The past two days Nicola and I have been taking part in an HR meeting in Singapore which has determined our fate for the next two months (and beyond for Nicola). While we previously thought we'd be in Singapore in August things have now changed and we will be spending time in the tsunami effected regions of Thailand, Sri Lanka, India....and very possibly Indonesia. So it looks like I will get to see everyone in Banda Aceh once again. Stay tuned!

Wow...time has really flown and it was finally time to leave Banda Aceh for good. It's around this time that you realize the close ties you have created in the area despite the short amount of time you've been there. I've made great friends in the many Indonesian and Western co-workers I had at World Vision ITRT and will miss them greatly. I can only hope that in the future our paths cross again. The picture on the left is the procurement team (Tuti, Angge, me, Junaedi, Nyakman, Paulua, Nicola, Krisna, and Robertho). On the right is Paul, the director of World Vision ITRT, his wife Vicky, Nicola, me, and Hans my housemate and WV co-worker.

The past couple of days Nicola and I have taken trips to some of World Vision's zones to do staff assessments and had the opportunity to see areas much more remote than Banda Aceh. On our visit to Lhoong, an area about an hour from Banda Aceh we took a lunch break to walk around 'town'. We came across a stream/river that seemed to be the center of activity. Boys played in the water, jumping from fallen tree trunks, locals washed their bikes and a guy was getting his haircut on the sidebank.

Today was World Vision's Children's Day, with a fun filled day of activities for the girls and boys of Banda Aceh. They did everything from painting to singing in a big park in town. The children were adorable and it's so funny how similar children are no matter where they're from...they all love to play, chat with their friends, and have endless amounts of energy. Boys played soccer while some girls sang what sounded like Indonesian pop songs on stage.

Nicola had a question and answer session with a group of local girls who wanted to know her favorite food and favorite color.

While our three days in Meulaboh were difficult from a work perspective, we really had a great time hanging out with many of the staff in Meulaboh and Tuti and Robertho from Banda Aceh who came with us. The first night after work we headed to the beach where we just walked and enjoyed the sand, water, kids playing, and the sunset.

We learned Robertho is a kareoke king, breaking out in many western songs including 'buffalo soldier' and 'oops I did it again'. Now I know how they learned English. Ira took us to a coffee shop for some very interesting local coffee. The coffee (see photo) is made in a glass and the coffee grinds fall to the bottom. Then, the saucer is put on top of it and it's turned over. You drink it by placing a straw at the edge of the glass, just barely underneath enough to suck out the coffee. I'm not a coffee drinker, but Ira and Nicola seemed to be enjoying themselves.

What I love about Indonesians is how straight forward they are. Maybe it's in the translation or maybe it's their culture, but it creates some funny situations. Nicola and I were looking at a photo of ourselves and we said 'oh gosh we look so fat'. So Ira says 'Oh don't worry, I'm fat too'. Ha, so basically you're saying we are fat. The next day Tuti saw spots on Nicola's face and asked what they were. Nicola said they were mosquito bites, but Tuti wasn't buying that. She pointed out some more spots on Nicola's face and said no I think you have acne. Lastly, my favorite story is one Nicola told me happened to her. She was in the airport waiting for her flight and wearing a shawl over her shoulders/arms. She saw a group of girls staring at her and they seemed to be talking about her. Eventually one girl went and sat next to her....then finally got the nerve to ask her a question. She said 'Why are you wearing a shawl?' Nicola responded 'I'm wearing it to cover my shoulders/arms so I'm not being disrespecful'. The girl responded "You'd look much prettier in a full head scarf". Ouch!

The way back from Meulaboh we got to take the UN helicopter (my first helicopter ride).I had heard it was uncomfortable and loud so I was a little nervous, but I thought it was great. The view from above was amazing and some of the windows were open so you could really appreciate the view. Our helicopter was fully equipped with headphone type things to cover our ears from the noise and we even had a flight attendant (but no drinks were served). Nicola and I felt like official aid workers!

Tonight Nicola and I met up with Melanie from San Francisco and Kyoko from Tokyo at the World Food Program to chat about our projects and enjoy some good food. Melanie and Kyoko also work for Accenture and are doing an ADP program with Oxfam.

Two rants in one day...this is a first for me, but I had to announce that Nicola, my Accenture co-worker out here in Indonesia is famous. As embarrassed as she is by how the reporter messed up her quotes and information....I still think it's cool. The article is about our program...so enjoy!

Disclaimer: Nicola graduated four years ago, not two and she didn't say the final quote of the article. Geez...if the WSJ can't get it right...who can you trust??

Theory & Practice
Sabbaticals Can Offer
Dividends for Employers

Backing Volunteer Sojourns
Helps Firms Retain Talent,
Gives Workers Sense of Pride

By LORETTA CHAO
July 17, 2006; Page B5

In late 2004, Stephanie Runyan was re-examining her career and flirting with leaving consulting firm Accenture Ltd., where she helps banks design training programs. Then, the 36-year-old industrial psychologist heard about a new company-sponsored sabbatical that would let her work with nonprofit groups.

Ms. Runyan has now completed the program twice, including a six-month stint crafting a training program for nurses in Nairobi, Kenya. She says the assignments strengthened her commitment to Accenture and "definitely helped me stay around."

Accenture is among an increasing number of employers offering company-backed nonprofit work to recruit and retain talent. In the Accenture Development Program, employees are paid half of their usual salaries, and nonprofit groups get Accenture's consulting expertise at steep discounts. Other employers that subsidize employee work with nonprofit groups include high-technology giant Cisco Systems Inc., pharmaceutical maker Pfizer Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and consulting firm Bain & Co.

Jennifer Anastasoff, chief executive of Building Blocks International, a San Francisco nonprofit group that helps employers develop volunteer programs, says large companies in particular show increasing interest in these "community-engagement programs" to strengthen talent, develop leaders and learn about potential markets.

Many of the programs are aimed at attracting and motivating top performers. Eileen Javers, head of the Center for Excellence at consultancy Right Management, a unit of Manpower Inc., says these fellowship programs "let those people know that they're considered to be very valuable."

Cisco, for example, uses its Leadership Fellows program as management training. The company-paid volunteer program started in 2001 as a way to keep good employees attached to Cisco after the technology bubble burst. Now, Cisco pays full salaries for 10 managers who are working with hurricane-damaged schools in Louisiana and Mississippi. The goal is "to get employees re-energized and re-engaged, give them a broader sense of themselves, the company and the community," says Tae Yoo, Cisco's vice president of corporate affairs.

Accenture also targets its best employees. Applicants must have worked at Accenture for two years and have excellent performance reviews. "It's one of the ways of making it a little competitive, a little exclusive," says Gib Bulloch, director of the program and a partner at the firm. "We don't give away our lowest performers to the nonprofits."

Mr. Bulloch developed the program after he worked for nine months in 2000 with a nonprofit group in Macedonia that assists small businesses, taking an unpaid sabbatical to do it. When he returned to Accenture, Mr. Bulloch surveyed employees and persuaded bosses to create the paid sabbaticals.

Accenture's program is similar to a longstanding practice at many law firms to donate lawyers' time to pro bono projects for clients who otherwise couldn't pay. Ms. Anastasoff says such programs appeal to strong performers who "seek more than a paycheck; they seek significance."

Accenture's top executives didn't want to give away the firm's services. Instead, they wanted the program to support itself. They settled on a formula where employees take 50% pay cuts, clients pay small fees, and the firm forgoes its usual profit. After a pilot program with 10 employees, Accenture launched the development program in 2003; now, roughly 50 of its 133,000 employees are in the field with nonprofit groups.

Accenture directors seek out nonprofit groups, principally in developing countries, that they think would benefit from the firm's management advice. The consulting firm normally does little business with such organizations.

The approach can be awkward at first, Mr. Bulloch says, because the groups are used to getting donations or free volunteer work. "We have to go in and say, 'No, we're not providing you with money, but [with] skills, technology and expertise; and in fact, you might have to cut us a check,' " he says. A few groups have declined Accenture's offer, Mr. Bulloch says.

From January to June, three Accenture consultants worked in Calcutta, India, helping Freedom from Hunger, an international nonprofit group, develop closer ties with informal self-help networks of women. The project "would have cost a fortune ... for the kind of experience we got," says Freedom from Hunger's Sean Kline. The group paid about $70,400 in fees to Accenture for a project that could have cost $396,000. Now, Mr. Kline is hoping to arrange similar deals in Mexico and West Africa.

Accenture's program quickly became a draw for some employees. Hundreds applied last year, and those accepted now must wait weeks or months for an assignment. The program makes Accenture "more attractive as an employer," says Jill Smart, senior managing director of human resources. The firm won't disclose retention statistics, but Ms. Smart says employee surveys show the development program helps to keep people at the firm.

Nicola Locke agrees. The program was "one of the reasons I joined Accenture in the first place," says the 26-year-old health and life-sciences consultant from London. Ms. Locke chose Accenture over other job offers when she graduated from college two years ago. She applied for the fellowship program as soon as she was eligible and is now helping an Indonesian group plot strategy for rebuilding homes destroyed by the 2004 tsunami.

"It's a fantastic opportunity," Ms. Locke says from Banda Aceh, Indonesia. "They're building a house next door to me, and it makes me feel good."

For all of you who noticed on the news there was an earthquake that triggered a warning about a possible tsunami, I wanted to let you know that it's far from where I am located and I'm fine. I have to admit it got me a little nervous when I casually went to msnbc.com and saw this:

Although I hadn't felt an earthquake I thought maybe it was out at sea. And even though I'm completely safe at the office location I wondered if others knew about this warning. About 10 minutes later an article followed that said it occured in Java so I knew we were fine. I only hope that the damage from the 7.2 earthquake isn't bad and a tsunami doesn't occur. Between the bird flu, volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis Indonesia has had a bad couple years.

Back in Banda Aceh after a week in Singapore. Despite working late every night it felt like vacation having hot showers and a swimming pool where you could wear a bathing suit. We got a chance to see a lot more of Singapore, going to little India and Chinatown and we even tried out a modern dance class.

We worked really hard this week although time seemed to really fly....it's amazing what having access to consistent electricity and high speed internet can do to your productivity level. There has also been a change of plans to my schedule now as some of our work plans have been switched around. After 10 days in Banda Aceh (which will be split up between different zones in Aceh) both Nicola and I will head to Singapore for the rest of our time on the project (with possible travel in September to other tsunami effected countries). What's great about being in Singapore (besides the western comforts) is that it's easier to travel elsewhere from there. I only have weekends left to do traveling so I'm trying to plan out some trips to other southeast asian countries. Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia are high on my list...hopefully I can get to at least some of them.

In other travel news I also rescheduled my flight for home and managed to arrange a 24 stopover in Dubai, UAE. I've never been anywhere in the middle east and am looking forward to getting to see more than the airport that I've been through 3 times now.

Back in Singapore! Nicola and I am doing some work in the World Vision Singapore office this week so we get to enjoy 10 full days of good food and hot showers. Since we'll be returning here for a few days at the end of the month and Nicola will be working here from mid-August until November they put us up in an apartment....a beautiful apartment! There are views of the ocean from our balcony, a huge pool, and a big flat screen tv.....better than my place in the States! We spent Saturday morning buying some good food to stock our fridge with and then headed over to the Marina where the community club (an organization created to recognize and appreciate the diversity in Singapore) was having an outdoor event. They had a group of women singing and dancing with their hands. It's hard to explain, but it was powerful and beautiful. Then we were invited to dress up in a culture's traditional dress and get our photo taken. Nicola opted for Chinese and I went with Korean. I have never worn so much pink in my life. I'll put the photo up once I can get it scanned in. After the festival we headed to Orchard Road to take a look at the great Singapore sales. We decided to browse Tiffany's for fun and saw a father and his seven year old daughter parusing the displays. The little girl was walking up and down the displays saying "no, no no! Why is it so hard to find something nice?!" She didn't seem to be impressed by the jewelry....some day she'll learn! Afterwards we hit the tourist massage place getting a half hour foot, leg, and back massage for free. At night we met up with Kerry, an American who works for World Vision in the Singapore office (and an Accenture alumni) for dinner. She took us to East Coast Seafood, a collection of seafood restaurants where we ordered a crab dish that Nicola thought tasted like a toffee apple and so she licked the crab clean!

Today we met up with Paul, the World Vision Indonesia Tsunami Reponse director and did some more shopping. We hit up a really cool bead store that had gorgeous necklaces, but too expensive and I'm told they're much cheaper in Bali. Then we went to IKEA to pick up a few items for the apartment. I love IKEA back in the States and was really interested to see how different the Singapore one was. The furniture wasn't different at all...I saw my entire living room and bedroom as I walked around and even the restaurant offered Swedish meatballs! After IKEA we headed to Chinatown where things were much more in my price range, but didn't see anything I needed. After a long day of window shopping we headed back to the apartment to enjoy some good food and a movie. Living in Banda Aceh has definitely brought me to appreciate all the western amenities!

Happy Independence Day! What a sad day to not be in the States. No kids running around with sparkelers, no smells of the neighbor BBQing, and no fireworks. My only way of celebrating our indepence from Great Britian was to give my co-worker from England a hard time. Even at lunch trying to get a hamburger was impossible as they were sold out. Bummer. I'll just have to celebrate twice as hard next year.

Plans have been set for John's visit to come see me in Indonesia. After he takes the bar he'll be off to southeast Asia where we will meet up in Bali. It'll be a nice opportunity for some rest and relaxation for both of us. I'll get a hot shower and he'll get to enjoy not having to study.

This Friday I'm off to Singapore again where I get to enjoy a week working at the World Vision Sinagpore office. Nicola and I will have two projects going on with World Vision so I'll get to spend the occassional week there. Yipee!

Indonesia is pretty strick about visas. On a tourist visa (the one I got on arrival) I was only allowed 30 days in the country. Since my time was up, it was time to head to Singapore for the weekend to renew by visa. Singapore is basically the opposite of Banda Aceh. It's a thriving city, incredibly clean with tons of western amenities. The best part about Singapore is how well it caters to tourists, especially during its yearly celebratory shopping festival called The Great Singapore Sale. This 8 week shopping extravaganza includes discounts at just about every shop as well as many extras for tourists including free massages, free food, and even a free limo service! I would have been happy with just the hot shower.

My time in Singapore was amazing and a total indulgence. The hotel I was staying at upgraded me for free to a great suite with a glass shower and a large bathtub. That was the first of many good things to come in Singapore.

The best deal I heard about going on was 50% of iPod Nanos at the Apple Store....limit 7 sold per day and only to tourists. The store opened at 11am which allowed me plenty of time to sleep in, but still get to the store for opening time. I soon found out that arriving an hour early was not enough as seven Chinese students had slept out overnight to secure the iPods. Wow....definitely more motivated shoppers than I was.

With the exception of buying some books I basically window shopped for the rest of the morning, but my body quickly grew tired of all the walking. Luckily I walked past a tent set up for tourists to get free massages. Yes! They were chair massages, but absolutely amazing and just what I needed to keep shopping.

For dinner I got my free tourist coupon for a chili crab dinner (Singapore's signature dish). A little spicy for me, but still good. Then I couldn't pass up the free Ben & Jerry's ice cream that HSBC was handing out. What a treat. A couple more hours of walking around and then I made a quick stop at the grocery store where I bought strawberries to enjoy while I soaked in a warm bath and watched Shrek 2 on my laptop. My weekend in Singapore was exactly what it needed to be--a relaxing and rejuvenating one day vacation. Oh yeah...and I renewed my Indonesian tourist visa.