What an Experience for Yesterday

Sorry I was too tired to update the blog yesterday. So, I will just write the yesterday's entry today then I'll write the today's entry afterwards. To be honest, I just don't fully understand the class yesterday. It is about imagining future by Dr. Scott Macleod, a very interesting and hilarious gentleman and he really looks like Bruce Willis. He was with us since the first day we arrived. Anyway, the main idea of the the class was to visualise what is the prefered future that we would like it to be and find some drivers and actions to be taken to achieve it. There's a technique of imagining the future which uses axis to divide into four areas and define the scenario that may happen and it's opposite on for each axis (positive and negative). Then discuss what might happen in each quadrant which refers to two scenarios from the axis that meet together. This technique was used for development of Hawaii where they define their prefered future and find out the actions that need to be taken to achieve it. Quite neat, that's a new technique that I learned which can be used in Malaysia.

Ok, done with the class. A group of us joined a hiking trip to hmmm..... I don't rember the name of the place. But, it is quite interesting. We were lead by Dr. Samuel M. Gon, a Senior Scientist and Cultural Advisor at the Nature Conservancy which explained to us so many things about the forest. He is also a traditional chanter. I came to know many more things about the forest in Hawaii which I has wondered from the very beginning I saw the forest from the valley. We can see the difference in the colur of the forest on the mountain where the area closer to the town is brighter than the one further inside which means it have different species of trees. True enough, when we arrived at the mountain I was shocked to see pine tree forest because I never thought that Hawaii will have it because of the tropical weather. So, I asked Dr. Samuel and he says that the pine trees was imported from the mainland as a reforestation efforts many years ago. It happens when the westerners which came to the island open up huge cattle ranch and cleared up the lands while the cattles eat all the vegetation, has been proven to destroyed the watershed and causes frequent flash flood at lowland. So, they decided to import the pine trees as the tree is fast to grow and they are deperate. However, the pine trees is so fast growing that it became and invasive species which conflicted with the native species. It has also causes many native birds to extinction as it can't suite with the new environment. Thus, they are working on conservation efforts to ensure the native species will be preserved and control the expansion of the invasive species. Their efforts have bring on hopes as the native birds thought to be extinct had come back to the lowland. Another thing that amazed me is the chant that was performed by Dr. Samuel. He says that the forest on the mountain is the god's resting place. So, they usually perform their prayers before they enter the forest. However, since the development has claimed many areas of the forest on the mountain, they only perform the chant when they first see the native trees enter the forest on the mountain. I also get to know a new fact that is not known to many people that they went into the mountain to get the leaves for the hula skirts. There is so many things that can be learned from the indegenious people of Hawaii as their ancestors was practising sustainable living.

At night, the Fijian hosted an event for all the participants called the Sevusevu Ceremony. It is a ceremony perform by the Fijian for receiving visitors or when they come to a new place. Apart from learning the Hawaiian culture, we get to know the Fijian's as well. It is very uniqe and amazing how they hold on to their culture until now even at foreign land. Then we have our dinner. They cook Halal food for us so that everybody can eat. It's delicious. Robbie and Christina also managed to join us. What a day.