For forty years I was based in Jogjakarta Indonesia. Four decades and local language fluency has only shown me what I still don’t know about the area.
How on earth did I get there? My adventures in life started when I discovered skydiving at 17, what I claim gave me courage, confidence, and the ability to take on anything I could dream up. Following an injury and being forced to give it up in 1978, I began traveling the world in search of something I may or may not have found yet. My home-base since 1981 had been mainly inside the old city of Jogja where I worked as a teacher, a mentor and trainer for street kids, and later as a social researcher and disaster responder. I have also lived and worked in the Middle East, West and East Africa, South Asia, and Oceania. Since 2021 I have been based in DeLand Florida, a very different type of life indeed!
For the past 30 years, I was a university professor (in US, Australia, Indonesia), a writer, and a social researcher and development project evaluator working throughout the planet with local communities to identify and design solutions to some of our most pressing social problems. When not traveling, I am an avid bicyclist and organic urban gardener, as well as a feminist, social and environmental activist, a child advocate (certified Guardian ad Litem), and curator. Oh and no less important, I am a collector and wearer of true vintage clothing and hats!
LaHore Pakistan for research on girls’ education
Judging a tattoo competition in Jogjakarta 1996
Skydiver 1977
Laine Berman 