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
“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
Two mornings ago my telephone rang at 0630am. Alice was on the other end of the line, calling me from Darwin. Two months after she stood in my front yard shouting at me. Down the phone line I was woken by “Alan! My sister! I’m sorry my sister… for doing that thing, you know, shouting … More A third stab of pathos
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