A hopeful writer; a surgeon passionate about global health

Dear Steemit Community,

I am so happy to learn about Steemit. After years of writing in the wilderness, I feel I may have found a true home here within this community, away from the furore and chaos of the publishing world.

I love to write, to release the words trapped between my head and heart, those words that make me laugh, cry and choke simultaneously. In the quietest times, in the most joyous times and in the saddest times, I curl into my corner and write to be free. I started writing for myself as a teenager, and there was never an intention to share, to display or to publish my work. However, once-upon-a-time, someone special convinced me to display my work.

Although I fear criticism more than I seek praise, I have been inspired by the clapping of love and the inner peace it brings, to share my writings outwardly. For the first time in my life, I have found a freedom within my spirit to let my words float gently into the air in a giant, multicoloured, heart-shaped hot air balloon. I have always believed that the power of words can change the world, and so maybe with this new found belief, they can – one single character at a time.

Maybe, on a quiet day, if you have the time, look to the sky and if we are lucky, my colourful hot air balloon will be floating by.

During the day, I am an orthopaedic surgeon and very committed to medicine and surgery in the developing world. I have worked in my short career in South Africa for one year as well as volunteering as a medic for a number of weeks in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake and Pakistani floods, both in 2010. I have also worked for 6 months at a charity surgical centre in Cambodia in 2013 and 2018, and I have recently taught orthopaedic surgery in Ethiopia.

I hope to continue this work in the future by working with, and developing trauma services for those in the world less privileged than I have been. Throughout my travels, I have been incredibly blessed to meet a wonderful array of inspiring, talented and beautiful people that have allowed me to maintain my belief in the underlying and everlasting goodness of the human heart. I hope my ramblings somehow reflect this belief.