A couple of weeks ago an almost-12 year old Weetbix came over to hang out. We were both tired. We spent some time picking mulberries, playing with the neighbour’s chooks and dog, watching cartoons and catching up on life. When it came time to head to the gym together for a class, Weetbix assumed he … More Pitfalls of Privilege Part 1
Theodor Seuss Geisel aka Dr. Seuss, died 25 years ago today. Of all the great memories I have of his books, the best by far is from the days when “Miss Twelve” lived with me. She was thirteen but obsessed about being twelve, hence the nickname. From her first night here, Green Eggs and Ham … More Time Has Flewn
In 2003, days before the Allied invasion of Iraq, Natalie Maine was performing on a London stage as lead singer of the Dixie Chicks. She is quoted as saying to the audience, “Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that … More Blackened Swans
If I had to pick a pivotal milestone during my daily experiences in Cambodia, I would probably pinpoint the boat trip with Mum and Ruth in January 2014. It was my first holiday, three months into my assignment with Medecins sans Frontieres. Since landing in Phnom Penh I’d been bombarded by sights which did not … More Rocks and Hard Places
In 1843 a survey was conducted in London which found that only 26 of the city’s 2,400 hospitalised patients were children. Yet in the same year, of 51,000 deaths recorded in London, 21,000 were children under the age of ten and one third of London’s children died before their first birthday. Clearly there was a … More A Tale of Two Cities
This week a scandal erupted in Australia. Reported in part from my home town, the exposé has rippled across the globe, making front page headlines as far away as Canada and Europe. The developed world has been affronted by images of a boy shackled to a mechanical restraint chair that our elected representatives approved the … More A Nostalgia For Injustice
Earlier this year on a trip to the city, I drove through inner-suburb tree-lined boulevards, marveling at the rows of sandstone and bluestone villas with their manicured gardens. I once spent a happy few years living and working in this city. At that time I did not consider that it was an especially opulent lifestyle. … More One Degree of Separation
Mathew was nine when I met him and twelve when he became orphaned and homeless. He arrived on my doorstep everyday in the summer of 2006, asking to “stay”. My privileged eyes had no clue what was going on and I repeatedly sent him away, completely unaware that in modern day Australia a child could … More An Awkward Association
In October I wrote about the elderly woman caring for her three orphaned grandchildren, who walks the streets scavenging for recyclables to sell in order to feed the family. I will call her Belle. Back then I shared this photograph of her at home with the children. Since then a friend has been donating AU$35 … More Imperfect Equals
Somewhere over the rainbow Way up high There’s a land that I dreamed of Once in a lullaby A few weeks ago I saw the recent NZ film Hunt for the Wilderpeople at the cinema with Karen. An indigenous teenager from one of Australia’s most remote communities, she laughed loudly and often, sometimes at inappropriate … More The Magic is Always There
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