DHC Hope: September 2013

All Quiet on the Cancer Front

A very upbeat Dr Lisa Horvath told Barbara and I that the CT scan report and blood analysis shows that my liver cancer remains dormant. I had been apprehensive about this being the case as I have felt a bit low a few times in the last two months. However, as some of you have mentioned to me, I have been busy: launching The BezCan Project; working in Singapore at the beginning of September; in Sri Lanka in the middle of September; in the Blue Mountains this weekend; then off to Uganda on the Monday night.

Part of my apprehension is that sometimes I have been sitting on the toilet more times per day than I would like. Dr Lisa has suggested taking Metamucil with the aim of being regular with less frequent visits. I hope this will work, however, even if it doesn’t I am travelling OK as is.

My next appointment with Dr Horvath is Wednesday afternoon 27 November, the day before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the Word!

The BezCan Project

As you know, I have visited Uganda twice this year and am departing for a three week visit in October. Our long time friends Pam and Allan have been living in Kamuli, Uganda since late 2011.

On my second visit in June I made a commitment to support the Bezallel and Canaan Primary Schools for five years to 2017. In August I launched The BezCan Project. The response to this launch indicates we will be able to provide support for the five years at least at the minimum level I was hoping for. Thank you!

The BezCan Project has its own website. So, the Ugandan stories from my June visit have been moved from this DHC Hope blog to The BezCan Project website < http://bezcan.com>.

Sri Lanka Hope

This September I spent a week in Sri Lanka: 3 days of touring and 3 days facilitating a financial management seminar. During the seminar we examined the financial performance of a local hotel group. Looking back over ten years, the civil war years were marked by static sales and a mixture of profits and losses with the last three years showing rapid growth in sales and profits. Clearly peace brings its financial rewards. While touring, my guide, Indra, talked about all the roadblocks that had to be negotiated during the civil war. Now you can travel freely. Friends of ours toured two years ago. Then you could not visit the north, where the Tamil fighters were based. The Sri Lankan Air in flight magazine had a long article about visiting the northern city of Jaffna and the surrounding areas. So I could see much to hope for in Sri Lanka but I confess that I find Chinese cultural order much easier to live in than Indian chaos. Leaving through Colombo airport was like being part of one herd of cattle amongst an number negotiating security, check-in, emigration and boarding.

Here are some photos of what I saw:

Polonnaruwa an 800 hundred year old ancient city
Minnariya National Park where we watched the largest herd of elephants I have seen in the wild
Sigiriya Lion’s Rock Fortress observed from below and the village which shows you the typical town sights
Dambulla Rock Cave Temple full of Buddhist statues dating back 500, 1200 and 1600 years
Kandy an old inland city where I saw a cultural show and visited the Temple of The Tooth Relic (said to be on of Buddha’s teeth)
Some of the things I saw in Colombo

The Ruins of the Ancient City of Polonnaruwa