon!