BAMBI Joins Families in Global Transition 2019 as Platinum Sponsor
May 31, 2019
BAMBI participated in the 2019 Families in Global Transition conference as a Platinum Sponsor.By Ema Naito-BhakdiThanks to a generous anonymous donor, BAMBI participated in the 2019 Families in Global Transition conference (26-28 April 2019) as a Platinum Sponsor. BAMBI has much in common with FIGT: both are membership-based organizations that serve families who are on the move and are run by dedicated volunteers.
Originating in 1998, FIGT is a “forum for globally mobile individuals, families, and those working with them. They promote cross-sector connections for sharing research and developing best practices that support the growth, success, and well-being of people crossing cultures around the world.”This is the first time the FIGT conference was hosted in Asia and the theme for this three-day conference was ‘Connect. Lead. Change.” Participants attended from around the world, including adult Third Culture Kids and globally mobile individuals, as well as professionals who supported them. 
The dense program covered topics of identity formation—both for children who are growing up among worlds as well as for adults who found themselves on the move as grown-ups, schooling for cross-cultural and mobile children, psychological well-being and support, as well as professional development and entrepreneurship for global nomads.Particularly memorable was author and publisher Jo Parfitt’s moving call to all global nomads to share their stories with others to inspire, support, inform, or resonate. Being in transition, we are all, frankly, ‘broken’—but telling our stories can bring those broken pieces together to make us stronger and whole.
Ruth Van Reken, co-author of the well-known Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds, and psychologist Daniela Tomer talked about how we all share the basic need to belong. Certain 'anchors'—family, community, place—help us define ourselves and give us that sense of belonging, but we become disconnected from them when we move to a new country. To help us re-calibrate our identity, we need to identify/find those key anchors that make us feel like we belong.Once again, BAMBI is grateful for the anonymous donor who connected us to FIGT. For more on FIGT and to see live streams of the keynote addresses: www.figt.org. Check out FIGT’s online bookstore (www.figt.org/Online_Bookstore) for interesting and inspiring reads for families on the move. Photos courtesy of David Richards Photography.The views expressed in the articles in this magazine are not necessarily those of BAMBI committee members and we assume no responsibility for them or their effects.BAMBI News welcomes volunteer contributors to our magazine. Please contact editor@bambiweb.org.