Sydney Life

I’m sitting at my computer on one of the beautiful mornings of stuvac, building up the courage to start studying for my impending exams. Meanwhile, outside my little bubble, a revolution is taking place.

The clues are everywhere – Al Gore’s ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, the green reusable shopping bag frenzy and John Howard’s recent proposal to build a $400 million solar plant that can deliver 154 megawatts of power.

My sister recently brought a hybrid car. I heard whispers that Miss DL is going to channel her creative talents to make a documentary about how we can fix the world. Mr. GS started an initiative where once a year he and other volunteers embark on a journey to rural NSW to a small kind of third world Aboriginal town and runs holiday camps for the children. Miss IP will teach English in Ethiopia after completing her liberal studies degree. Another friend Mr. BH just left for India where he will volunteer in a children’s day care centre for 6 months. A fellow student Miss LC has even started her own charity called 40k home. 6 full time uni students aim to raise $40 000 to start an orphanage for 25 disadvantaged orphans in India. It’s unbelievable. Check it out at www.40khome.org.

I recently caught up with Mr. IR who has just returned from studying an MBA at Oxford. He was talking with enthusiasm about this idea that had inspired him called social entrepreneurship which has taken off big time in the UK. It involves starting a business that is profitable and can sustain itself without donations but at the same time is making a positive contribution to the world. For example one lady in India set up a 24 hour toll free telephone line that connects vulnerable children to an extensive network of child organizations. This telephone line is manned by street children. There are many more stories at www.howtochangetheworld.org if you want to get inspired.

I went to a talk last week by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks – the chief Rabbi of England. He was talking about his new book called How to Heal a Fractured World and told anecdotal stories about how one person can make a difference. We may not realise it but we can create a domino effect just by performing one little act of kindness.

But it’s back to the computer I go to continue stewing over the contraindications to manipulations and the pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis…….