I had been in Cambodia about a week when one of the MSF expats announced excitedly that on a bicycle ride that day, she’d cycled through an Islamic village with a mosque and many people dressed in Islamic attire. Islamic people in Cambodia seemed a curious thing to our uninformed minds. Since then I’ve learned … More A Cross Cultural Islamic Experience
Writing about Linda earlier, reminded me of something else worth mentioning. On her first night here, I explained some house rules, including to turn off electrical appliances (lights, air conditioning) when she wasn’t using them, because it costs money. Later in the evening, she brought up the electricity issue with me, shyly saying “you gotta … More Cross Cultural Misperceptions
A couple of weeks ago, 20yo Mary rang from her remote community. I have known her since she was 11yo and I looked after her now-18yo brother, Maxwell, for a year during a very tumultuous time in their (and consequently my) life. They and their family consider me a mother. Which makes me – a … More Second Stab of Pathos
I came home this afternoon after a swim and some grocery shopping, and was about to get in the shower when a loud knock came at the door. I went to the door and Alice, Marcia’s “sister” (cousin), tried to come inside. She is a big drinker, so I stood my ground in the … More A Stab of Pathos at the Front Door
There’s an excellent book I recently finished reading, called “Mountains Beyond Mountains” by Tracy Kidder. It’s a biographical account of Dr Paul Farmer, an American doctor who became involved with a poor community in Haiti during his medical training at Harvard. Since then he has become a Professor at Harvard, a consultant at a Harvard … More Judging Disadvantage
Very funny morning today. Maria (nom de plume, as are all the other names herein) – Mathew’s aunty who I like but drives me nuts – knocked on the door at around 6am. WB (7yo foster child) woke me to tell me someone was knocking (I don’t let him answer the door). I opened the … More Another Limousine Adventure
This title describes perfectly, the existence of living with another culture. Most people, it turns out, will forgive you for being human. And nowhere is a person’s humanness so prominent, as during time spent with those from another culture. Misunderstandings abound, and only a minority of these misunderstandings relate to conflict. Most of them are … More Miscommunications Abound, as does Forgiveness
Last week some money was stolen from my bag by a patient who I left in my car, alone, with my handbag. Only about $20, and I know that he was hungry. I get why he did it, and because I can’t be sure of anything, as I only suspected something after he’d walked away, … More A Week in the Life
It’s ten years now, since I became involved with some local indigenous families. The first four years of my life, I lived in Alice Springs and had contact with indigenous people, some of which I have vague memories of; and for about four years in the 1990s I worked with indigenous people in hospital settings. But … More My Adoptive Family
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