Circles of SAHANA

As usual, I was up till the wee hours of the morning in preparation for an IOSN booth display for a local Rotary District Convention on March 23 to 24, 2007. In addition to an IOSN showcase, Bobby and I have planned for a SAHANA multimedia display and an Ubuntu demonstration.

Part of the preparation is for me to make ID pins that we will wear during the event. As shown above, the pin at the left uppermost corner is the one I had made to be worn. Then, an idea struck me!

As we all know, the sunflower is used in the SAHANA website, which I find, on my opinion, a fitting symbol of the SAHANA FOSS Disaster Management System, because for me the sunflower symbolizes hope and a new beginning. According to the FTD website, a sunflower's meaning differs from culture to culture. To some, the sunflower promises power, warmth, and nourishment — all the attributes of the sun itself. The Chinese hold the sunflower as a symbol of longevity. The sunflower is also often used as a symbol of green ideology.

Then as if a stroke of pure inspiration, I ended up doing several pin designs. What I thought of was combining the sunflower and different calamities as a background. It was actually a creative contrast of disaster and hope. I came up with several pin series: tsunami, typhoon, landslides, and volcanic eruptions. Ooops! My mind skipped earthquakes. Well, I still have time to make some.

It sure is cool to wear them all and show that amidst calamities - natural or man-made - hope brought by SAHANA leads to new beginnings. By the way, the word "sahana" means relief.

Asia Source II in the Fourth Estate

Scanned magazine article courtesy of Oni Budipramono.
Collage and additional details by FOSSyFrancis.

The press have been always a critical component in the information dissemination about events, places, and people.

A handful of the Asia Source II participants have written in our mailing list that articles about the event have been published in magazines and newspapers in their respective countries. I have a few online links here from CIO India and KOMPAS Cybermedia and a lot of blog entries from the participants.

I wish to thank Oni Budipramono for this article. I may not understand the contents, which is in Indonesian, but I know for sure that Asia Source II have been once again, in this form, have been immortalized.

Note: For those others who have submitted articles for local publication, please send scanned files of the articles and send them to my personal e-mail.

Hut of Palms

Photos courtesy of Cheekay Cinco

Asia Source II has unpacked itself with so many interesting surprises. One of these is the Bazaar on the 3rd day of the camp. Each of the huts have their own unique "services". One hut have country souvenirs and free massages while another have teas and cigarettes. One hut that attracted a horde of onlookers and seekers was the one with palm reading sessions.

A rush of outstretched palms yearning for interpretation were everywhere. It was emphasized that it will be personalities not the future that will be read.

Humans have an inherent nature of wanting to know their future. The mystique of palm reading spans many cultures as what was manifested. While several schools of thought have their opinions on the practice of palm reading, it has not lost its mysticism through the ages.

Isn't it interesting that in this age of modern technology, humans still rely on the age-old methods of knowing what lies ahead? What's more amusing is that it takes another person to tell someone of who they are. And yes, most of the time, this has become a point of realization.

Do you know who you really are?