In just over a week I’m flying out to Cambodia, the land of the ancient Khmer empire, scrawny cows, and orange-robed monks on the back of motorbikes.

Cambodia has one of the poorest health positions in the world, with HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis amongst other diseases. The education and health systems are in poor shape. There are serious problems with drug addiction, children living and begging on the streets, domestic violence and child sex abuse. The infrastructure of the country, including family structures, was shattered by the Khmer Rouge regime, and even now, Cambodia is struggling to recover and catch up with its wealthier neighbours, Thailand and Vietnam.

I’ll be working initially for six months on a voluntary basis with Earthwalkers Fund, on a variety of projects including sustainable rural development, education, and training and development of young people. There’s a lot to do. I’m taking a vet with me, who’ll be working on cattle health amongst other things.

I’ll update the SH site with my progress once in a while, but see my personal blog for regular updates, photos and videos.

Finally, I must apologise sincerely for the problems that we have had with the Suffolk Humanists website for a while now, and which are now fixed. The site was not compatible with Microsoft’s updated Internet Explorer browser, meaning that it appeared rather strange and higgledy-piggledy. This is sadly down to the fact that Microsoft are incapable of making a standards-compliant web browser, i.e one that respects the same rules others do. We’re back to business now with an updated site that uses a simpler, brighter design – I hope you like it.