This morning for the first time since arriving in Cambodia I braved the sweltering morning heat just after dawn and headed out into the streets for a 2km jog with Bee, who strode ahead of me and managed 4km in not much more time than my 2km took. The Mekong has had over six months … More The Power of English
Teaching English is not a pastime I had ever considered. But a colleague’s husband is at English night school and they saw in me, a native English speaker wanting to learn Khmer, an opportunity which we’ve both seized upon. Now I spend four hours per weekend in reciprocal English-Khmer lessons with a number of English … More Language Lessons in a Sauna
Despite the amount of poverty that pervades my observations here, there is a charisma to Cambodia which is steeped in characteristics such as humour, dignity, respect and sense of community. Recently, in three separate visits, I spent a chunk of time in the bustling centre of Cambodia’s tourism hub Siem Reap, observing the world. My … More All of the Village Chickens
This has probably become the most often quoted proposition of my life, courtesy of both the fact that I rarely get propositioned, as well as the flood of multi-lingual tuk tuk drivers vying for foreign custom in Siem Reap. Rav was waiting for me this afternoon in a sea of tuk tuks calling to me … More Tuk Tuk, Madame?
We woke today to news of the death of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Columbia’s President has described him as the “greatest Colombian of all time”. This is surely thanks to his ageless and captivating writing, celebrated by millions of ordinary readers and the Nobel Academy alike. His prose has been described as Magical Realism, which combines … More Magical Realism
When you board a bus in Cambodia, the decision to read instead of looking out the window means you are going to miss out on some astonishing sights. In the past 36 hours I’ve traveled 560km, from Mondulkiri in the north-east, back to Kampong Cham for a night, then up to Siem Reap this morning. … More Daring to read on the bus
Someone is burning the remnants of a fallen tree on a side street near the hospital. Thick smoke billows out, giving a hazy hue to the torrid air. As I cycle through the hospital grounds I wish I could photograph the family of four parked on their motorcycle under a tree. One child stands on … More Cambodian Revelations
I’ve left work behind for a few days of rest and recreation in the city, my main aim being to have the mop of discoloured shaggy hair on my head revived into something half-tolerable again. Witnessing the suffering of our patients is often heart-wrenching and this week the severe chicken pox blistering of a patient … More Pedalling Phnom Penh
Disease incidence rates are defined as the number of new cases of a given disease in a given period of time, per population. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), in 2012 Swaziland had the highest global incidence rate of Tuberculosis at an estimated 1349 people per 100,000 population. South Africa came in second at 1003/100,000. … More World Tuberculosis Day
Siem Reap is a bustling hive of tourism and wealth. Unless you are not a tourist, or one of the privileged minority benefiting from the tourism, in which case it is a bustling hive of desperation and poverty. Either way, it is a busy, vibrant place, situated 5km from the historic Angkorian temples made famous … More Monks on Motorbikes
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