Tuesday 10 May 2016

My Personal Biography out of Ethnographic Interview

We had this Ethnograhic narrative assignment for my research methodology course. It is funny to see the result of the interview. What other people perceives of me is not what exactly I perceive myself because everything, again, is subjective matter. But here it is if you have time to read my personal biography kinda. :P

Ethnographic narrativeTime of interview: 1819pm – 1915pm
Venue: Seminar Room 3, Crawford school
Date of interview: 21/04/16

IntroductionThis ethnographic narrative explores the adventurous journey of a young and determined lady, Olivia Purba around her career, life and experiences she had. Her journey starts since her first university life, work experience with the government and other multiple organizations she engaged with, and where she learnt enormously about environmental management. With challenges she encountered throughout her life experience and career, both have determined her to pursue her career in consultancy work in policies and international relations.

This ethnographic interview was initially organized through email correspondences, texting and calling, where time, date and venue were properly picked. The interview questions were open-ended to facilitate active and engaging conversation. The mapping of ideas was the second step done in this process reflecting on ‘Maps are theories’ facts that provide practical opportunities in connecting stories of the past, present and exploring the future (Turnbull 1989).

BackgroundMs Purba, a very sophisticated lady of 27 was born second to a liberal family, in Northern Sumatra Island, Indonesia. Family responsibility to a second child is less expected than that from her eldest brother and youngest sister. This made her very independent, explorer of different areas of interests, world traveller that exposed herself to different stakeholders domestically and abroad, of which her family has been supportive of. She is proud as Indonesian by origin, whilst her culture is an important part of her life everywhere she goes.
Northern Sumatra is an island of a tropical climate, with natural beauty of the environment, oceans and natural resources. Tourism is the main source of economy earned from abroad visitors and domestic neighbouring islands. The recent developments around land rehabilitation, agricultural landscaping and amusement parks have caused economic, social and environmental challenges. Coupling that is the regular occurrences of natural disasters and climate change. 

By profession Ms Purba hold an International Relation qualification acquired from the University of Indonesia, majorly looks at diplomacy and internal issues touching on elements of environment and gender to name a few. She started work at the age of 22 engaging with the National Council on Climate Change, the focal point of the UNFCCC. She undertook a role of an assisting staff in the selection process of national representatives for Climate Change negotiations and dealing with logistics. At the Environment and Energy Department she worked as networking staff given her background in international relations. Challenges around conflicting ideas within the Government bureaucratic system is a common place, she thought twice of her job. This has motivated her into furthering her study. She quit her job later, worked with USAID.

Given her desire to be specialized on a specific issue she therefore diverge her interest into environmental management where economics is an important but left out element in her previous study area, and this has brought her into Australian National University (ANU).

Now and Into the Future…Ms Purba’s specific interest and great passion about environment have led her into advocating on climate change. Her being part of Youth Ecoprenureship project in West Java-Jakarta which promotes green business through sustainable development best practices and elevating youth’s social livelihood, have deepen her advocacy work on climate change.
Further, her insight on environmental issues and climate change impacts on welfare and amenity have attracted her attention so much that convince her to advocate in Australia about climate change. Given her exposure to various social networks at ANU she managed to get a grant of 5K from the Student Extracurricular Enrichment Fund (SEEF) through PARSA (Postgraduate and Research Students’ Association) with the help and support of her mentor in her Vice Chancellor program.  This is really an initial step in promoting her youth project in Australia which maybe a gateway to go global.

From then on Ms Purba, with her energetic spirit, climate change advocacy work has not just become part of her life but more of her voluntary contribution to environmental management and sustainable development. However, what lies ahead is still a mystery especially when she further look into her unpredictable life in future, she said “I do not want my married life to suffocate my career, dreams and future plans” she asserted.  So far I am happy with my life and so as my family who are very proud of what I am doing”.

Ms Purba, a positive and determined lady dreamt to become a consultant in the future. Her dreams has exposed her to many consultancy and policy work, meet different stakeholders, and motivated her to further her study in natural resource management.
“Through my consultancy work I may able to implement broadly on climate change policy in Indonesia or at international level”, and added, I also want to write a book about myself, my world journey, my work on climate change, career and experiences I have had.
Apart from that Ms Purba wants to start a private hotel business to sustain her life, but career wise environmental management and climate change will remain with her.
All of Ms Purba’s experience, work and dreams may contribute directly and indirectly to environmental management and sustainable development at global, country and island level.

Love,


Olivia

Wednesday 4 May 2016

How to Keep Mood Stable and Stay Happy

My routine to maintain my mood stable and stay happy!

1. Yoga
I go to class or I practise by myself in my room for at least 10 minutes. Yoga is of could make you feel energized for the rest of the day when you do it in the morning and makes you feel relax and sleep well when you do it at night. Either way, just find the type of yoga exercise that suits you the most.

2. Meditation
I use breathing method of meditation that I learn when I lived for a short time in Nepal.  Brain is like a plastic, the more you train it the more likely it is to view things positively. I also practise mindfulness and find it easier to do with the mobile application headspace. It is not free after you do the trial, but its worth it.

3. Exercise
I go to gym regularly, because I need endorphins to keep my happy. Your body releases chemicals called endorphins. These endorphins interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce your perception of pain. Endorphins also trigger a positive feeling in the body, similar to that of morphine. If at the end I get an abs, that’s just a bonus!

4. Fish oil
I consume one or two fish oil capsules every single day. There are plenty of research shows how regular consumption of fish oil could actually helps depression and maintain good moods.

5. Hiking
Go to nature and feel the fresh breeze. It really helps me connect with mother earth and for the moment I feel like I have no burden.


Me after gym (outside of ANU gym studio)

Ps. I am so conscious about things I publish on the internet for the past few years. The reason is because there are so many things in the world that I can enjoy better without busy sharing the moment to the world. Also, I somehow want to keep some private things, private. But I decided to be looser now as I am trying to document my traveling journey around the world to inspire people.


Love,

Olivia


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