I wandered lonely as a cloud... Scottish ancestry, not
a bad dollar...
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills...(William Wordsworth, a Scotsman)
Doctor Livingstone, I presume?
A 19th-century explorer named Dr. David Livingstone became something of a national hero
through his articles and lectures about his adventures in Africa.
In 1864, Livingstone led an expedition to discover the source of the Nile. When little to nothing
was heard from or about Livingstone after many years, Europeans and Americans became
concerned.
In 1871, the publisher of the New York Herald hired Henry Stanley, a newspaper reporter, to find
Livingstone. Heading a group of some two hundred men, Stanley headed into the African
interior. After nearly eight months he found Livingstone in a small village on the shore of Lake
Tanganyika.
“As I advanced slowly toward him I noticed he was pale, looked wearied . . . I would have
embraced him, only, he being an Englishman, I did not know how he would receive me; so I . . .
walked deliberately to him, took off my hat, and said, ‘Dr. Livingstone, I presume?'
Dr Livingstone spent 30 years in Africa
Livingstone was born on 19 March 1813.
He came from a humble background and, from the age of 10, worked 14 hours per day in the
Blantyre Cotton Works.
At 27, he went to Africa and saw the damage caused by the slave trade.
A missionary, an explorer, a medic, an anti-slavery campaigner and Victorian celebrity whose
death prompted displays of public mourning reminiscent of Princess Diana. It is 200 years since
David Livingstone was born in Blantyre.
A narrow, spiral staircase brings the group to the single room where David Livingstone lived with
his parents and siblings. It is small, with two beds recessed into the wall and two more
underneath them.
It would have been cramped, but by the standards of the time, the conditions in the room and at
the local cotton factory, where the family worked, were decent.
He really struggled as a young man to find a way of reconciling that faith with his interest
"It was very interesting to hear how he grew, how he developed from very little to become a
doctor," commented one man in the group, "a missionary involved in the anti-slavery situation at
the time."
Between working in the mill and going to Africa was a story of grit and determination. After
working all day, the young David Livingstone did school work in the evenings. He later studied
medicine and theology in Glasgow.
"Livingstone had a really strong Christian faith," "And he really struggled as a young man to find
a way of reconciling that faith with his interest in the world about him and developments in
science.
"He heard about a chap who was a medical missionary in China. Livingstone saw this was a
way that he could combine both his interest in science and the world around him with his
Christian faith.
A missionary, an explorer, a medic, an anti-slavery campaigner and Victorian celebrity whose
death prompted displays of public mourning reminiscent of Princess Diana.
Grit and determination.
"It was very interesting to hear how he grew, how he developed from very little to become a
doctor," commented one man in the group, "a missionary involved in the anti-slavery situation at
the time."
Between working in the mill and going to Africa was a story of grit and determination. After
working all day, the young David Livingstone did school work in the evenings. He later studied
medicine and theology in Glasgow.
"And he really struggled as a young man to find a way of reconciling that faith with his interest in
the world about him and developments in science."
"He heard about a chap who was a medical missionary in China. Livingstone saw this was a
way that he could combine both his interest in science and the world around him with his
Christian faith."
"He is a great example of what people can achieve from even the most humble of backgrounds.
"I think he's also remembered rightly for his campaigns against the East African slave trade.
He's also remembered as a great humanitarian."
Missionary work drew Dr Livingstone to Africa, but he was also a talented medic.
He developed a malaria treatment later sold commercially as "Livingstone's Rousers"
His best-selling travelogue, Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa helped research
on tropical diseases for decades
At the time of his explorations he wrote prolifically and in a style that was very accessible.
"Newspapers picked up on the stories," explained Dr Joanna Lewis of the London School of
Economics
"Of course he found things like the Victoria Falls. He was mauled by a lion. So he was always
doing lots of derring-do.
"Then at the time of his death, He died in pain, miserable and alone as people saw it in central
Africa, believing that his great quest for the Nile had failed, believing that his campaign against
slavery had died.
"The Victorians were profoundly upset. How come this man who'd sacrificed so much, how
come he had such a horrible death? It was a bit like the death of Princess Diana, people were
weeping in the streets."
But how should we view him now? He wrote thousands of letters to members of his family, to
politicians, to other missionaries, to scientists. He also kept journals and diaries.
In these wide and varied pieces, he was often writing off the cuff, he expressed many different
views and sometimes changed them. They show different David Livingstones.
Complex story
"Some people have depicted him as an imperialist, I don't think he was," said John MacKenzie,
emeritus professor at Lancaster University, who specialises in the history of empire and
imperialism.
"I don't think there's any doubt that a lot of the information he gathered fed into imperialism and
was useful because knowledge does always lead to power."
He said it was a complex story. "What we can say is that later in the century after his death in
1873 lots of other people pursued imperial policies using the name of Livingstone as a kind of
patron saint.
Malawians overwhelmingly like David Livingstone
Dr John Lwanda
"So once he was gone and conveniently off the scene he then became a kind of ancestor figure,
a saintly figure who could be used by others for their own ends in order to promote the
development of colonies."
Part of David Livingstone's modern legacy is the strong links which exist between Scotland and
countries like Malawi and others in elsewhere in Africa.
As for his anti-slavery campaigning "unquestionably he gets full marks from me for that," said Dr
John Lwanda, who is originally from Malawi but has lived in Scotland for more than 40 years.
"David Livingstone's influence in Malawi has been good and bad," he added.
"Malawians overwhelmingly like David Livingstone.
He brought Christianity; he introduced Malawi to the outside world.
One of the bad things that he did, when he opened up that part of Africa it led to the scramble
for Africa and in the case of Malawi we were left with a small sliver of land, the rest was taken
away from us."
It led Livingstone to believe that his role was to find an easy route into the heart of the continent,that missionaries and then traders could use to bring Christianity and legitimate trade.
That floats on high o'er vales and hills...(William Wordsworth, a Scotsman)
Doctor Livingstone, I presume?
A 19th-century explorer named Dr. David Livingstone became something of a national hero
through his articles and lectures about his adventures in Africa.
In 1864, Livingstone led an expedition to discover the source of the Nile. When little to nothing
was heard from or about Livingstone after many years, Europeans and Americans became
concerned.
In 1871, the publisher of the New York Herald hired Henry Stanley, a newspaper reporter, to find
Livingstone. Heading a group of some two hundred men, Stanley headed into the African
interior. After nearly eight months he found Livingstone in a small village on the shore of Lake
Tanganyika.
“As I advanced slowly toward him I noticed he was pale, looked wearied . . . I would have
embraced him, only, he being an Englishman, I did not know how he would receive me; so I . . .
walked deliberately to him, took off my hat, and said, ‘Dr. Livingstone, I presume?'
Dr Livingstone spent 30 years in Africa
Livingstone was born on 19 March 1813.
He came from a humble background and, from the age of 10, worked 14 hours per day in the
Blantyre Cotton Works.
At 27, he went to Africa and saw the damage caused by the slave trade.
A missionary, an explorer, a medic, an anti-slavery campaigner and Victorian celebrity whose
death prompted displays of public mourning reminiscent of Princess Diana. It is 200 years since
David Livingstone was born in Blantyre.
A narrow, spiral staircase brings the group to the single room where David Livingstone lived with
his parents and siblings. It is small, with two beds recessed into the wall and two more
underneath them.
It would have been cramped, but by the standards of the time, the conditions in the room and at
the local cotton factory, where the family worked, were decent.
He really struggled as a young man to find a way of reconciling that faith with his interest
"It was very interesting to hear how he grew, how he developed from very little to become a
doctor," commented one man in the group, "a missionary involved in the anti-slavery situation at
the time."
Between working in the mill and going to Africa was a story of grit and determination. After
working all day, the young David Livingstone did school work in the evenings. He later studied
medicine and theology in Glasgow.
"Livingstone had a really strong Christian faith," "And he really struggled as a young man to find
a way of reconciling that faith with his interest in the world about him and developments in
science.
"He heard about a chap who was a medical missionary in China. Livingstone saw this was a
way that he could combine both his interest in science and the world around him with his
Christian faith.
A missionary, an explorer, a medic, an anti-slavery campaigner and Victorian celebrity whose
death prompted displays of public mourning reminiscent of Princess Diana.
Grit and determination.
"It was very interesting to hear how he grew, how he developed from very little to become a
doctor," commented one man in the group, "a missionary involved in the anti-slavery situation at
the time."
Between working in the mill and going to Africa was a story of grit and determination. After
working all day, the young David Livingstone did school work in the evenings. He later studied
medicine and theology in Glasgow.
"And he really struggled as a young man to find a way of reconciling that faith with his interest in
the world about him and developments in science."
"He heard about a chap who was a medical missionary in China. Livingstone saw this was a
way that he could combine both his interest in science and the world around him with his
Christian faith."
"He is a great example of what people can achieve from even the most humble of backgrounds.
"I think he's also remembered rightly for his campaigns against the East African slave trade.
He's also remembered as a great humanitarian."
Missionary work drew Dr Livingstone to Africa, but he was also a talented medic.
He developed a malaria treatment later sold commercially as "Livingstone's Rousers"
His best-selling travelogue, Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa helped research
on tropical diseases for decades
At the time of his explorations he wrote prolifically and in a style that was very accessible.
"Newspapers picked up on the stories," explained Dr Joanna Lewis of the London School of
Economics
"Of course he found things like the Victoria Falls. He was mauled by a lion. So he was always
doing lots of derring-do.
"Then at the time of his death, He died in pain, miserable and alone as people saw it in central
Africa, believing that his great quest for the Nile had failed, believing that his campaign against
slavery had died.
"The Victorians were profoundly upset. How come this man who'd sacrificed so much, how
come he had such a horrible death? It was a bit like the death of Princess Diana, people were
weeping in the streets."
But how should we view him now? He wrote thousands of letters to members of his family, to
politicians, to other missionaries, to scientists. He also kept journals and diaries.
In these wide and varied pieces, he was often writing off the cuff, he expressed many different
views and sometimes changed them. They show different David Livingstones.
Complex story
"Some people have depicted him as an imperialist, I don't think he was," said John MacKenzie,
emeritus professor at Lancaster University, who specialises in the history of empire and
imperialism.
"I don't think there's any doubt that a lot of the information he gathered fed into imperialism and
was useful because knowledge does always lead to power."
He said it was a complex story. "What we can say is that later in the century after his death in
1873 lots of other people pursued imperial policies using the name of Livingstone as a kind of
patron saint.
Malawians overwhelmingly like David Livingstone
Dr John Lwanda
"So once he was gone and conveniently off the scene he then became a kind of ancestor figure,
a saintly figure who could be used by others for their own ends in order to promote the
development of colonies."
Part of David Livingstone's modern legacy is the strong links which exist between Scotland and
countries like Malawi and others in elsewhere in Africa.
As for his anti-slavery campaigning "unquestionably he gets full marks from me for that," said Dr
John Lwanda, who is originally from Malawi but has lived in Scotland for more than 40 years.
"David Livingstone's influence in Malawi has been good and bad," he added.
"Malawians overwhelmingly like David Livingstone.
He brought Christianity; he introduced Malawi to the outside world.
One of the bad things that he did, when he opened up that part of Africa it led to the scramble
for Africa and in the case of Malawi we were left with a small sliver of land, the rest was taken
away from us."
It led Livingstone to believe that his role was to find an easy route into the heart of the continent,that missionaries and then traders could use to bring Christianity and legitimate trade.
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Mar 17,
2019, 8:04 PM (4 days ago)
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Dear
Buddy,
Two great Scots...
2
Attachments
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Mar 18,
2019, 4:58 AM (3 days ago)
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Victor,
Ever since I was able to read I was attracted to a tamil translation of the
biography of Dr. David Livingstone. I must have read through the book through
my growing years. He was a model for me to follow. I wanted to be a
missionary doctor in Africa. When I entered the Medical Faculty in Colombo I
was in a chummery in Wellawaththe. There were many clerks working in the
government and private sector where I was staying. Trade union activities
were fairly advanced at that time. When I mentioned my target in life to
become a Missionary doctor in Africa, they ridiculed the idea. They called my
target in life as 'A sugar coated pill given to me by the Imperialists'.
Gradually I was weaned away from that idea. The determination to serve in
Ceylon replaced it. I held on to this idea in the face of quite a few
difficult times. The blessings I got in return are beyond measure.
Philip
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Dear
Philip,
I had
similar feelings to you about mission work while at Medical College.
Remember
us walking through muddy waters to distribute rations to unfortunate slum
dwellers in Kelaniya who were flooded out, for CNAPT?
How things
changed! I ended up, rather reluctantly, in affluent UK by sheer 'accident'
of events. However, I was privileged to do some pioneering work for patients
with severe chronic pain, who were regarded by my medical specialist
colleagues as a difficult group. The most quoted of these are spinal cord
stimulators, and implanted intrathecal drug pumps, including morphine, for
intractable pain. We were runners up for Hospital Doctor UK and Ireland of
the year 1998, and my team were given the Hospital Doctor Award later.
I am
grateful to my surgical and anaesthetic colleagues here for encouraging me to
take this on, but involved a considerable amount of commitment, research, and
work, and a lot of understanding from my wife.
It is
refreshing when my patients and their relatives stop to share their
reminiscences when they see me around. They became friends to Vijit my wife
as well. I thank God for using me.
Kind
regards,
Victor.
Victor,
Ever since I was able to read I was attracted to a tamil translation of the
biography of Dr. David Livingstone. I must have read through the book through
my growing years. He was a model for me to follow. I wanted to be a
missionary doctor in Africa. When I entered the Medical Faculty in Colombo I
was in a chummery in Wellawaththe. There were many clerks working in the
government and private sector where I was staying. Trade union activities
were fairly advanced at that time. When I mentioned my target in life to
become a Missionary doctor in Africa, they ridiculed the idea. They called my
target in life as 'A sugar coated pill given to me by the Imperialists'.
Gradually I was weaned away from that idea. The determination to serve in
Ceylon replaced it. I held on to this idea in the face of quite a few difficult
times. The blessings I got in return are beyond measure.
Philip
L
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Hello
Victor and Philip,
I
remember those days. I distributed milk powder to the TB patients in
Wanaththamulla during medical college days. Some years later I was walking
down Sepentine road to the Oval when one of the little boys recognised
me and held my hand and walked with me right down to the oval. That was
better than winning to match.
Both
of you have done great things in your medical careers. Congratulations!
In
my surgical practice, I did nothing great. However I was pleased to be able
to adhere to the Sri Lankan principle of not charging to heal the sick. I did
not charge any patient any money. I just accepted the Medicare rebate from
Government and if the patient was insured, whatever the Insurance Company
gave. I believe I was the only Melbourne surgeon to do this. This income was
quite adequate and enough to educate the children which was the main thing.
Cheers,
Buddy
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Dear Buddy
and Philip,
I really
thank God that he has used former 'activists' like yourselves in University
SCM in such wonderful ways. Buddy, I was your admirer for your sporting
skills, which I didn't have!
Philip, my
teenage hero was Sadhu Sundhar Singh. I would borrow books from Jaffna
College library and read and reread all about him. So I was pleased when my
vicar told me Mr. Singh had visited England and impressed everyone walking
bare footed!
My other
hero was your countryman, Buddy, Darrel Weinman. His care and dedication and
skill were beyond imagination. I was a junior Anaesthetist in the team, but
he treated me like his equal. My later interest and courage in dealing with
chronic intractable pain by interfering with the spinal cord probably
developed from then on.
A group of
very difficult patients were those with fibromyalgia. Buddy this is
hilarious. A patient had heard about me in South Africa, booked a room in a
local private hospital, and asked me to deal with her pain. She had brought
her servant, and lots of comfort goodies, must have been extremely rich, and
her aristocratic behaviour was an out of the world experience for the staff,
who were exasperated! They were relieved when she left!! She invited me
to her home in Table Mountain, but I didn't take it.
I thought
this was a one off. At a meeting in London, during our mutual introductions,
a Canadian shook my hand, and I said I am Victor. She yelled, "Gee! You
are Dr. Victor?", As if she had seen a celebrity! "I had heard a
lot of you, so pleased to meet you in person!", and started telling me
about all the exaggerated stories she had heard. That's life in a different
world from Sri Lanka!
Buddy, you
were so noble, being the only surgeon not charging fees. Your fame would have
spread far and wide beyond Melbourne! I hope your children are achieving
great things like you. Philip, your children are.
Love to
you both.
|
Dear
Victor,
Congratulations
on your achievement and the fact that you are held in such high esteem but
did not take personal advantage of it.
Regarding my children, my daughter is a PhD in molecular biology , stopped work to bring up her five sons and is doing some part time work in problem solving for Primary schools, which is totally outside her field of expertise.
My
son came first in the VCE exam in Melbourne in 1989, becoming the Dux of
Scotch College, Melbourne and the Dux of Victoria State. He is a Forensic
Psychologist in Government service.
My
son Shannon and I together hold an unusual achievement in being possibly the
only Sri Lankan born father and son to represent Australia. He did it in
fencing and I in Table Tennis. He fenced in the Commonwealth Fencing
championships about 8 years ago.
God
bless.
Buddy
From: victor gnanadurai <victorgnanadurai@hotmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, 20 March 2019 10:48 PM To: Buddy Reid Cc: Philip Veersingam; jacob gnanachandra veerasingam; JEY GUNASEGARAM
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Dear
Buddy,
I am so
very proud for you and your family. You must be proud of your children.
Congratulations!
The 1960
batch will be delighted with your and your family's academic and sporting
achievements. Thanks for sharing.
We wish
your family an exciting future with further fulfillment and progress.
Kind
regards and God Bless.
|
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