Palau!

It's a tough job, but....
In my peace journalism travels, I’ve been privileged to travel to 34 countries and territories, along the way meeting diverse journalists and experiencing local culture and food. Admittedly, some of these 34 countries don't provide much bucolic travel brochure material. However, that’s not the case with destinations #35 and #36.

I leave tomorrow for Guam, and will continue onwards to Palau—both staggeringly beautiful, culturally rich locales. It’s going to be hard to concentrate on my teaching when I know that world-class beaches, invigorating hikes, cultural sites, and fresh seafood are at my fingertips. But I promise to do my best to focus on my sessions for journalists, students, and military and embassy/government public affairs professionals. I’m teaching a wide variety of workshops, including peace journalism, combating disinformation, journalism ethics, and writing for social media. I’ve had fun planning for these sessions, which harken back to my 27 years in front of university classrooms.

This teaching tour is an important way for the East-WestCenter (EWC), where I work as a program coordinator, to reach out to journalists in the Pacific Islands region. The local sponsors* of my visit to Guam and Palau and I hope this series of workshops plants the seeds for future collaborative programming between EWC, journalists, and media organizations in the Pacific.

Stay tuned to this page for details on my sessions which begin next week. I’ll do what I can to avoid posting too many breathtakingly gorgeous photos.

*Sponsors: The East-West Center, Glimpses Media, Sentry Hospitality, Wyndham Garden Hotel Guam, Subway Restaurants, United Airlines, the University of Guam, Tumon Sands Plaza, Chili's Grill and Bar, GFS Group, the Embassy of the United States of America in Palau, the Palasia Hotel Palau, the Palau Ministry of State, Office of the President of Palau, and Surangel & Sons.

Guam!