The congested, hot, overstocked and fascinating Phsar (Market) Tuol Tom Poung, or Russian Market as it’s known in English, takes up a full block of the Phnom Penh neighbourhood I live in. From the top floor of my apartment building we can see the rooftops of the Russian Market – a patchwork of multi-coloured, rusty … More Heart Strings 02
When I first heard about Sokum’s condition, her husband called it “corollary heart disease”. Obviously he meant “coronary artery”, but why would a 20 year old already have coronary artery disease? It had to be Rheumatic Heart Disease. When I visited last week I wrote “Rheumatic Heart Disease” on a scrap of paper for her … More Heart Strings 01
Anyone else with a tendency for writing would have blogged ceaselessly had they lived the month I just lived. Midway through my one year assignment in Cambodia, I traveled home to Australia and New Zealand to visit family and friends, visiting two major Australian cities, the Australian outback and various locations around the south island … More Culture Clash
Fundraising for the 20yo woman with (probable?) Rheumatic Heart Disease needing urgent heart surgery continues. A friend asked me to prepare a Powerpoint presentation for a fundraiser she is organising and I thought I would share it here as it summarises some of the stories I’ve spoken about disjointedly. Story One: An Inconceivable Connection In … More Unconnected Connections
Yesterday I received this message from Sokum’s husband. It’s not a good medical description of her condition but it’s an excellent description of what she and her family are experiencing right now and of why I’m hoping along with them that the money for her surgery can somehow be raised in time. Anyone touched by … More Update on Being Twenty
“It’s essential that in life, you see yourself reflected in other peoples’ stories….” (Oprah Winfrey) Oprah is talking about her need, as a little black girl in America, to find people who “kinda looked like me”, at a time when there were no black people in high profile public roles to model for her, who … More Mirroring Me
Study after study by psychologists has shown that there is no correlation between wealth and happiness. The only exception is in cases of real poverty, when extra income does relieve suffering and brings security. But once our basic material needs are satisfied, our level of income makes little difference to our level of happiness. Research … More This Thing We Could Do
It’s okay to be imperfect. On the other hand, we should not allow perceived success or praise for perceived success affect our ego. Someone cycling Road X is no better or worse than someone walking Road Z. In the field of humanitarian work it’s easy to find people willing to shower you with praise. This … More People From The Sky
At some point in school I learned about the Mekong Delta, where waters from the river rise and seep out onto low lying flood plains, transforming dry land into shallow marshland for months every year. Receding waters dump alluvial deposits, rich in nutrients to form a perfect fertiliser for growing rice and vegetables. It was … More Delta Deliveries
My heart sinks in Australia whenever I get a cold call at home, or accosted in the streets by charities looking for donations. Ditto when friends write saying they have a cause and would I donate? It is not possible to help everyone and the phenomenon of donor fatigue is something I experience on a … More The Excruciating Fundraiser
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