Mar 09 - Meet the Project Manager!

Hi from Anita! : )

A gem in the forest - that’s how my Swedish project leader and Environment expert/consultant Tomas Gustafsson always refers to me to anyone we meet : ) - and each time we will both tell you the story of many moons ago way before we started working together, how Tomas had rented a motorbike and was exploring the coast of the marine park. He then came across a resort in the middle of nowhere and if I remember correctly I served him iced lemonade. He wanted to know about the area and so he started asking me some questions not really expecting much of an answer, assuming I didn’t really speak his language. A big shock for him when I replied in perfect English and a bigger surprise when I told him that having come back from England with a law degree, I was completing my doctorate thesis in Australia specializing in Sustainable Tourism Management.

This was the start of a great friendship back in 2002 (I did say it was many moons ago!). We kept in touch when he flew home and in 2003 he wrote to me about a training course being organised by SIDA and perhaps I may be interested to apply to be selected to join participants from all over the world to be trained in Local Environmental Management in Sweden.

I applied, was selected to represent Thailand, went to Sweden and everything changed for me. Soon after the tsunami disaster in 2004, SIDA funded a project in Trang and Tomas came to Haadyao and asked me if I would join his team of experts as their international coordinator. He gave me my first taste of what being in an international cooperation was all about and I was ‘hooked’! He gave me the opportunity of a lifetime and opened many doors for me in this path, to which today, I am still grateful. Our days were filled with hard work but also many funny moments. Tomas was brilliant, jolly and passionate about his work, all at the same time. The two years changed my life mission and vision and when the assignment ended I ‘took over’ the project management duties of the Lifelong Learning Foundation so as to continue follow-up activities in the tsunami affected areas.

Today, Tomas and I continue to keep in touch regularly. Both our families know each other very well. He wrote for me what Americans would refer to as a ‘smashing’ reference letter when the project ended.

While we’re on this topic of chance encounters that changes your life, I’ll like to share one more that happened a year after the Swedish project ended. I was on the overnight train to Bangkok and the carriage lights were not really working so it was quite dim. I had bought the newspaper (a rare occassion) before boarding just for something to read. It was here that I came across an ad looking for a country coordinator to work in a post-tsunami women’s livelihood project. I was excited but could not really make heads or tails of the whole notice because it was so dark. I’ll have to wait the next morning and see, I thought to myself. I wasn’t even able to sleep that night! Talk about being excited about projects : ) Have you ever felt the adrenalin rush? Well, I had that feeling that this was what I was looking for.

Hungry for more information about this great project, I couldn’t wait to send an enquiry. To make a long story short, I applied and after a ‘negotiation trip around the coastline and back :) a project cooperation began between Lifelong Learning Foundation (Thailand) and Transrural Trust (England). I’ve been on the assignment now for 8 months and am enjoying every minute of it. Perhaps in time, they may view me as a gem in the forest too? I’m keeping my fingers crossed : ) Each project activity brings its own set of challenges and working with the women beneficiaries and seeing them become more self reliant and empowered gives me a sense of fulfillment that makes me really feel that we’re making a difference.

I’ve come a long way from when Tomas first ‘discovered’ me many years ago and when last year I responded to an ad on a dimly lit overnight train. Both incidents have changed my life and serves as the driving force behind what I plan to do now and in the future. I am also greatly motivated and stimulated intellectually by my father Prof Laurence who is the founder of this Foundation. If you should come by Haadyao, we are very easy to find. Sitting at the cozy corner table sipping from mugs of chocolate milk you will see us both discussing and brainstorming about our plans and possibilities for the future.

President Barrack Obama also helped me to recognise that change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. For I am the one that I've been waiting for - and so although our Foundation is only 2 years old, I am committed to its development as project manager and will continue to work towards its growth to realize our mission and vision to benefit nature conservation and local welfare along the coasts and islands. I wrote this post to answer the question everyone is always asking me - what is someone like you doing here in the middle of nowhere? Perhaps now you will understand how I came about to do what I am doing!

P.S Many of our supporters/ volunteers/ potential partners are always trying to put a ‘face’ onto the person they are communicating with (that’s me! The project manager). So here I have attached a photo which I took yesterday (so its really the latest picture of me!) and some in action (incidentally I have already retired from all these activities, so please don't ask me to join you!). Oh, and this is a short film footage I did some time back. I think you'll need hi-speed internet to view it properly. Enjoy!

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