22nd December 2014 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Our sixth blog is by Lynn Stanier, a specialist travel agent to Sri Lanka, organising holiday and sports tours. Lynn turned her immediate devastation into a long term determination to support vulnerable children. Immediately after the tsunami, I visited Sri Lanka with my son Ryan to volunteer and support the Sri Lankan people. I […]
20th December 2014 Colombo, Sri Lanka
For our fourth blog in the series, we look in house. Gary Leslie, currently Head of UK Trade and Industry at the High Commission, but in 2004 based in London, was in the first team of Foreign and Commonwealth Office volunteers to be deployed to Sri Lanka. Here is his story. On the morning of 26 […]
19th December 2014 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Our third blog in the series tells the story of the Harrow School First XI; how their cricket tour was caught up in the tsunami, their subsequent partnership with Vidyaloka School, and the experience of their return last year. Former Master-in-Charge of Cricket, Mr Simon Halliday, reflects on the experience. Back in 2004, two-thirds of the […]
18th December 2014 Colombo, Sri Lanka
The second blog in our series describes the work of Christina Fonfé, a British qualified swimming instructor, and her mission to teach the women of Sri Lanka water survival skills. The Asian Tsunami of 2004 silently drowned a quarter of a million people. In Sri Lanka, over 35,000 people lost their lives. OXFAM reported that […]
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25th November 2014 Colombo, Sri Lanka
I wanted to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women by partnering with others who feel as strongly. The reaction was so positive that I’ve ended up with two blogs and a campaign. Kofi Annnan described violence against women as a pandemic. Globally, one in three women will have experienced some […]
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25th November 2014 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Kofi Annnan described violence against women as a pandemic. Globally, one in three women will have experienced some form of violence. In some countries, that increases to 70%. Problems in both the UK and Sri Lanka are well documented – violence against women isn’t an issue of geography, culture or wealth. To mark the International […]
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16th September 2014 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Most ex-pats live a very privileged life in Sri Lanka, so I’m always grateful to those of my colleagues who make it easy for us to help some of the people who live so close, but are so much less fortunate. Last Saturday, the British High Commission hosted a football tournament to raise funds for […]
15th September 2014 Geneva, Switzerland
For those of you who may have noticed me looking a little down in the mouth last week, this had little to do with work and almost everything to do with the temporary disappearance of our pet cat. She was obviously not getting enough attention having to compete in our household with two small children […]
31st March 2014 Geneva, Switzerland
It’s hard to convey quite what it’s like to go through a March Council session. The four-week experience is a prolonged assault on the mind, body and soul and while the end of the session is a cause for elation it also feels distinctly post-traumatic. The process of stress-decompression and re-entering normal life needs to […]
25th March 2014 Geneva, Switzerland
Every Council delegate will know what a strain the March session can put on your family life. Things have got so bad that I’m now considering looking for a new wife. It’s not for me though. My wife has got to the point that she’s told me she needs someone like her to help look […]