Day 11 - the day of the drowned rat

I woke up today thinking my travelling would be easier - all I had to do was cycle to the University of Sussex and back for a review day with our board and governors (governors are elected from our membership - to join, please visit http://www.sussexpartnership.nhs.uk) - a total of eight miles.

But you might have noticed we have had torrential rain today, so I arrived looking like a drowned rat, and had to effect a metamorphosis into chief executively attire in the ladies. I made full use of the hand drier as makeshift hair drier. Note to self: new shorter hairstyle was good move.

It was a similarly wet ride home. All this made me think about why I am doing this.

Last October, the people in the Southern Punjab faced rain of a different order altogether. Their homes, livelihoods, cattle, in fact everything they had was washed away. 20 million people were affected. The death toll is probably in the millions, but we may never really know how many people died. And yet even though Pakistan is in the news most days for other reasons, we seem to have forgotten about the floods in the West.

Because of Sussex Partnership's connections with Pakistan, through some of our senior psychiatrists, we know how we can help. We want to raise £10,000 for the mission schools in the Punjab to pay for 10 children affected by the floods to go to school and receive a good education. My challenge is the start of our fundraising appeal. Other staff are planning other events through the year. I have already raised £1,000. If you would like to read more, please click HERE Thank you!

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