The Kingdom of Wonder is a very flat land. Consequently, any small hill is well known and often named as a “mountain”. One of the first places I visited in Cambodia was perhaps the most well known mountain in Kampong Cham province, where I cycled with colleagues at the end of 2013. During that visit, … More Kingdom of Wonders
I am really not convinced that I would want to work again with an international humanitarian organisation. The subtitles on this photograph from a documentary on Vietnamese history explains why in a single brief sentence. Before I applied to Medecins Sans Frontieres, a friend told me of a mutual acquaintance who returned home to Australia … More Motivations and Mentalities
Sound asleep a few nights ago, a rhythmic knocking sound woke me just before 1am. It took me a while to register that this needed investigating and I eventually peeked through the bedroom blind. I would never have seen the dark shadow hunched over on my front porch had s/he not been making such a … More Outback Law & Order
This article in The Economist (copy-pasted below) is well worth a read given the current state of world affairs. We need a post-liberal order now The international, rules-based system is collapsing. Overhauling it means combining national identity with a global ethos, says Yuval Noah Harari, a historian and author. Open Future September 26th 2018, by … More Developing a Global Identity
Two weeks ago I made a rushed five day visit to Cambodia between study commitments. Here are a few of the most interesting snippets of my week. From the airport we went straight to Thomas House, a small NGO run by a retired Australian couple on the outskirts of the city. Running off the smell … More Of Children and Fish
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian novelist I had not heard of today, when I heard her speak at a TED Talk, named “The danger of a single story”. A few excerpts are written below. The 18 minute talk, well worth hearing, is linked underneath. I would like to tell you a few personal stories … More The Danger of a Single Story
My latest Child Health essay was about Attachment. It may sound boring but in fact, it’s an intriguing subject worth sharing. We were all once in need of attachment to someone and for all of us, it played out in an imperfect way, affecting who we are today. Assignment 3: Principles and application of attachment … More Babies Are Beautiful
Just because it says what I’ve often thought without the articulation.
Partners in Health was formed by Dr Paul Farmer and some peers including Roald Dahl’s daughter Ophelia, in the late 1980s after Farmer became determined to make a difference to the people he met in Haiti as a medical student. The success of Partners in Health in places as far flung as Haiti, Russia and … More Pessimism and Privilege
This working week while visiting Baby 1 at his home, it transpired that another baby (Baby 2) who I had been looking for without success, was known to Baby 1’s family. When I explained that I’d been reliably informed that Baby 2 is not in town, Mum 1 argued with me. Amusingly in hindsight, I … More My Privilege
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