As always there is someone who has written on a subject much more succinctly and eloquently than I ever could.
Jon Swain in his book 'River of Time' describes an incident of a bomb injuring a child in Phnom Penh. He went to help the child but couldn't get anyone else to assist on the street or in deed when he took the child to the nearest hospital.
He wrote in the 1990s - "Even today, after years of suffering, the Cambodians do not have a strong sense of caring for their fellow man. Medical staff, negligent and greedy, demand to be paid for drugs provided free of charge by the international aid agencies. Perhaps this is due to the Cambodians fatalistic perception of human life. For many, morality is a luxury to be disowned; survival and money are the ultimate objectives."
Fifteen years on and despite millions of dollars in aid, sadly it seems that this is still very much the case.
I am not quite sure what the cure for compassion fatigue is...
Jon Swain in his book 'River of Time' describes an incident of a bomb injuring a child in Phnom Penh. He went to help the child but couldn't get anyone else to assist on the street or in deed when he took the child to the nearest hospital.
He wrote in the 1990s - "Even today, after years of suffering, the Cambodians do not have a strong sense of caring for their fellow man. Medical staff, negligent and greedy, demand to be paid for drugs provided free of charge by the international aid agencies. Perhaps this is due to the Cambodians fatalistic perception of human life. For many, morality is a luxury to be disowned; survival and money are the ultimate objectives."
Fifteen years on and despite millions of dollars in aid, sadly it seems that this is still very much the case.
I am not quite sure what the cure for compassion fatigue is...
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