How Lyuben ended up in Myanmar...

In need of some adventure…

January 2013… We both started to feel like it is time for an adventure, but had no idea what to do and where to start.  So we decided to have a workshop, thinking about all the adventures we both want to have for the next years, and what we want in our lives.

The result was the ‘Lyuben goes to Asia’ plan, with a complete plan on how to reach our goals. We both wanted to live in a South-East Asian country, preferably Buddhist with ‘Zen experiences’, entrepreneurial challenges, social impact and friendly people around us. Next, we drew up a complete plan with milestones when we want to follow… 

This is Lyuba's creation :) This is how she saw her Asian experience

This is my drawing :) My vision of Asia and me there :)

So we made a plan and hoped that it will work out J What we didn’t know yet that everything will go EXACTLY as we predicted J

This is our plan. We made it in Belgium but it's now on the wall in our flat in Yangon :)
According to the plan made in January 2012 we had to be in Asia in October. So it happened on October 3d we were in Asian and on 6th - in Yangon, Myanmar... :)

The Prince Albert Fund

First part of the plan was for me (Ruben) to find a job first, because Lyuba has more experience, so she would be able to find a job easier in a South-East Asian country. So that’s how the search started, looking into opportunities… At Antwerp Management School, where I studied last year, they advised me to apply for the Prince Albert Fund http://www.princealbertfund.be).

Prince Albert fund looked like a real challenge, where a Belgian young, entrepreneurial person who would like to work abroad would get the experience to work in a Belgian company expanding out of Western Europe. Seemed perfect! A challenge though, because looking through the people who did it in the past, they all had quite some experience…But I gave it a shot! And we got lucky…In March, I got selected for an interview, which went quite well.  And on the 7^th of March, the big news came… I WAS SELECTED!!! It was all thanks to great experiences in AIESEC and because of Antwerp Management School entrepreneurial experiences.

The big search

Together we started to look for Belgian companies where I could do my international project. I had several meetings and the decision was going to be though… We could choose between going to India, Malaysia, Latin-America, China…And Myanmar…. About Myanmar, a country we’ve heard very little, we go to know really randomly when I e-mailed a company, which just mentioned its name on the list of PAF, and I was invited for a conversation

Well… it is not entirely true. First Lyuba read in one Belgian newspaper that one Belgian company co-operates with Myanmar in one big project. The first conversation was really interesting, getting to know Myanmar as a country which is going to be opened completely after over 50 years of military dictatorship…Opened up to be a democracy. A country with thousands of opportunities but even more challenges…!

The project for SBE (http://www.sbe.be) looked like a real challenge with lots of opportunities. I was supposed to work for this Belgian company in Myanmar on a large hydropower project with the Myanmar government. In Myanmar, there is a huge electricity problem, as only around 30 percent of the population has access to electricity, and there is a huge lack as the country is developing immensely fast. The job I would work on would be business development, project management and setting up the local office of SBE in Myanmar… Looked like a great challenge!!

After the meeting, I called Lyuba, and first she was a bit hesitant, especially because of job opportunities. But after some research, we found this wouldn’t be a problem!! So we got both really excited, doing a huge research about Myanmar, getting both really into the country…. Waaaaah J So we decided…Let’s go to Myanmar!!!