austraLasia #1962
austraLasia tells its story - as it celebrates 10 years near its birthplace
CEBU: 18th October 2007 -- In October 1997, at a meeting of interested or appointed persons from the then Australia-Asia Region (what is now EAO plus India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka), 15 or so people agreed to swap email addresses - and 'austraLasia' was born. But there is always more to a story than such a bald statement as that. It seemed appropriate, for the first time in fact, to tell the story of austraLasia in a context where 27 of the official or appointed communicators of East Asia Oceania and South Asia meet in Talisay Lawa-an, near Cebu City Philippines. For a more detailed overview of the first day of this important meeting, called by Fr Scaramussa, General Councillor for Social Communication, confer the ANS news item which has been or is about to be published on this.
The austraLasia coordinator spoke of the story that unfolded from a simple decision by 15 people ten years ago. The story falls neatly into three phases, a drama in three acts, if you like. Imagine austraLasia as a message in a bottle tossed out from Batulao in 1997. Its wanderings around the oceans took it to more than the Pacific, since it touched the North Sea and the Atlantic too, but not with any particular sense of direction. austraLasia was in a 'forming' stage, with growing interest though not a great deal of ownership, as befits a message in a bottle! And it remained that way for two years.
Then came an uninvited and indeed undesirable but nevertheless interesting Second Act - call it a 'storming' stage. Parts of the South Pacific and a little further East experienced gross conflict; austraLasia became, because it by then had the contacts 'on the ground' in the three conflict areas, almost a form of war correspondent activity! We are speaking of events in East Timor as it lurched into independence, a civilian ,which then became a military, coup in Fiji, and a battle between two groups in the Solomon Islands which brought the nation to its knees - and Salesians-in-contact were in all three places! austraLasia played a role not only amongst Salesians but 'ad extra', which became a rapid course in hands-on journalism with its good and bad experiences.
Act Three came with the forming of a new Region (EAO), the coordinator's relocation to Rome, working directly with the new EAO Regional and the brand new General Councillor for Social Communication, a context which now involved ANS, saw offshoots which either cloned or copied the 'austraLasia' approach. This period has brought the e-letter which now goes to some thousand recipients and links the Salesian Family in its own region with outreach to others, to a 'norming' stage, a direction and purpose but not without its questions and challenges.
Ironically, again, at a meeting of communication, it is a challenge to maintain customary regularity with austraLasia in Cebu. Where we are we have a wireless connection but wireless limits the possibility of sending a thousand emails! We'll do our best, but understand the situation.
_________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . Use BoscoWiki to be interactive. RSS feeds - subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/RSS/rssala.xml Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at at http://sdl.sdb.org
austraLasia tells its story - as it celebrates 10 years near its birthplace
CEBU: 18th October 2007 -- In October 1997, at a meeting of interested or appointed persons from the then Australia-Asia Region (what is now EAO plus India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka), 15 or so people agreed to swap email addresses - and 'austraLasia' was born. But there is always more to a story than such a bald statement as that. It seemed appropriate, for the first time in fact, to tell the story of austraLasia in a context where 27 of the official or appointed communicators of East Asia Oceania and South Asia meet in Talisay Lawa-an, near Cebu City Philippines. For a more detailed overview of the first day of this important meeting, called by Fr Scaramussa, General Councillor for Social Communication, confer the ANS news item which has been or is about to be published on this.
The austraLasia coordinator spoke of the story that unfolded from a simple decision by 15 people ten years ago. The story falls neatly into three phases, a drama in three acts, if you like. Imagine austraLasia as a message in a bottle tossed out from Batulao in 1997. Its wanderings around the oceans took it to more than the Pacific, since it touched the North Sea and the Atlantic too, but not with any particular sense of direction. austraLasia was in a 'forming' stage, with growing interest though not a great deal of ownership, as befits a message in a bottle! And it remained that way for two years.
Then came an uninvited and indeed undesirable but nevertheless interesting Second Act - call it a 'storming' stage. Parts of the South Pacific and a little further East experienced gross conflict; austraLasia became, because it by then had the contacts 'on the ground' in the three conflict areas, almost a form of war correspondent activity! We are speaking of events in East Timor as it lurched into independence, a civilian ,which then became a military, coup in Fiji, and a battle between two groups in the Solomon Islands which brought the nation to its knees - and Salesians-in-contact were in all three places! austraLasia played a role not only amongst Salesians but 'ad extra', which became a rapid course in hands-on journalism with its good and bad experiences.
Act Three came with the forming of a new Region (EAO), the coordinator's relocation to Rome, working directly with the new EAO Regional and the brand new General Councillor for Social Communication, a context which now involved ANS, saw offshoots which either cloned or copied the 'austraLasia' approach. This period has brought the e-letter which now goes to some thousand recipients and links the Salesian Family in its own region with outreach to others, to a 'norming' stage, a direction and purpose but not without its questions and challenges.
Ironically, again, at a meeting of communication, it is a challenge to maintain customary regularity with austraLasia in Cebu. Where we are we have a wireless connection but wireless limits the possibility of sending a thousand emails! We'll do our best, but understand the situation.
_________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . Use BoscoWiki to be interactive. RSS feeds - subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/RSS/rssala.xml Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at at http://sdl.sdb.org
