Whatsapp

There are now 70 people in our batch group chat and 10 in our class group chat. Mostly taga-LRD ang active sa batch group chat. Xempre kay LRD man si Toms ang creator. Good luck to us all!

Reginald

He planned to come here but Covid-19 happened so I guess it's not meant to be. I told him to come here. Mao lagi pud daw iya plano. Baw lagi. He told me to come to Nairobi after I obtain my PhD. Teach daw ko didto and join UN bodies. Tan-awon n lng ni Lord kung unsa ug kinsa jud. I keep the faith always.

Research

Mao ni ako gikabusyhan this time. Online oral defense sa amo IS students ig Friday phn. Dry run daw mi tomorrow at 3pm. Ang akoa pud 2nd draft morag gamay polishing n lng kuwang coz Dr Rivera texted me man this afternoon to work on the revisions for colloquium. Wow, thanks po Lord. At least naa jud koy agi sa quarantine diay. La gud ko modawat ug summer load so that makatrabaho ko ani ako research. Jia you Doki. At least morag one sem ra ko madelay phn. Di ko gusto madugay pa coz na'man sijay return service lagi. I pray for the best always. Ang ako Globe wifi nicooperate n mn. I dunno but for some reason mokusog diay sija kung gabii. Buntag naa till mga 9 or 10am then mobalik n pud ig 3pm. Basta naka-Zoom n ko with ISS batchmates. Happy n ko ato bujag. Here's to more Zoom meetings n lng phn. Jia you to us!

NS

Today is his birthday. I greeted him on his email yday and today. Sakto n jud cguro pud to oi. Syaro masuko pa sija naho. I felt bad he didn't meet up with me in PP in March last year when I visited so during his bday I greeted him a day early and made the alibi that I was busy preparing for my trip to Hawaii. This year COVID-19 happened and I already said sorry to him last February so why not? Cguro naman I have restored the friendship this way. Madam Shirley once said gud that we are good friends daw and indeed it's true. Jia you to us! Incidentally, yday pa ko kadumdum that bday diay ni Coach last Sunday. I greeted him belated happy bday n lng. Nibawos pud sya ug 'salamat mam'. Cguro happy na siya with his new gf. I wish them all the best.

ARD 2K

I belong to this class at the Institute of Social Studies in the Hague, Netherlands. There were 20 of us in the class. Sadly, si Lucy Kirimi from Kenya passed away last July 2010 so 19 n lng mi. Di p jud nako macontact ang tanan. Back in June 2020 when Sandra Nijhof posted that Ate Bebeth Padre wants to get in touch with her batch, I reacted by saying wala pa sila group chat or something. Coz I said I am fairly in touch with about half of my classmates. Then she said gusto ba daw mi mag-Zoom meeting kay motabang siya organize it? And that's how it all started. The first ARD Zoom meeting was last June 28, 2020 at 1300 GMT. I was supposed to host it but la ko kasulod sa meeting room. Pati si Max Spoor wa nuon pud kaapil. Nadayon sila coz Giri made another meeting code. So sila Lava, Giri, Any, Sandra and Salvador were there for the first ARD zoom after 20 long years! In the next Zoom meeting the Sunday after, sila Lava, Julia, Giri, Esteban and Moi were there. Missing n pud ko. Anyway, a WhatsApp group has been created for our class and I'm quite active in it. We really hope we could reach far more people. Jia you to us always!

Quarantine

I have been here in Bohol since the start of the quarantine last March 15, 2020. Moadto n ta ko Cebu last June 16 but nahadlok mn ko mao dia pa kos Bohol. I am using Ate Ica's old faithful laptop. Di n pud ko magmahay sa ako Globe Prepaid Wifi kay naka-Zoom mn ko with ISS batchmates last Friday night, July 10, 2020. Lingawa lagi ato kaju! There were 27 participants in the 1st session and 23 in the 2nd session! We agreed to meet online once every quarter. A WhatsApp group has been created for the batch and for our class in ARD 2K too. Kayagaw lng agi didto. Saun, 20 long years have passed gud and that was the first time we saw each other online. God bless all of us! The participants in the Zoom meeting were: Toms Thomas as facilitator, Sandra Nijhof from the Alumni Office, Ali, Ejaz, Lava, Shiv, Sanjay, Vinati, Michelle, Ceci Condo, Cecilia Ramos, Cristina, Juan Pablo, Julia, Rosario, Jairo and Nidia, Gillian, Kai, Lily, Reti, Dias, me, Tariq Nazir, Jacinta, Harriet, Arjanne Rietsma, Sharmini, Sylvester (Sly), Cynthia, Juliet. Whew! The agreement was we meet once every quarter. Hope madayon jud. God bless us all!