Moving to a new place is always an adventure. In my case, things didn’t get off to the smoothest start. (But don’t worry, I’m loving every second of it now!) Although Proximity has organized the visa paperwork for many foreign staff in the past, when I landed in Yangon, they found some problem and refused to give me a visa. Without answering my increasingly panicked questions, they decided to send me back to Kuala Lumpur. They retrieved my suitcase and grabbed my passport. Amidst this chaos, I was still just trying to figure out what was wrong with the paperwork. With no clear answers, my passport still in their possession, and my confusion and stress rising, they walked me back to board the plane I had just gotten off of. Only as they shoved a handwritten boarding pass into my hand, did I really accept the situation. Technically, I was being deported.
I boarded the plane in a frazzled mess. They hadn’t explained the problem, they wouldn’t give me my passport, and I was exhausted after a full day of travel already. As I sat down on this nearly empty flight, my head was spinning. Once I reached Malaysia I would need a hotel, transportation, at least one trip to the embassy, new plane tickets, local currency, and many phone calls to family and Proximity to sort everything out. For some added fun, the airline informed me that even though US citizens don’t need a visa to enter Malaysia, if immigration came to know my reason for entering was rejection from another country, they would send me back to my point of origin- India. But seeing my frustration, they kindly printed me a legitimate looking boarding pass, and essentially told me, “be cool and see if they let you into the country.” Fantastic.
Luckily, the immigration officer hardly said a word and stamped me through. The next stroke of luck was that my bag was the lone bag on the carousel. I grabbed it and decided my first priority was sleep. After slowly walking between all the airport hotels carrying all my luggage, I discovered they were all full. But in the process, I ran into one of my airhosts, and he thankfully helped me sort something out. By 2:30 am, I finally had a bed to sleep in. In a calmer state the next morning, I decided to make the most of my unintentional Malaysian adventure. My parents asked all our friends in Seattle if anyone knew anyone in KL. I reached out to a family who graciously took all kinds of trouble to help me out and arranged to take me to dinner that evening. I loved the fact that KL has the pedestrian infrastructure for me to get around on foot and the public transportation systems for me to not be dependent on a car. I tried as many local foods as I could, and loved it all. Malay food is incredible. I ate all kinds of exotic fresh fruit, all the time. I got rained on a bit, which reminded me of all the downpours I stubbornly persevered through in D.C. last year. Next time, I hope my visit to Malaysia is more intentional, but nonetheless, I’m always keen to have seen more places in the world!
Ultimately, the visa process through the embassy was easy, which means my whole rejection is still a bit confusing. I was there as the doors opened on Monday and after picking up the visa that evening, I was on a flight and on Myanmar soil by Tuesday morning. I was greeted by two design team members (the same ones who had come to the airport a few nights before) with smiles and sighs of relief. And from there on out, my time here has been nothing but incredible.
The short of it is that I’m in love with Proximity and everyone working here. I’m so impressed by how well Proximity integrates global perspectives while never losing the main priority of being connected to the local people, culture, and needs. From the moment I walked in, I was struck by the open floorplan and modern styling of the main office that create a lively and collaborative environment, most likely unparalleled by any company or NGO in Myanmar. The design workshop, embedded in the manufacturing studio a bit outside of town, is covered in sticky notes, design-thinking philosophies, and fun images. But even though they have created a workspace that is heavily influenced from abroad (specifically the Stanford d.school), local tradition is respected, we all remove our shoes before entering the offices, and you can constantly hear a mix of Burmese and English throughout the office. Today, Proximity operates on a horizontal structure where feedback is given in all directions and people share their opinions openly. But it took a few years to battle against typical Asian mentalities of always obeying a boss and never saying no or questioning their authority. Now, the design team seems to prioritize healthy team dynamics above all else. During my onboarding, they spoke openly about ensuring that even though women engineers are outnumbered, gender equality is always a priority. From the foreigners, to the Burmese who have studied abroad, to the locals who have never left the country, everyone has such an incredible awareness of how to foster a strong and successful team. Part of this team connection is built outside the office, where the team hangs out like close friends. During my welcome dinner at a classic Burmese beer station, they put a paper crown on my head and jokingly conducted a naming ceremony to officially give me my Burmese name, Neela, which means blue sapphire. Traditionally, babies are named based on letters and sounds associated with the day of the week they are born on. Turns out the “N” sounds are for Saturday babies like myself! Nithya actually works perfectly, but they picked a Burmese name too for fun. Who knew that my parents were following Burmese tradition when they named me!
For a bit more information about Proximity, we are a team of around 600 employees, where over 500 of these staff are in the field around the country and 100 work in the office or are part of the manufacturing team. There are people from all over the world, with all different backgrounds and experiences, and it’s an incredibly diverse environment to be in! Proximity has three main branches- farm advisory services (FAS), microfinance, and irrigation tools. FAS is an extension program, serving to provide reliable information to farmers. Proximity’s microfinance department is one of the first accredited institutions by the government to provide farmers with loans and insurance. The irrigation tools, developed by the design team and manufactured in-house, have been focused on pumps, drip/sprinkler irrigation systems, and land-levelers and currently serve over 10,000 villages. Now, we are moving into the domain of precision agriculture, which is my project. Precision agriculture is the idea of getting more information to farmers about their soil, irrigation practices, plant health, etc. so they can make informed decisions and increase their yield. We are looking at what affect a soil-moisture sensor and tool could have on a farmer’s irrigation decisions and success overall.
Beyond these customer facing pillars of the company, Proximity dedicates a lot of energy internally towards personal development for its employees. Those who don’t know English receive classes during the workweek. Everyone has the chance to partake in workshops, put on by Proximity staff or hired experts. In the design team specifically, we dedicate time to put our work aside and do projects focused on benefiting the team. For example, in the process of designing and testing the solar water pump product, the team used this designated time to install panels to power the lights and outlets in our workshop!
For now, I’d say my first week has been a tremendous success (moving past the initial visa hiccup of course) and I’m so excited to see where my time here takes me. It is reassuring to feel re-inspired by engineering and design and to be surrounded by so many passionate young people. It’s still hard to believe that I’m really working at a company as cool as Proximity!
The top photo is from the main Proximity office. The photos below are of my wanderings in Kuala Lumpur, including the Petronus Towers, random other impressive towers, roti canai, and fruit stalls everywhere! Kasturi walk and Chinatown were fun streets lined with stalls and vendors.
The last photo is from the design workshop at Proximity.
