To market, to market

Women from the northern, eastern and western parts of Thailand have brought their products for display and sale during the Forum. Their wares include woven baskets, Thai silk weavings, Thai stones, garments, fruits and other knick knacks. 

About 20 women have come here, some with their families, others alone. Many stay in the neighbourhood with their friends and relatives and some in the STOU campus. The merchants are quite fascinated by this Forum, and the opportunity to see participants from so many countries, some in native dress. Some have expressed amazement that the issue of breastfeeding, which is so natural, needs so much discussion. 

There's the rub

Thai traditional massage and Philippine massage are available at the Forum. Julita Nery from the Philippines who is a community-based activist says that massage is very popular at the Forum. She and Elena Rivas, also from the Philippines have been giving several massages each day, including to children. 

Taking a break from the Forum can keep you busy

Numerous things are happening during the Forum.The lobby and the courtyard of the Training Centre are humming with activity. People are making optimum use of this opportunity to meet up with people, to organise discussions and plan strategies for action Link's private eye checked some interesting things:

Closed door meetings

Caucus meetings are being held every day. As the Link's private eye isn't quite as sneaky as we'd like, we haven't had access to many of these, but we do know that they include the following: A doctors' meeting, Canada-USA , a big India meeting, complete with three-minute meditation, a Francophone Africa caucus, Muslim participants who met to discuss Islam and Breastfeeding, the IBCOCO meeting, and a mysterious plan, amidst smiles from the Malaysian-Indonesian and Singaporean contingents.

Evening distractions

After the workshop rooms have closed for the evening, there are still plenty of activities. They include poster sessions and the media showcase - viewing of video films and discussions - along with the popular aqua aerobics conducted by Annie Sprague from Australia, and of course the ever-important ritual of networking.