April 2010
Rabial Mallick passed away on April 21, 2010. Mallick was a long-time friend of ACHR, working tirelessly in Bombay and Calcutta for PROUD. Mallick was also a member of LOCOA. As his colleague Fides Bagesao wrote, “Mallick's unceasing commitment to struggle for social change and to helping organize communities to change their conditions required much discipline, hard work and sacrifice. He combined his passion for working with the poor with close family ties and a simple lifestyle.” We will miss you too, Mallick.
January 7 2010
Some coming activities in 2010
18-19 January, Bangkok : We will have small meeting to discuss the ACCA information system and city development indicators.
21-22 January advisory / exchange visit to Laos
25-28 JanuaryACCA Assessment visit to the Philippines
29 Jan. small workshop on community driven disaster management and rehabilitation
2-6 February ACCA advisory exchnage visirt to Fiji
20-23 February Regional Community Arechitects workshop in Bangkok
23 - 27 February ACHR Annual Meting ( probably in Chiangmai Thailand )
January 3 2010
ACHR and friends are saddened to hear the that our good friend and housing rights activist Kenneth Fernandes passed away peacefully with family by his side on January 2nd, 2010. Ken courageously fought with cancer which eventually over came him. Our condolences and good wishes go out to Nora and the boys. We will miss you Ken.
December 2009
Pam Dashiell, another ACHR friend - this one very far away in New Orleans, USA - passed away last December 2009. Pam was a community activist who galvanized her neighbors in the Holy Cross neighborhood, in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, to come back and rebuild their houses and community after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in August 2005. We met Pam a year later, when ACHR made it's first trip to the city, when it was still reeling from the storm. Pam was in the first group of Katrina survivors who traveled to Thailand and Indonesia in September 2006 to compare notes with communities which had survived the December 2004 Asian tsunami.
December 2008
Next ACHR Regional meeting will be in late January 2009.
Followed by YP workshop in Phnom Penh for Cambodian students and graduates, in February.
ACHR is also planning a regional YP workshop in late February 2009 to prepare YPs for a region-wide up-grading activities in 15 countries, supported by teh Bill and Melinda Gats foundation.
November 2008
We have just learned of the unbelievable and sad news that our good friend and colleague Peter Swan passed away Sunday November 23rd 2008.
For those who knew Peter, this will be a great loss of friendship, humour, intellect, life, humanity. ....
Peter died of a heat-attack Sunday afternoon.
Our sympathy goes out to Marasee at this sad time.
I have posted some photos of Peter at work and play
here
We will miss you soooooo much Peter.
_____________________________
Here's a link to the Bangkok Post Nov 25 08 article on YP Patama Roonrakwit from CASE
Sheltering the poor
Architect Patama Roonrakwit, founder of Community Architects for Shelter and Environment, tells why she has chosen to serve the urban poor
September 2007
Web site for Fr Jorge Anzorena
We are all familiar with Fr Jorge's SELAVIP newsletter - Journal of Low Income Housing in Asia and the World. Well now , with help from Bimbo Fernandes and his staff, the newsletter is being made available on-line here at
http://www.anzorenaselavip.net/
There's also a CHAT function on the site where you can chat (type) to Fr when he is on-line.
Quote:
"Politicians suffer from delusions of honesty"
...... psychiatrist Theodore Dalrymple
August 2007
Community Architects for Shelter and Environment ( CASE ) Japan have just translated their web-site into English ... not all - but enough for us to get an idea of their wide range of process for urban poor Japan here . Keke from CASE was in BKK this week with family. We discussed the potential for ACHR Japan to host a Regional sharing of experience from Young Professionals in the region ... possibly before the end of the year. More Soon on this.
CASE Thailand ... is at the forefront of the new internet technologies and have been informing the ACHR Sec about Facebook, MySpace, U-Tube and other free Blogs and stuff. So soon we will try to use these free technologies to supplement our web-site. Let us know if you have stuff on these sites and others and we can link. YP David Crosby - now back in the UK - seems to have made good use of these technologies to keep in touch around the world.. David ... please send us links information. And Gary Jack please send us updates on your adventures since returning to US from Cambodia .
Gregor Meerpohl - continues to be the elder GEEK in ACHR. Since leaving MISEREOR (retired) Gregor has mastered SKYPE and Apple computers to perfection and continues to keep in touch. You can SKYPE Gregor daily. His Skype address is
gregormeerpohl
SDI global meeting is in Cape Town this month - August 29-30 . Hopefully they are discussing a Global Urban Poor Fund - includes ACHR - with funds from the Gates Foundation. More soon
ACHR's next newsletter "By People" will focus on urban poor community funds. With news of funds in Asia and around the world. There will be a large sharing from groups within the region ( Asia) supported by ACHR in Bangkok in November 2007.
There is a lot of "gifts that wise men bring" : by Arif Hasan in the Understanding Asian Cities section of this web site here.
Manjusha Rai is busy setting up an Urban Resource Centre ( URC ) in Bhutan - with a little help from ACHR - after an internship in Cambodia with UPDF.
Feel free to Please send us more In-House news and we can post it here
QUOTE
"Politicians must be allowed to panic. They need activity. It is their substitute for achievement."
... Sir Humphey from "Yes Minister" (BBC TV Show)
SEPTEMBER
Gregor Meerpohl retires September 24 2006. You can send your best wishes to Gregor - before MISEREOR takes his computer away .
Update: Gregor can now be reached at <g.meerpohl@t-online.de>
AUGUST
Where's Fr Jorge Anzorena ?
Philippines 18 Aug until 17 Sept
Thailand 24 Sept until end of October
JULY
BLUE GUMS
Our SDI friend
Joel Bolnick and a few friends have started clearing the mountain behind Joel's house of non-native flora and fauna. A long term project.... We have started a Blue Gums "BLOGG" for friends who wish to follow the story or help. Go here to start the journey.
Young Professional Program News
Jack Jin Gary Lee, from Singapore and a student of Sociology at the University of Chicago joined an internship with UPDF in Cambodia. Gary expects to help UPDF with its upgrading projects, and at the same time study how ethnographic research plays a role in solving urban housing issues.
JUNE
May Domingo / Price, Jon and family have returned to the Philippines after many years living in Jordan, and before that Bhutan. May also joins ACHR in working towards a stronger community network of upgrading activities in the Philippines in collaboration with the Homeless People’s Federation of the Philippines in the city of Iloilo Iloilo.
MARCH
Young Professional Program News
In March ACHR welcomed Manjusha Rai from Bhutan for an internship with ACHR. Manjusha had previously volunteered with ACHR on a project in Cambodia a few years ago. This time she has visited projects in Surabaya, Aceh, and studied the city-wide upgrading process in Thailand. Manjusha says the experience gained will help her enormously with her work when she returns to Bhutan.
JANUARY
Some photos of Gregor Meerpohl being honoured before his retirement - taken at the 4th Tsunami Survivors Dialogue in Bande Aceh Jan 3-7. Here
Uncle Gregor - honoured in Aceh
Jan 7 2006
Ken Fernandes recently resigned from COHRE and will resume lecturing in development studies in Australia. Ken will still collaborate with ACHR with hopefully an increased role in Housing Rights and advising on Urban Resource Centers.
Peter Swan is crafting the final minutes of a video documentary for ACHR on the people-centered rehabilitation of tsunami survivors. Due for completion in February.
URC Karachi, OPP and Arif Hasan have been involved in relief efforts and advisory support to the areas affected by the earthquake. ACHR also invited a group of affected community members and supporters from OPP and CHIP to attend the tsunami commemorate event in Aceh (Indonesia) in January 2006. We believe this will further the Survivors’ Dialogue and link horizontal support in the region.
Best wishes to Gregor on his retirement Sept 24 2006
from all your friends in ACHR / SDI
More photos of Gregor Here and Here
ACHR In-House News Archives from before 2006 is here
