Angels Of Aceh – Australian Aid Abroad

After the devastating Boxing Day Tsunami hit Indonesia in 2004, Australian aid was a key to the emergency effort. Among the volunteers, Defence personnel and government aid workers who rushed to the disaster scene was a team of medical specialists who worked for weeks in gruelling conditions to help survivors in Aceh. Sydney barrister and law lecturer Sophie York has given a compelling account of how her anaesthetist husband Paul joined this group, chronicling his experiences in her book Angels of Aceh (Allen & Unwin). On Tuesday 13 October 2009, Sophie York addressed The Sydney Institute, speaking about her experiences in writing, researching and living through the events of the book.