From rescued to rescuers, orphans-turned-medics run remote Thai ambulance service

Really happy to be sharing this piece about the Bamboo School and its extraordinary work training youngsters as medics in a part of Thailand, previously cut off from the country's healthcare system.

It's a slight departure from my usual environmental/sustainability themes, but I feel a truly sustainable future cannot be built without providing access to healthcare for all.

The Bamboo School runs the only ambulance service in this remote part of Thailand. Photo: The Bamboo School and Friends.

I was lucky enough to visit the Bamboo School and interview Catherine Riley-Bryan. She is an exceptional lady, whose work with underprivileged youngsters fleeing the troubles across the border in Myanmar is remarkable.  It was an insightful experience and she told me stories I will never forget.

I love the quote Riley-Bryan gave me to sum up her work:

“If we can change our kids’ mindsets from merely surviving into actually thriving, and get them looking at how they can help others, rather than what they can grab for themselves: then they can overcome some of the problems they have inherited.” 

I'd like to thank Mowai Apisuttipanya and Bamboo School student Suriwan for answering my questions as well. Mowai has been connected with the Bamboo School since childhood and is now a fully qualified medical doctor, who cut his teeth on the ambulance project.

Catherine Riley-Bryan and Mowai Apisuttipanya stand proudly next to the Bamboo School’s long-serving, first ambulance. Photo: Helen Mullen

The article focuses on the 'ins and outs' of establishing and running a fleet of rural ambulances, how Riley-Bryan gets the teenagers involved and the impact the project is having.  Since they got their first ambulance in 2009 the project has inspired many youngsters to seek careers in medicine.

Pupils enjoying a meal at The Bamboo School. Photo: The Bamboo School and Friends

Pupils receive sponsorship to complete their studies, and the results are impressive. Two have become public health nurses, one of whom runs the local government clinic. Another five are now qualified nurses working at nearby hospitals. Three more former students are currently in medical school.

The Bamboo School also run a clinic which provides essential healthcare to the local community. Photo: Ewen Mcleish

I am grateful to Coconuts for publishing my article, please check it out in full here. Thanks also to Helen Mullen of Eco Beasts for the introducing me to the Bamboo School.

There are many children and young people living at the Bamboo School who are in need of sponsorship and support to find out more visit The Bamboo School online.

World Oceans Day - Special Article for Eco Beasts

I was pleased to be asked by my friends at Eco Beasts, Bangkok's network of sustainability educators, to write a piece for their website on the learning experiences they organized for 2019's World Oceans Day celebrations.

The article is a review of the Eco Beast approach to this event. Hopefully it provides an example of how environmental educators can create change and provoke thought about sustainable lifestyles in the minds of the public.

It's quite a specialist story, but I trust it will interest readers. It's also my first venture into creating content for a particular website rather than a general audience.  Read my piece on the Eco Beast site.  The article also reached a wider audience when it was published in the magazine expat life in Thailand. See it here.

While I love writing mass media articles with broad based appeal, I'm keen to develop my expertise in content creation for the websites and blogs of NGOs, enterprises and others working in sustainability, environmentalism, and development in general.

So, don't hesitate to contact me if your organisation or company would benefit from entertaining, well researched writing aiming to support the creation of a sustainable future for us all.

Foraging for Thailand's forgotten edible plants

A walk on the wild side:

In the context of the massive threats to our planet's biodiversity and louder responses from political movements like Extinction Rebellion,  I wanted to write about how as increasing numbers of plant species disappear, we lose our knowledge of how useful (or delicious!) these plants may be. As this happens - something of traditional culture is lost too.

I profile local permaculturalist Goustan Bodin, who runs foraging tours on Bang Kachao, Bangkok's Green Lung to educate people about the diverse variety of edible plants growing there.

Bodin (AKA P'Dan) offers wild betel leaves for fellow foragers to try.  Photo: Ewen Mcleish 

From a different perspective, Michelin starred Chef 'Bee' Santongun of gourmet restaurant 'Paste Bangkok' uses wild, foraged and rare ingredients to give a twist to classic Thai dishes.

Chef Bee of Paste Bangkok examining wild ingredients. Photo: Paste Bangkok

In different ways, I think they are both, by tickling people's tastebuds, raising awareness of Thailand's great biodiversity and why its preservation is important.

I was grateful to the pair for taking the time out of their busy schedules for interview and for introducing me to a variety of tastes I otherwise may never have experienced.

The full article was published internationally by news website Coconuts in their Travel section, which reaches 8 cities across South East Asia.

Click here to read the whole piece.

Inspiring Child-Led Change

The EcoBEASTs Community Action Day. All photos: Somkhanay Thepthong

Bangkok's International Schools, grassroots sustainability groups, and businesses come together to work for change.

I was very happy to combine my passion for writing on sustainability themes with my passion for education in this article. In recent years I've noticed many stories involving students in schools around the world acting to tackle our sustainability crisis. 

I wanted to write about how young people are increasingly involved and inspired to act within the green movement here in Bangkok. Writing about Ecobeasts, gave me the chance to do this.

This group of teachers aim to connect international schools with local environmental organisations and green businesses, as well as support educators in delivering sustainability in the curriculum.

It was pleasing to see the resulting article: Uniting to Inspire Child-Led Environmental Change appear in the Bangkok Post. The article focuses on the 2019 EcoBEASTs Community Action Day, where 120 students met and learnt from a fantastic array of people behind green and socially conscious projects in Bangkok. Apologies for not being able to mention all of them in the article.

I'd like to thank my colleagues at STA 71 for their support in writing the article, as well as Helen Mullen and Katy Waring, the dedicated teachers behind EcoBEASTs.  Links to all organisations mentioned (and more) can be found on the EcoBEASTs site.

A pdf of the article is available here.  Below are some photos of the activities laid on for students attending the event:

Precious Plastic Bangkok's innovative machine recycles old plastic.

Students learn how to turn used cooking oil into soap with Bangkok Soap Opera. 

Up-cycling an old T'shirt into an Eco-bag. 

Learning about the importance of soil. 

Postscript: A more detailed version of this article appeared in the April/May 2019 edition of 'Expat Life in Thailand.'  A PDF of this is available here.