Lessons from the field (part 2)

So I learnt some stuff about facilitating. That’s not all I learnt in Indonesia:

• Aid workers tell some of the best, and funniest stories – and best of all is when they try to gazump each other!
• Roti = white bread, not the yummy roti we know and love
• There’s no such thing as a short drive in Indonesia – and if they say it will be between 2 – 4 hours, they mean 4 hours
• Similarly, a one-hour jaunt on the rim of a volcano turns into a three-hour epic (OK, I’m exaggerating about the epic bit, but not about the 3-hour bit)
• Speaking of the volcano – inspiration is everywhere. Part way up the volcano we saw a group of young people playing a communication game involving string, a bottle and a nail (buy me a drink one day and I’ll explain it). Low tech, do anywhere, something I could use one day.
• White line fever is alive and well. Put people into teams and get them competing with each other and, watch out! Maybe competitiveness IS in our genes?
• An iPod (especially loaded with TED talks) is a saviour from crap television
• You can’t go past shared experiences, even as common-place as meals, to build relationships, connection and friendships.
• Kabaddi is a cool game