Puppies 4 Ever

So the follow-on to my earlier story Don't Play God, is that it's mostly worked out for the best. Despite the trauma of that weekend, 3 out of 4 of the dogs I had sterilized are doing great. 1, (my favourite) is not doing so well - her wound burst, but I've had her re-admitted to the vets to patch her up and keep an eye on her and the advantage is that she gets fed twice a day and it will give us an opportunity to vaccinate her properly (I'm sure she doesn't feel it's advantageous!).

She really is the sweetest thing, probably about 18mths, thin as a rake, has a bung back leg which I haven't been able to get to the bottom of. She finds it difficult to put weight on it, but can run around like a mad creature! Anyway, if she sees me or DY she comes running from 30 mtrs away at full belt and then does this crazy skid around us (normally ending flat on her face) then dances around us until the excitement fades! She's just gorgeous, and we call her 'Flopsy'. (Enough already I hear the non animal lovers cry).

I'm hoping that I can find a dog lover amongst our growing number of friends who will provide her with a safe haven. The streets are brutal here, and you know when you can just tell that one won't survive? She's literally half the size of her sisters (all 7 of them - now you know why I'm so passionate about sterilization), so doesn't do too well in the food stakes. Anyway, I don't need to worry for 4 days as she's safely recuperating at the vets.

Speaking of those who won't survive - the puppies we've been feeding are doing grand! The 3 girls are growing by the day, and whilst the boy puppy is the runt, he's quite feisty when he feels like it. They're now days away from rehoming - one more worming session, and a parvo injection on Tuesday and hopefully they're outta here. We've already got interested takers for 2/3. The others I'm going to move to another basement area, as these guys are beginning to get more adventurous and I'm worried about the outcome if they get in the way of the builders (plus I'm scared for my own safety when I have to go down there on my own if DY is away).

What's transpired from this whole exercise is that there's a fascinating cultural divide in Sri Lanka in relation to the sex of dogs. Everyone wants boy dogs because they won't have babies. There's a real stigma associated with the females, and even when I stress that I'll pay for the sterilization, people quickly lose interest. Which particularly in this situation is crazy - the girls are so strong! Anyway, I may not like it, but I just have to work with it.

May I say that DY has been an absolute saint through all this? It's bloody hard work (as well as being expensive); we have to get up at 6am to feed them, then check on them post work, worming, mange injections, vaccinations. And he's only complained a couple of times, which given that this has been going on for a month now is positively saintly. Thank you DY. I can't promise that it's ever going to change, but I do appreciate your support. You're a brick!

Dinner with friends

Most of you won't be surprised that DY has found out about the 'happy hour' pizza deal at the Hilton hotel. As long as you order by 7pm, pizzas are half price (and they're good). You can even pretend that you can afford the Hilton, and use their pool and / or gym if you're really cheeky!

So we've turned it into a semi regular gig with a couple of newbie friends, Jason and Kelly from the US and Sara (also from the US), a beautiful soul whose husband Leo has been traveling through Thailand for the last month. Jason and Kelly started their respective careers with Peace Corps, a volunteer program based in the US that supplements staff at development agencies world wide. Their first gig was in Uzbekistan which they don't consider to be a hardship posting - think again guys - I reckon eating nothing but carrots, onions and potatoes for 6 months counts as hardship! (and the rest). Sara has been with US Red Cross for years and is a Tracing Guru. Tracing is the service for those who have moved (forcibly or not) due to war, famine, natural disasters, etc etc and are trying to track down family members. What a rewarding job! She's now over here setting up a similar (much needed) service with Sri Lankan Red Cross - good luck.

Conversation invariably turns to the difficulties of saving the world (particularly in SL) and it's nice for us to be able to 'let off steam' with others who are experiencing similar troubles on a daily basis. To give you a purely logistical example, DY arrived last night, frazzled after a 2 hr meeting which was meant to start at 5pm, the first attendee turned up at 5.35, the critical attendee at 5.45 and when DY announced that he was leaving at 6pm there ensued a 45 minute discussion about that .....

Last night everyone wanted to hear about our trip to Singapore. They all looked quizzical when I said it had been GREAT, and I hadn't realized how much I was missing the little things. 'Like what' they asked? Clean streets, a truly multi cultural society, decent bookshops, public transport that isn't life threatening, varied food offerings, cinema, women wearing skirts that show their legs (!), good service in restaurants, happy hour that starts at 6pm not 10pm, prices in shops that are the 'real' price, no starving animals on the streets ...... and I could go on.

As the list got longer, the heads around the table started nodding as we looked whimsically at each other. A moment's silence and then someone broke the reverie .... no point lusting after the unattainable. But it was a great reality check.

Singapore

Wonderful Singapore! Well what a difference 2 months makes. We were last in Singapore on our way through to Colombo - it rained for 2 days non-stop and we left with a less than favourable impression. It seemed to be shopping, shopping and more shopping.

This time things were different. We decided to treat ourselves to a w/e away as good friends Pete and Chris were traveling through Singapore on their way from London to Oz. So we arranged to meet and 'hang out'. Instantly us battle-weary front liners (not!) relaxed into it. What bliss to be back in a multi-cultural society. I was nearly reduced to tears at the choice of cuisine on offer. And whilst Singapore is often accused of being 'sterile', Colombo could do with a bit more of that I reckon!!! The contrast was enormous and I have to say we both reveled in it.

As we arrived early, first stop the zoo. Now I am not a fan of zoos, but had been recommended by several people that this one truly lived up to its conservationist aim and was worth a look. So having checked it out on the internet, and because I was extremely tempted by the baby orangutan, we went. Public Transport in Sing is a breeze, so we saved ourselves $60sing by using the MRT. And it was good. 99.9% of the animals are from the same climactic region as Singapore and so were all happy as larry in their enclosures. And the enclosures are big and spacious and heavily oriented towards keeping captive animals amused as they would be in the wild. So for the Orangs, not only are there the usuals of hidden food, ropes, huge climbing frames etc, but they rotate all of them in groups of 5 out of their enclosure into a 'roam free' area in the main zoo. I got chatting to the Orang attendant who was keeping an eye on them to ensure they didn't do a runner, and he said some days he doesn't get home till 8pm (his shift finishes at 5) 'cos he can't coax them back in!! Occupational hazard I guess.

At the end of the day Pete and Chris arrived tired, but happy to be on holidays and we took ourselves down to Clarke Quay for Thai, a spot of rugby watching (go Waratahs) and also some gawking at the intrepid "reverse bungy jumpers". For those who haven't seen one, it is a contraption that you sit in that looks like a huge slingshot, and then it does exactly that - flicks you into the air. I can only imagine the G force! Not for the faint-hearted i.e me.

After breakfast we went for coffee, having discovered a true coffee house the day before. Now Dunc is one of those amazing people who bumps into people he knows wherever we go. As an example, I who grew up in London will go to London with Duncan and in 2 weeks will not bump into any of my friends, ex work colleagues, associates etc - I mean London's a big place right? Dunc on the other hand will get on the tube at Heathrow and before we're even in central London will see 3 people that he used to work/ surf/ live with. It's incredible. So whilst I was chatting away, Duncan managed to 'bump' into a great old friend of mine that I lost track of a few years ago when she was doing the Europe thing and I was in Oz. Since then she's acquired a husband and 2 year old so we had a lot of catching up to do - it was great.

After a day traipsing the streets we had dinner in Chinatown (see picture) at a street stall, having just watched a street theatre performer rotate hula hoops around different parts of her anatomy simultaneously. Maximum respect from me who can't manage to move my feet and arms together in aerobics classes! Then past a fabulous Hindi temple down to the water for a quick jaunt up the river on a ferry. The place looks even better by night.

Sunday started slowly, and even slower for Pete and Dunc who insisted on 'just one more' at the downstairs bar which was (of course) karaoke and had a lone cowboy singing to himself. Then down to Little India, on what had to be the hottest day of the year, before we collapsed into an Indian restaurant in search of air-con. I was quite apprehensive as I'd left Colombo never wanting to see another curry in my life, but North Indian food is very different, so we all enjoyed it, though I couldn't tempt Pete and Chris to try eating with their hands!

After fond farewells we hit the airport and the red eye to Colombo. After being stopped at 3 road blocks, we finally hit the hay at circa 2am - a long one, but a good one. Thanks for joining us Pete and Chris, enjoy Oz and we look forward to seeing you in July. Katherine I hope to see you in May.

Don't play God

When, oh when, will I learn?

This weekend has been possibly the single most distressing two days of my life. Some of you who read this will get to the end and think to yourselves, "well if that's so distressing you've had a pretty good life". I acknowledge this. But for me it was hideous.

In a snapshot, I decided to play God and it backfired. As previously explained, the feral animal problem here is pretty out-of-control. So in my 'let's get organised' style I decided to get 4 of the local stray, but docile dogs de-sexed. Going into it I thought that not only would I be cutting down on the number of unwanted and therefore starving and diseased animals, but that I would be releasing said dogs from lives of sexual servitude, and possibly be able to re-home them once the operation was completed.

I went into it knowing it wouldn't be easy, but I had no idea how difficult it would be. I'm not going to relay all the gory details, but suffice it to say, all 4 got extremely stressed to the point of abject terror. The 'vet' clinic was reminiscent of a back-street abortionist. I was crying in public. The dogs took nearly 1.5 days to come round from the anaesthetic. And two have disappeared. For all I know they are wandering the streets dazed and confused; have been hit by a car; or are so terrified that they won't come back to the only security they know, the pack they've been living in.

I've been searching for them since saturday night, to no avail. So my conclusion is, don't play 'God'. Just because you think you've got enough common sense to make an 'appropriate' decision on behalf of someone else, that doesn't give you the right.

Postscript: Both dogs have since reappeared. One is quite swollen and I'm going to get the vet out tonight, but the other 3 seem ok. Thank goodness, thank goodness, thank goodness.

Purchase Power

In the era of globalisation it always pays to read the label, and if in doubt "follow the money".

Through exactly this approach Greenpeace have recently been able to draw the Aussie public's attention to the fact that a major canned tuna distributor is 50% owned by a Japanese commercial whaling company. Your average mum and dad would have no idea that by buying a certain brand of tuna they were financially contributing to the hateful destruction of one of the world's greatest mammals.

Here's an update:

In just four weeks over 38,000 concerned Australians signed our petition!We're still putting pressure on Sealord and we are happy to announce that they are feeling the heat. As a result of the campaign, Sealord CEO Doug McKay broke a long silence and asked for a meeting with Greenpeace to discuss a way forward. Mr McKay has still not committed to publicly condemning commercial whaling, but the meeting is a sure sign that Sealord is taking the campaign seriously. It is clear that Sealord is very worried about the damage their association with whaling might do to its reputation and sales. With Nissui still refusing to end their commercial whaling activities, it is essential that we keep up the pressure. Please continue to encourage your friends and family to sign our petition and say no to Sealord.

Cut and paste this link to sign the petition now ttp://www.greenpeace.org.au/petition/whale_petition.html

Once again, thank you for supporting our anti-whaling campaign.

Go Purchase Power!

Keep it Simple (Stupid)

For someone who has always reveled in the vagaries of the English language and delighted in listening (in Australia) to Kel Richards' Word Watch, I am finding the most basic communication exchanges in Sri Lanka quite a struggle.

Trying to get your point across to others for whom English is quite often not only not their first spoken language, but their third or fourth is an interesting and exhausting exercise. And whilst there were some interesting mismatches when I was in the 'lady of leisure' stage of this trip these usually involved nothing of greater import than sandwich choice. I realized quite quickly that those with limited English comprehension used a basic trick of repeating back to you your last phrase to indicate understanding. However on further investigation this revealed no comprehension, just a fabulous ability to mimic others.

So now that I'm working we are talking a whole different kettle of fish. Making the move into an office environment, I anticipated some communication challenges. But I also anticipated that I would be able to overcome them quite quickly - WRONG! We are not talking a daily misunderstanding, we're talking hour by hour! On my floor I am the only native English speaker. In fact in our building of say 35 people, there is only one other (a Yank (look it's English of a sort), who I'm teaching 'Aussie').

The simplest verbal interaction often becomes incredibly laboured. Here's a 'for instance' for you. Today in an interview we had a Japanese Engineer, an American Engineer, a Sri Lankan Engineer, Me and a Sri Lankan Trainee Engineer as interviewee. At the end of the interview I'm doing the 'HR bit' and inform her that: "the role will initially be for a 6 month contract". She looks at me blankly. So I say: "This job contract is for 6 months - is that ok?" Again, blank look, by which time I'm looking beseechingly at my colleagues. I am saved by the Sri Lankan Engineer who says: "6 month - ok contract?". At which she smiles and nods her head!!! Go figure.

My ex colleagues at Roche will be quite pleased to hear that I've had to 'dumb it down' as they used to get quite frustrated with my insistence on using antiquated (to the Aussie ear) phrases. Well I can assure you ladies, the shoe is now firmly on the other foot. And don't even get me started about trying to make your point on the phone! I have to keep repeating my new mantra, Keep it Simple (Stupid).

Small Acts of Kindness ...

Often when faced with seemingly 'huge' problems it is difficult to know where to start. For example, the project Duncan is working on will in a comparatively short period of time (less than a year) provide 18 - 23,000 permanent houses at half the cost of other donor built programmes. If you anticipate that an average of 3 people will be provided with shelter per house, then you are looking at say 69,000 individuals. Now that sounds enormous, but is actually only a drop in the ocean of what is needed here in Sri Lanka, never mind in Banda Aceh.

Similarly, when faced with the plight of 'domestic' animals trying to subsist it is tempting to throw your hands in the air and just ignore the suffering, thinking to yourself 'what can I do?' But I am pleased to report that in the face of this enormous problem there are several 'individual actions' taking place. From the chap who every morning comes to feed the steadily growing pack of hounds in the building site next door, to the guy who brings down two tupperware containers every night to the three (very contented) cats that live by the pool, to Sebastian, a gregarious, curly haired Berliner, who together with his girlfriend jumped on a plane a week after the tsunami and hasn't left (more of his actions in a moment). We met him in a coffee-shop in Hikkaduwa, the 'local' surfbreak about 3 hours south of Colombo.

Now that may sound an innocuous statement - "meeting in a coffee-shop", but I can assure you that finding a coffee-shop (by which I mean espresso coffee) anywhere out of Colombo is very, very unusual. And this brings me to another 'small act'. Said coffee-shop is run by an Australian from Noosa, called Jack. And Jack is a 'Jack', if you know what I mean. His career has spanned a number of different roles from taxi driver, to builder, to house mover etc and I get the distinct impression that he has seen things that would make your hair curl! To give you a visual, he's about 6", rugged in that Aussie way, a chain smoker, and one of the politest and most accepting individuals I've ever met. So back to his 'small act'. His coffee-shop not only serves great coffee, but is actually a means of providing decent employment prospects to the locals in an area where the traditional industry (tourism) has been decimated. Having arrived immediately post tsunami, Jack worked to provide temporary shelter to the locals. And when the immediate necesseties had been met he set about a more sustainable plan. He rented shop space, shipped over a four arm espresso machine, and now brings in 20kgs of coffee beans in his rucksack every time he goes back and forth between Oz and SL! It is staffed by locals that he 'sponsors' to work in his shop for 450rps a day. Not only do they learn a 'trade' (barista), but they're earning at least 150rps more than the average lay person.

So whilst satisfying the insatiable expat demand for a decent 'brew', Jack also does his bit. Unsurprisingly this den of philanthropic endeavour is where we met Sebastian, who turned up to the coffee-shop with a box containing not 1, not 2, but 5 puppies! They were dumped on his doorstep a week prior, about 2 weeks after he had paid for the veterinary treatment of a dog with a broken leg that also, surprise, surprise just 'appeared' on his doorstep ....

Inspired by these 'small acts', DY and I gave some cash to Sebastian for his endeavours and I am now trying to coordinate the 'desexing' of the pack of mutleys on the building site and the cats by the pool!!! Poor things I hear you say, but it really is the only way to cut the carnage in the longer term, and where better to start than in our own back yard. But in a country where veterinary care does not as a rule include desexing (post tsunami the international animal agencies had to train local vets how to conduct the operation), and where 'traditional' attitudes mean that male dogs aren't 'male' without all their 'bits', it's an uphill struggle. Add to that the logistics of trying to catch several animals that are very wary of humans ....

Anyway I'll keep you posted as to whether I manage to cajole or bribe (!) the local vet to pay a 'house visit' and do an open air surgery - I can't think how else we'll manage it.

Letter from Lulu ...

As most of you are aware I am potty about animals. This is pretty indiscriminate, though I must own up to a preference for mammals. So those who know me, know that the decision to join Duncan on this adventure and leave my 'furkids' was only made possible by the saintly intervention of Dunc's best buddy Tim and his beautiful bride Chelsea who agreed to 'house and furry sit' for us. I mustn't fail to mention that they were also recently joined by Tom, their first.

So to set the scene, we have a new eco house in sunny Manly circa 500m from the beach and surrounded by parklands, with even newer (incomplete) addition. We have Tim, just started a new job. Chelsea, a new mum for the first time. Tom, well everything's new for Tom! And then we have Lulu (Beagle x Jack Russell - double trouble) with plenty of idiosyncracies and a look that says 'butter wouldn't melt in my mouth'. And finally Bugly, her best buddy (Fox terrier x????) who is never far away and even more eccentric (but at least he doesn't try to hide the fact).

Today, Lulu sent through an update:

Dear Mum,

These new walkers are alright you know - a bit stupid with their routine, but generally ok. In the morning we walk with a pram - it's fun trying to tip it over,but I think she's cottoned on to that trick! In the evening it's a bit more controlled and we visit thebeach. I'm knackered by the time we get home, so it's great to sit still and have some dinner.

We met the ranger this morning. I was having a hard enough morning anyway as I was on a new lead for some reason (I think it has something to do with the fact that I chewed through the other one while waiting for the female walker yesterday - but I'll let you know how my bid for freedom went later). Anyway - the Ranger was quite nice. I sat there obediently while Bugly disgraced himself by trying to be adorable and jump up/ lick the poor man. Talk about embarrassing! Geoff (the Ranger) kindly pointed out that having me on the lead wasn't enough while walking around the ovals and that Bugly should be restrained as well. I laughed...all those walks where Bugly runs free and tries to crash tackle me and shows off...HA...this morning must have been even worse for him than it was for me. I'm used to a lead (although this new one is a bt short), he on the other hand is not.At least he didn't try and mount me when we got home. I s'pose I should be flattered by his attentions,being an old dog and all - but it is a bit tedious! The Ranger also noted that council is providing a new map indicating where the designated dog areas are....hopefully we'll be visiting a few of those when we get a copy of this map. Hopefully I'll have a newlead by then as well so I can venture more than 2m from the new walkers.

OH, OH....I almost escaped these new walkers yesterday- thought I'd test them out a little, but got a little confused and ended up back where I started from.I was SO excited...we were waiting out the front of a friends house when I got bored watching all these 2 legged creatures walk by, so I decided to join them. Chewing through the lead was easy (should have done that MONTHS ago!) - but then I got so excited about the possibilities that I followed a 2 legged creature around the back of the house the new walker was in.

Talk about stupid - I had the entire neighbourhood to explore. It was satisfying to hear a panic stricken voice calling me from the front of the house though. Clearly I ignored all calls - and was a bit gutted when someone else noted how dumb I had been. I soon found myself tied up at the rear of the house....when the lead broke again - FANTASTIC! there were children to play with, sausages to eat, a new garden to digup...bliss....and then I got stuck to Bugly as we had to share a lead. Damn it!

oh no - that .little creature that doesn't do much is making a racket. Will go and check he's ok....lick his face and smell his nappy to make sure all is good.

see you soon
LuLu x

Working at last

I'm not sure who is more relieved (Duncan or I) that I have finally secured employment. Mentally I was just about at the stage where the whole 'women who lunch' thing was losing it's shine, and was a nano-second away from degenerating into the 'I'm bored' stage (which isn't pretty). When the attendant at the coffee shop in the only department store in town shouts out your order as you approach, you know it's time to get a job.

So as is always the way, after twiddling my thumbs for a month three potential jobs came along all at once and I was placed in the difficult position of choosing between them. It wasn't easy as they all would have been great, but I can announce that I'm now in my second week at IOM, or International Organisation for Migration which is part of the UN. They appealed on many levels including the fact that their core 'business' is protecting the rights of migrants, immigrants and refugees and those who know me know that these are issues I've been pretty vocal about (moi?)for a number of years! Also the opportunity to experience the UN system, and not least the job itself as HR Consultant (which is a grand sounding title for reviewing and updating all their policies and procedures and rolling out a training programme!)

I had the usual first week of meeting people (and struggling with name recall), reading loads of stuff, no-one knowing what to do with me, organising computers, phones, passes etc but yesterday things began to look up. Not because I was working on anything earth-shattering (though I do now have an interesting project), but because I completed my 'security training'. All 'mission' staff have to undergo this if they are located in a Phase 1 through to Phase 5 area. I'm in a Phase 1 area (be alert, but not alarmed) but many of the offices I'll be travelling to to train staff are in a Phase 3, so I had to undergo a 2 hour online training. Some of the cheery topics covered were; how to behave at roadblocks, how to spot landmines, what to do in the case of hijack, gunfire, kidnap and other treasures like how to converse with child soldiers. It all sounds pretty surreal, but as there is one training course for all staff, they need to cover a range of situations, from sitting pretty in an embassy somewhere to down and dirty at the coalface in downtown Kabul (or worse).

Actually I was really impressed and passed with flying colours (83% - I'm talking it up - passmark is 80%), so if any of you want to know the difference between varieties of landmines, what UXO stands for, or which levels of an apartment block are safest - just ask! Roger, bravo, top secret stuff, wilco, over and out.