Sharing Malaysia, Indonesia, India (Mar. 03, 2007)

Selamat Pagi!

Whew! Long time no see! Last Tuesday (March 27th) was our first session as we resume the meetings at the Inner Work Circle after The Peacemakers’ Circle office closed up for a trip to Malaysia (to attend the URI SEAsia-Pacific Regional Meeting).

We were all glad to see each other once again after not having had sessions for a few weeks. We know we have a lot of stories to share with one another especially since we had gone to several places. This is why we decided that the evening will be a sharing of experiences from our respective travels.

Firstly, the Peacemakers’ Circle staff shared about their trip to Malaysia and we even showed some of our pictures taken during the trip. Our common insights about the trip was that Malaysia is truly a beautiful and its beauty lies in its being very multicultural, multiracial, and multifaith. We enjoyed so much the company and warmth of the people, as much as the sites and sounds (and smell and taste!) of the different places of worship we visited. It was equally meaningful to experience all these with the URI family.

The second main sharing for the evening came from a young friend who just got back from an exchange program in Jakarta, Indonesia. Carmen was accepted to volunteer for six months in a peacebuilding institute in Jakarta and she gladly shared about her experiences there and the programs of the organization. She shared that what struck her more about the experience are similarities in language and culture and parallelism in national history between Indonesia and the Philippines.

Before the session ran out of time we heard a sharing from another country—India. Another member just got back from a trip to India (wow, our innerworkers are quite a bunch of jetsetters, aren’t they?!) and she shared about the conference she attended and their experiences of mystical India. In one whole breath she was able to almost convince everyone to try to visit the country! She shared about the opposite aspects of India, the poverty and unhealth vis a vis the deep spirituality and wonderful art (architecture, crafts, jewelry, cloths, etc.).

Terima Kasih!

Orlan