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Torch light at the bus stop

Eymard, Thusitha and I have been chatting in the dark at the Gamini Hall bus station near my school for over an hour. We are talking about deep issues affecting our lives then, including love interests! We don’t see the time past. Forget about cell phones, we did not...

Opinion: Bad Policing is a global issue

I am writing this at a time there are protests around the world, started with an incident that killed George Floyd by a policeman in the US. The protest is addressing racism in the society. However, there is a bigger issue relating to policing itself. Police violence is something...

An awkward beginning with the A Team

After I returned to Hong Kong in October 1988, I was alone for a few weeks until Fr. Joe arrived and joined me. One of our first tasks was to prepare the Christmas Newsletter of the Asian Team. How thrilled I was then to use the Gestetner Photocopy machine...

Bustling Bangkok

I arrived in Bangkok without knowing nothing about Bangkok. I knew a few people though–Fr Chalerm, Rungtip Imrungruang or Jim as we called her who were members of YCS Thailand. Jim picked me up from the airport and took me to my place of stay, a place we called...

One awkward night in the Paris Metro

I think it was in December 1990 that Victor and I were again in Paris to attend a meeting called the RSM where all regional offices from different continents were meeting for a week or so. We were representing IYCS Asia.  One evening our older colleague and big sister,...

Canto Grande

Canto Grande (or Great Song in Spanish) was (and unfortunately still is) a shanty town around Flores in the outskirts of Lima (Canto Grande, Distrito de Lima 15404, Peru) in around 1989. It’s in the greater district of  San Juan de Lurigancho (SJL), the most populated district in Lima,...

Lost in Lima

We are in Lima, Peru. We are in Latin America. We were taken to our place of accommodation at Almirante Guisse area in Lima where IYCS-IMCS Latin American Secretariat was located. The Latin American office was in a large white building with a wall around it. Lous Maria, a...

Aeroflot/Аэрофло́т to Lima

We all were moved from Paris to a tiny town called Luxembourg on the 14th January 1989. Asians, Africans and those who were at the International office arrived in Luxembourg and were joined by Europeans. We were to embark on the longest flight we have ever taken. We later...

Trip to Paris

I had clear instructions from the International HQ in Paris.  I first had to leave Hong Kong and arrive in Sri Lanka to obtain my visa to France. In addition to that, I had to obtain a Benelux (a joint visa then issued for Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg) visa....