WONCA News

April, 2011

Quito sprawls like a reversed ‘S’ along the Guayllabamba river basin in north-central Ecuador. Situated at 2,800 metres (9,200 feet), it is the highest legal capital in the world. To the west is the slumbering old volcano Rucu Pichincha (4,700 m), with its younger counterpart Guagua Pinchincha (4,794 m) sputtering nearby. On cloudless days, the snow-capped volcano Cotopaxi (5,753 m or 1,8874 ft) can be seen to the north. In the middle of the city rises El Panecillo (3,016 m or 9,895 ft), on top of which is an aluminum statue of the Virgin Mary watching over the city.

February, 2011

Standing in my room, I hear the adhan, the Muslim call to prayer, float over greater Mumbai (formerly Bombay) and its 20 million inhabitants, 80% of whom are Hindu. My hotel is located in the area known as Bandra, which has the highest concentration of Roman Catholic churches in the world. Gazing west, I see the sun burn bright as it falls into the Arabian Sea. Turning to the southeast, I look past one of Mumbai’s slums, politely known as reclamation land, and in the distance, see a just-completed skyscraper glowing orange-red as it reflects the sun.

December, 2010

The announcement of the WONCA Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) as full WONCA Region during the Cancun Conference was happily awaited. It was the culmination of several years of preparation on the part of its interim executive.

December, 2010

On Wednesday, I climbed a mountain. I did not start the day expecting to climb. If I had known, I would have worn something more appropriate than a suit. Yet, Wednesday was the best day of a wondrous week.

October, 2010

Some days drag me down. Patients expect too much. Team members make more, not less, work for me. Students and trainees disrupt the usual work flow. The health care system and its bureaucracy frustrate at every turn. Jumping from one task to another; interrupted each step of the way. There is too much to do, too little time to do it, too few resources to get it done.

August, 2010

Hurricane Wilma. World financial crisis. Border violence. Visa problems. These were some of my thoughts last May as our plane touched down at Cancun International Airport (CUN). In 2008, Hurricane Wilma, the most intense storm in the history of the Atlantic basin, wiped out much of the infrastructure in the Yucatan peninsula. In 2009, the world financial crisis drained the resources of many global organizations and threatened their viability. In 2010, the U.S. State Department warned against travel to Mexico and many from other countries reported difficulties getting a visa to enter Mexico. Could the Mexican college overcome these challenges? Would the World Conference be a success? They did and it was!

January, 1753

Raquel Gomez Bravo shares with you two of the official videos of the TEDxUniversityOfLuxembourg that have been organised in the university with speakers, Prof Richard Roberts discussing "Healing by Numbers" and Sara Rigon talking on "Virginity testing".