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CONTENTS

Poems from the closet (Jack) 2

Pameran 2011 (Charlie) 4

7 Lessons from Travelling (Bob/Ben) 7

Books, Films and Stuff (Pete) 9

Free gift! (Hello Mister) 10

Hello Mrs (Anon) 11

Cooking on a camp stove (Pete) 12

EDITORIAL

By Pete Howson and Sarah Oakes

My special skills involve eating. But if you’ve got one

that you think might be useful to other volunteers,

why not let VIWG know, then you can teach it to the

world at this year’s AVC.

Although VIWG are awesome, we can’t organise it all

by ourselves, so we’re asking for your ideas. What

would you like to see? How could we make this AVC

better than ever?

If you’ve got an idea, or if you’d like to help with

something or rather, send an email to the usual

address; viwg@gmail.com.

Love Pete and Sarah.

POEMS FROM THE CLOSET

Submitted By Jack Asetto

I Taught Myself to Live Simply

By Anna Akhmatova

I taught myself to live simply and wisely,

to look at the sky and pray to God,

and to wander long before evening

to tire my superfluous worries.

When the burdocks rustle in the ravine

and the yellow-red rowanberry cluster droops

I compose happy verses

about life's decay, decay and beauty.

I come back. The fluffy cat

licks my palm, purrs so sweetly

and the fire flares bright

on the saw-mill turret by the lake.

Only the cry of a stork landing on the roof

occasionally breaks the silence.

If you knock on my door

I may not even hear.

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PAMERAN 2011: ASLI SIKKA

By Charlie

(Above: Wakil Bupati was welcome by Bliran Sina

Cultural dancers during the opening ceremony of

Pameran 2011)

(Above: Bupati with Kepala Dinas Koperasi Wakil

Bupati and Government Bishop of Sikka Employees)

(Above: Sold out products)

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(Above: Pameran at night full of people and have fun)

(Above: More night full of fun)

Quoted from Speeches and Interview:

“Pameran is a great success and we are committed to

do it every year during our Hari Koperasi.”

Kepala Dinas Koperasi

“This is a great opportunity for us in promoting the

products of Sikka and hopefully we can find a place to

display regularly these products.”

Ketua – Dekopenda

“Dinas Koperasi will make a building design for a place

to display for this products and if possible in front of

Kantor Polres Sikka.”

Bupati Sikka

“We are inviting you for our anniversary this coming

August to have an activity like these.”

Bishop Sikka

“The Pameran is a great success our products are sold

out and we still have so many orders.”

Small Business Enterprise

“I can’t believe all these products are made from

Sikka. Were did you find all of these?”

International NGO staff

“This is great since all our costumers are local people.

It shows that the market is available.”

Government Employee

“The success of this activity is contributed to the

willingness and support from different agencies. We

would like to thanks Dinas Koperasi, Dekopenda,

Puskopdit, Sponsors (Tent, Sound System, Financial,

etc.), Swiss Contact and Voluntary Service Overseas

(VSO). The important thing about this activity is that

we made a difference in the life of people in Sikka.”

Ketua – Panitia Pameran

Well done Charlie!

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AVC POSTER HERE

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7 LESSONS FROM TRAVELING THE WORLD

By Bob (from Benny Lewis – see www.dailygood.org)

1. Everyone everywhere basically wants the same

thing

Vastly different as the world’s cultures are, if you

speak to Italian millionaires, homeless Brazilians,

Dutch fishermen and Filipino computer programmers,

in their own languages, you start to see that we are all

incredibly alike where it matters.

Everyone just wants validation, love, security,

enjoyment and hopes for a better future. The way

they verbalise this and work towards it is where things

branch off, but we all have the same basic desires.

You can relate to everyone in the world if you look

past the superficial things that separate you.

2. Deferring your happiness to the future is a terrible

idea

Too many people presume that when they have that

one thing they can work towards for years then

“everything will be alright”. This is delusional.

When you get it, there’ll be something else missing in

your life. I fundamentally believe that long-term pure

happiness from one particular situation or

achievement is a pipe-dream, but we can learn to be

content with what we have, live in the now, all while

enjoying the progress and changes we are making.

If your whole life is working up towards one really big

major goal that you hold on to for years, then you will

have a major anticlimax after the dust settles. Work

towards it, but stop deferring your happiness.

Get there slower and enjoy the ride.

3. “Someday my ship will come in” is rubbish. You

will NEVER win the lottery. Be practical.

People seem to have a strange concept of how luck

works and how the universe/some diety/karma/their

lucky shoe or how “they deserve it” will mean that

things will eventually fall into place for them. You are

“due” to win the lottery or will get swept away by

prince charming any day now. “You deserve it” (as if

others don’t).

This is a misunderstanding of how the world actually

works. Perhaps I’m wrong and praying or hoping that

it will all work out, or generally being a nice person is

what really “does the trick”, but why not actually get

off your butt and do something tangible too while

you’re at it.

I personally don’t believe in magic or fairies or

astrology or sky wizards or large-scale invisible

inexplicable forces at work on petty daily activities of

humans. I’m sceptical about such things, and believe

they are all impossible/ridiculous, and knowledge of

this has enriched my life. As a practical person, I see

the world as a very logical place with physical and

social rules and understanding this has helped me live

well in it.

The universe owes you nothing, you owe it to yourself

to be the master of where your life ends up.

4. There’s no such thing as destiny. This is excellent

news!

Destiny is used as a cop-out and standard excuse by

most people for why they don’t do something with

their lives. The thing is, it doesn’t exist.

Your limitations are not set by who you know, where

you were born, what genes you have, how much

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money you have, how old you are right now, what you

did before or other things that you can claim are your

stamp of failure for life. If you are determined enough

there are many opportunities in life that are totally

achievable with minimal cash, regardless of who you

are.

5. Seek out people with different beliefs and views of

the world to yours and get to know their side of the

story

As you can probably guess from #3, I have some

beliefs about the world that don’t jive with a lot of

people’s. However, a lot of people get their meaning

in life from believing in things I don’t. If everyone

thought like me, the world would be a very boring

place.

So when I meet someone with a very different belief

system to mine, it’s better to get along than to try to

“convert” them. This is as true for how the world

works as it is for language learning methods, fashion,

movie tastes etc.

When someone is sure about something and has

believed it for many many years, then you cannot

convince them with a few cleverly picked words.

Everyone is closed minded about something, including

me. They have to discover it themselves over time or

just continue believing what they do. Don’t take

responsibility for convincing the world you are right.

It’s important to acknowledge that maybe you are

actually the wrong one.

The world is much more fun with people of varying

interests and beliefs. Despite my scepticism, in my

travels I have hung out with astrologists, palm

readers, very religious folk, conservatives, and people

who hate technology. And my life and experiences are

enriched so much because of it.

Spending time exclusively with people who agree with

you on everything would never challenge you and

allow you to learn so much more.

6. Living a good life is the best way possible to

convince people

Enough words and enough arguing. Just live by

example and soon you’ll have people on your side

when they see your results and how passionate you

are. No need to “convince” them. Just show them that

you are there, tell them how you got there, and they

will start to realise that maybe you aren’t that crazy

after all.

7. Nobody has it all figured out

Almost everyone has problems and puts on a brave

face - don’t presume they have it easy. You see of

each person what they let you see. You have no idea

what they are going through or what they had to put

up with to be in a situation that you can consider

“easy”.

This is universal - millionaires, students, the cool kid,

the party animal, the introvert and everyone in

between has more to their story than the superficial

restricted one you see. Never dismiss them as having

it easy if you don’t know the entire story.

7 more next month

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BOOKS AND FILMS AND STUFF

Something Borrowed 2011

By Peter Howson

When a lone male is surrounded by females, the male

is not given a dominant position, nor is he pursued by

the females. Instead he is made an Honorary Female,

dragged around ‘malls’, asked what he thinks about

‘jeans’ or ‘dresses’. The females will continue to

discuss topics such as ‘the difficulty of obtaining

tampons’. They will even discuss bras.

All of these things the Honorary Female can cope

with. But the one thing that will forever strip him of all

his masculinity is being dragged to the cinema

screaming, to watch a ‘rom-com’.

Something Borrowed falls into this genre because it

has girls in it and they say ”love” a lot. It could also be

called an ‘advert’. There was a time when the only

adverts you'd see during a trip to the cinema would

be for the Curry house just round the corner.

Nowadays, the suits in charge are starting to exploit

the medium of film to such a degree that characters

wear brand name clothes, eat at popular fast-food

restaurants and engage in small talk about their lovely

cold Heineken. Short of tattooing their company logos

on the inner-eyelids of newborn babies, movie

product placement is the most unwelcomed form of

advertising, with many recent films carrying a

disarming amount of product placement that not only

add nothing to the story, but actually detract from it

The word ‘Heineken’ in Something Borrowed for

example is said 11 times. We see a Heineken in all 3

formats (can, bottle and glass) 16 times. The plot

genuinely follows the product placement. The only

part of the plot which was obviously planned, for

reasons other than marketing purposes was Darcey’s

(played by Kate Hudson) pregnancy, which had to be

incorporated into the film as she was pregnant in real

life.

This isn’t the first time Heineken have ruined peoples

Thursday night. In the mid-1990s, Heineken

sponsored a late-night youth culture and music show,

Hotel Babylon. The company had planned a precise

marketing strategy, and falsely believed that the

show's audience would match their target group in its

income distribution and degree of ethnic diversity.

A fax sent on December 20, 1995 from the company's

sponsorship department in Amsterdam to the show's

producers, Planet 24, explained that the audience's

demographics were not in line with the company's

marketing strategy, that there was 'too high [a]

proportion of negroes'. In response, Bob Geldof, a

founder and major shareholder in Planet 24, said that

Heineken could “go f*ck themselves” as far as he was

concerned. “I heard about the infamous fax and I

hooted with derision. It is our programme, not

Heineken's,” he stated.

On April 18, 2007 the European Commission fined

Heineken €219.3m, for operating a price fixing cartel

in the Netherlands, totalling €273.7m. The brewer

controlled 95% of the Dutch market.

EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes stated

that she was 'very disappointed' that the collusion

took place at the very highest (boardroom) level. She

added that Heineken tried to cover their tracks by

using code names and abbreviations for secret

meetings to carve up the market for beer sold to

supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and cafes. The price

fixing extended to cheaper own-brand labels and

rebates for bars. In 2004 Heineken and Kronenbourg,

the two dominant brewers in France, were fined

€2.5m - with the penalty reduced for co-operating

with the investigators.

Anyway, I hope this review goes some way in helping

reduce global sales of Heineken. That will teach them

for ruining my evening.

As far as the film goes, I can’t really comment on that

because I spent the evening playing Tetris on my

phone.

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Are you getting enough respect in the office? Are your

colleagues lazy and don’t turn up to stuff? Well why

not cut out and keep this limited edition Hello Mister

crown to let them know who’s boss! They’ll be kissing

your shoes by lunchtime.

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HELLO MRS

By Anon

Hello Mrs

In Indonesia there are 2 things that usually get me out

of bed in the morning: 1, the Fajr call to prayer; 2, a

good stiff drink! But, what with next month being the

holy month of Ramadan, I think only one of these can

be guaranteed. How am I to motivate myself into the

office (and keep the shakes away at the same time)? I

hear that eating 4 packs of tic-taks can lead to mild

intoxication?

Dear lazy bones

Motivating yourself through Ramadan is easy; just

follow these simple steps:

1. Be reasonable and adjust your time for work and

rest.

2. Start with little things, such as pulling the curtains.

This way you can work your way up to bigger things

like having a mandi!

3. As soon as you wake up in the morning, just wash

your face and freshen up. You will feel 10 times

better, and you will feel like doing so much more.

4. Do all assignments and projects right away. This will

also cut down on stress. It will sometimes help to get

a schedule and wake up the same time every morning,

as you will feel so much less lazy and tired, and more

prepared for the day ahead.

5. Start your day with positive self talk. For example,

“TODAY I WILL DO THIS!!!” (whatever you plan to do

that day).

6. Just do it! There isn't any cure for being lazy. The

only way to overcome this is by setting your mind to

the task and completing it. Have self-discipline.

Life is short! Just remember, in the end (when you’re

dead) you will only regret the things you didn’t do.

Hello Mrs

As an artist, people are often brought to tears when

they see my beautiful yet powerful pieces. However,

my paintings of butterflies are laughed at. How can I

improve my butterflies Mrs? I’ll be damned if I lose the

Turner Prize AGAIN!

Dear Lepidoptera-phile

Many volunteers have always been fascinated by the

beauty and ephemeral nature of the butterfly. Found

in a wide range of colours and often with very vivid

hues, butterflies offer the volunteer an endless source

of drawing and colouring possibilities. Indeed, it is

possible to so fall in love with drawing butterflies that

you end up dedicating your entire life to them.

Here are some easy steps to help capture their

splendour:

1. Draw the round powerful head

2. Draw some pretty antennae

3. Draw the beautiful body

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4. Draw some lovely wings

5. Colour it with powerful colours and patterns

Butterflytastik!

Hello Mrs

This year I was in Thailand for the Songkran festival,

the traditional Thai New Year celebrations where

locals and tourists alike cast away the year’s sins by

dowsing each other in water. It was lots of fun and I

often dream of replicating it in Indonesian cities. But

how can I do this without getting into trouble krap?

Dear Trouble maker

Why not organise a flash mob; an organized routine

from a group of performers working together on a

large scale within the everyday public environment.

Flash mobs are usually about a brief dance but other

types of performance might be used as well, such as

song, or even record breaking attempts.

While doing something with a lot of people on a large

scale can be difficult, if you manage to pull off a flash

mob, it can be very rewarding for both those

participating and for those observing it.

1. Decide what you're going to do for your flash mob

The success or otherwise of a flash mob event is

dependent on the originality, liveliness, and

attractiveness of the event. Avoid copying a flash mob

event that has been performed somewhere else;

always make alterations to any flash mob

performance that has inspired you so that it has your

own mark of originality and local relevance. In all

cases, the performance must be worked out in

advance and either rehearsed or well explained in

some manner (such as through online instructions) so

that everyone knows their role and interactions with

the other performers.

2. Watch previous flash mob events on YouTube.

There is quite a collection available to watch and this

will provide an excellent source of inspiration as well

as give you ideas about how to handle your group of

people, including positioning them, breaking up the

group, having it come together, etc. Like all

performance, timing and execution are critical to the

success of a flash mob.

3. Organize your flash mob.

You'll need willing performers to participate in the

flash mob and for that, you can make good use of

online resources. Use social media networks, emails,

texting, and websites to find people for your flash

mob. You may also be able to draw on the resources

of a class you're in, a performance or dance group

you're a part of, or other groups of people you spend

time with. And for sure, ask your friends and

colleagues if they'd like to be a part of it too.

4. Arrange any props or costumes needed.

Most of the time it's best to ask the participants to

bring their own props or to organize their own

costume gear (such as evening wear, swimsuits, wigs,

whatever) but sometimes you'll need to provide

things for everyone (such as dog leashes a collar for

an invisible dog walk). If the props or costumes are

difficult for people to find or make on their own,

consider holding a workshop beforehand in which

everyone has the opportunity to create the items

needed. However, the simpler the clothes and items

needed, or the more likely people already have these

things in their wardrobe or house, the better.

5. Finish as if nothing ever happened.

Once the flash mob event is over, don't allow the

participants to sit around and talk or to start talking to

the crowd. They need to mingle back with the crowd

and head off into the sunset as if nothing ever took

place.

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COOKING ON A CAMP STOVE

By Peter Howson

Birthday Pizza Cake

What you need:

1. All the ingredients from Anouk’s pizza recipe a

few months ago

2. Fish fingers

3. Baked Beans

4. Meltable cheese

How to make it:

1. Cook 3 large pizzas as suggested in Anouk’s

pizza recipe a few months ago.

2. Grill or microwave the fish fingers and bring 1

tin of Ayam Brand baked beans to the boil.

3. Lay 4-5 fish fingers on top of the first pizza

and pour over half the baked beans. Place

another pizza on top and repeat.

4. Place the 3rd pizza upside down on the other

pizzas then pipe a special birthday message to

yourself.

5. Blow out the candles. No needs to make a

wish, you now have everything you could ever

wish for.