vickygoestravelling

my journey to health and well being via exotic destinations


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‘Teaching the unreached’ – visiting the school we sponsor in Cambodia

This blog is dedicated to the memory of our darling daughter Louise, who would have been 26 on 7 December. Her spirit guides us in the work we do for UWS

cambodia3star-31Six months ago I became involved with a charity United World Schools, whose strap line is ‘teaching the unreached’. We build schools and provide basic reading, writing and counting skills to the world’s poorest children in Cambodia (30 schools). Myanmar (5 schools) and Nepal (5 schools planned). We aim to have 50,000 children in school by the end of 2018. Continue reading →


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My piece from today’s Sunday Times on bereavement

The grief will never go but I’m different — nicer [well, I like to think so!]

The pain was crushing when Vicky Unwin, like the musician Nick Cave, lost a child to drugs. But pouring energy into campaigning has helped heal her

Vicky Unwin Published: 15 November 2015

‘Funny, vivacious’ Louise Cattell, pictured before going to hula-hoop at the Lovebox festival in 2010, died aged 21 when she drowned in the bath after taking the club drug ketamine

‘Funny, vivacious’ Louise Cattell, pictured before going to hula-hoop at the Lovebox festival in 2010, died aged 21 when she drowned in the bath after taking the club drug ketamine

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Diving Granny-style in Wakatobi

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I am gliding over the coral reef, like superwoman. Fan corals stand proud from the reef wall, pink and purple, hiding their pygmy seahorses, while the hard stag corals resonate in blues, oranges and greens, interspersed with waving fronds of anemones, complete with their Nemos, guarding eggs. Butterfly and surgeon fish dart in and out of the intricate fretwork and shoals of fusiliers dart by in a flash of silver before disappearing into the blue.

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Girls have fun in Victoria Falls

Classic view form the Zimbabwe side

Classic view from the Zimbabwe side

We leave Mana early in the morning, Fi and I in our four-seater, piloted by Sidney. As we near the Falls, he gives us a bird’s eye view, sweeping down low in a 360. We can see the rumours of low water are horribly true – Zambia seems little more than a trickle. They have been siphoning off the water for hydro power, leaving the Zimbabwean side horribly short. Harare has suffered 24 hr power cuts in recent days. Continue reading →


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Searching for the elusive blue-eyed leopard in Mana Pools, Zimbabwe – Final version!

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The year is not complete without our annual pilgrimage to Goliath Luxury Tented Camp in Mana Pools,owned by our dear friends Stretch Ferreira and Flo Coughlan. It is here we repair to for spiritual renewal and to commemorate our darling Louise, whose ashes we scattered into the swirling Zambezi just over four years ago. Sadly Flo is not able to make it this year as her son is marrying Stretch’s daughter – gotta keep it in the family! Continue reading →


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Spreading the word – UWS networking evening in Singapore

School assembly in Jong school, Cambodia

School assembly in Jong school, Cambodia

This week I have been rushing around preparing for the visit of our CEO, Tim Howarth, and our schools networking evening. The aim is to introduce affluent Singapore international schools to our school partnership scheme and encourage them to build a long-lasting relationship with one of our rural schools in Cambodia, Myanmar and, soon, Nepal. It only costs £16,000 (S$30,000) to build a school and £6000 (S$10,000) to maintain it annually, equivalent to US$1 per child per week. Talk about value for money! Continue reading →


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Lest We Forget – Commemorating 70 years since the end of the 2nd World War in SE Asia

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On 12 September 1945, Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander of the SE Asia Command, accepted the unconditional surrender of all occupying Japanese forces in SE Asia from Gen. Itagaki, on behalf of the Supreme Commander Field Marshall Terauchi, who had suffered a stroke. Although the war had officially ended on 2 September, when the Japanese surrendered to Gen MacArthur on board the battleship Missouri, for those still interned in the noxious POW camps in Singapore the end only came on September 12th. Continue reading →