Picking grapes? Picking lavender? Picking olives? No! Picking whether or not to be here. Talk about a First World Problem! There are castles on hilltops at every turn and churchbells ring out on the half hour from medieval spires reaching into blue skies. Ancient Roman cities recently discovered under layers of soil sit on display … More Picking in Provence
Needing a bus ticket to Kampong Cham, I asked the hotel receptionist in Phnom Penh to organise one for me. Soon enough, via an agency, my ticket arrived by motorbike courier. Phnom Penh to Kampong Cham, 2-15pm, Seat 15. With no record of which bus company, I asked “Is this Capitol Bus?” and she replied … More You Know You’re Back in Cambodia When…
As my project with Medecins Sans Frontieres draws to a close, reflections about the year laid out behind me prevail. I am only leaving Cambodia briefly but my departure and the end of my work commitment here have me feeling very philosophical about this beautiful and catastrophic nation and the incredible experiences I’ve had here. … More Dealing with DRTB
This week I met a new patient who was unable to control quiet tears every time any of the staff walked into her isolation room. That’s not especially surprising, being diagnosed with two stigmatising diseases (HIV and DRTB) in a country where the majority are already consumed by poverty-related stress. I knew that as the … More Unequal Exaggerations
When a patient is diagnosed with Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (DRTB), measures are put in place in an attempt to cure the patient as well as to hamper the bacteria’s transmission to other people, particularly close family and household contacts. In a third world setting DRTB mainly travels amongst the poor, who already have impaired health … More Banana fronds and Bamboo huts
The only sidecar I ever encountered until I came here was on our television screen in the 1970s. George & Mildred was an English comedy series which I loved as a child. The opening sequence featured Mildred in her old fashioned helmet looking decidedly unimpressed from the low-set sidecar attached to her husband George’s old … More Sidecars and Pyjamas
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