I arrive in Bengalore the 28th of November 2015 at 2:30 in the morning. You will tell me that is not hard to beat but the airport is more modern and more beautiful then Montreal's Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Nalini is there to meet me she lives 20 minutes away and will be in no time in a comfortable bed. We are alone on the road. Now this is not what I expected of my entering India. I was announced [...]
I arrive in Paris on the morning of Friday, November 13, 2015 after nine years of absence. The Air France bus runs in front of the 44 avenue des Ternes where I lived in a beautiful apartment with roof terrace. I have lived in the 6th. 8th, 12th, and the 11th arrondissement. I have been Parisian and European, lived in Germany, Italy, France, England and the six unforgettable months in Turkey. I visited the families of Europe, from east to west [...]
Picking Tobacco in Moldova The earlier they reach the tobacco fields the more tobacco will be picked and the more money they will earn for their family. Three quarters of the Leka family’s income will be earned during the next two months. Eugenia does not make it onto the first bus this morning, as she usually does. She waits, knowing she will have to work faster in order to come home with her usual harvest of 450 [...]
Earthquakes happen where it is usually predicted that they will. So this spring 2015, when I took my decision, I knew that the base I stand on would shake, move and maybe even disappear. That is fine with me. I need a new garden where birdsongs will be unknown. There where the inner and outer voices will renew. Purring of a new machine. The new garden will be those of the families of Central and South Asia. Les tremblements de [...]
Josef and Laila Buljo, reindeer herders, raise their children, (Anne Laila, Risten and Aslak) in Norway. They are serious about educating them within Sami culture. They are raising them to be free and teaching them to discuss everything. In Sami society male and female roles are clearly defined to make sure the families can be self-sufficient. During the summers, when the sun never sets, the women work hard to ready their familes for winter. Laila scrapes reindeer hides clean; she [...]
This morning my mind is in The Solomon Islands as there has been a tsunami alert after an strong earthquakes. I look to the map and hope Isabel Island is far enough form the Santa Cruz islands for my family to be safe.Like if it was yesterday: A day in Nareabu... 6:00 The church keeper beats on an empty gas canister hanging from a breadfruit tree. The Fihu family rise quickly, put on their church clothes and quietly join the [...]
I have lived with families in 116 countries in the last 30 years. Here is a first outlook on my comparative research: Families of the world: https://www.flickr.com/photos/helenetremblay_humanity/sets/ Houses of the world: https://www.flickr.com/photos/helenetremblay_humanity/sets/72157639211272223/ Going IN: https://www.flickr.com/photos/helenetremblay_humanity/sets/72157639211360245/ Note: There are scripts, statistics, other photos and I am now looking for computer experts to help me bring to life these research. If you would like to get involved in web design and web content, please contact me (Helene tremblay) at info@humanspace.net. It would [...]
At the beginning of the 80’s technological advances and the capacity to travel became more and more accessible to all, the terms “global village” and “international communication” were excitedly on the tip of everyone’s tongues. I was TV producer in an advertising agency in Paris and surrounded by people who had no hesitation in saying they were part of the greatest communicators of the world. I still had much to learn and my vacations consisted of visiting different parts of [...]
Working, writing and producing in two languages is a timely exercise. Each language is a philosophy, a humour, a poetry that seems to move something else within me. It brings another world to reach and to talk to, other tones, other colours. I post on Facebook and want to speak to the world and two languages are not enough. Sometimes, because of this, I go into silence. I had a friend who would stutter in French and did not in [...]
Democracy “Ritang, take the baby,” says Grandmother. She goes to sit in front of her old rotting house and starts weaving pandanu leaves. Her own house badly needs repairs, but the leaves she weaves this morning are for the maneaba, the village’s large meeting house, where all decisions are made, in the presence of the elders. 10 am – Bakea goes to the maneaba with her neighbour, both women pulling their piece of leaf work for the roof repairs. [...]
