3am, Kunming City

Arrived in Kunming in the afternoon of Saturday (4March). The trip must have taken almost 5 hours. Temperature here is between 0-5 degrees. It was too chilly when we got off the van in front of the hotel here in Kunming, enough to turn me off from shopping or walking around town!

My room here at least is cozy and warm. Too cozy I had fallen asleep quite early. That is why my entry for the day is being written at past 3am.

Not snowing anymore when we got here. But on the way, the hills and fields and rooftops of houses, even pine trees looked quite lovely as patches of snowfall decorated them.

Fell asleep part of the way but was awake when we passed Yuxi, another city I had visited on my first trip to China. We held workshops there a year ago for sex worker peer educators. Participants had come from various counties all over Yunnan.

I leave for Bangkok tomorrow afternoon. Looking forward to Thai massage!

Snowshowers as training ends

It drizzled as I made my way to the CDC (that’s Center for Disease Comtrol) building, late for the 9am workshop session. Four layers of clothing not quite enough to keep the chill out of my bones. The daily morning walks of the past week has meant strolling (I wish!) along the pathway that sorrounds Gejiu lake, walking up three flights of stairs and feeling my heart thumping away as I settle into a frozen-cold chair in the workshop venue.

We formally ended the workshop/training as noon approached. Summing-up, next steps, evaluation, closing rituals… then it was flipcharts, drawings, improvised maps being torn from surrounding walls, colored markers (with colored caps in mismatched states) being tossed into cartons… and then the drizzling rain glistened into thin, falling, fading whiteness. I peek outside the window and see a middle-aged man in a brown well-worn coat stretching out a palm and collecting bits of snow. He stood there, looking down at his palm, face expressionless… while I stood there looking down at his figure…

2nd posting – heater’s on!

Finally, hotel folks showed some pity. The heater seems to be finally working. I am now able to sit here in front of the computer and feel my fingers as they punch on silent keys.

Tomorrow is the last day of our PCA workshop here in Gejiu. This has been one of the most mind-boggling processes I have had to coach on. Bringing in these concepts with titles that are loaded with connotations and assumptions is bound to trap you in either a roomful of “Duh?” stares or even worse, a circle of chairs spinning in confused looks! The other day, as I battled with brainstorming sessions (my brain ending up the worst hit by that storm), I find out in the midst of it that 1) participation (here) meant the leader defining to them how to “participate” and telling them they should (!) , 2) community referred to a government structure that would deliver services to the people in a certain locality, and 3) assessment … well that at least meant assessment (or at least I ended the session thinking it did).

I am enjoying this. I really am. In my usual optimistic mode, I do believe there is so much that can be accomplished here. I am amazed at how political will can make things move real fast here in China. And don’t get me wrong — the challenges to participation is not because there is resistance to it, it is just about how to bring it about in structures where lines between control and participation are pretty blurred. Or maybe it is for outsiders like us to learn how participation is defined by different cultural brushstrokes, one not necessarily better that the other??

Gejiu, 5 degrees

Writing my first entry from Gejiu City, Yunnan province. This is my 5th trip to China since last year. Freezing cold tonight…

Gejiu is about 5 hours drive from Kunming (the capital city of Yunnan, which is part of Southwestern China). They say the new highway should have taken us here in much shorter time, but well, some drivers prefer old roads, maybe?? I arrived here Wednesday of last week (23Feb2005). Dove right into a preparatory workshop that dragged on to Saturday. Then Sunday off (Hallelujah!) — which meant a luxurious bout of oversleeping until noontime!

PCA training began this Monday and ends on Friday. So we are more than halfway through. Two more days to go.

Okay. What am I talking about? What is a PCA? First off, its one of many acronyms that flood this area of development world. But then again, so does other circles. What the heck, Manila has so many acronyms for so many things — txtng making it worse. I can hardly understand most of that now!

So… PCA stands for Participatory Community Assessment. Twist and turn a few words here and there, and a similar process could also be called PSA, PRA, CNA … who really cares?! Anyway, let’s just go with the PCA for the sake of this journal.