Our Ukraine Volunteers on A Current Affair ( Australian TV)
Dr Lara Wieland has traded her life in Far North Queensland for the chaos of Ukraine – volunteering her medical skills amid relentless Russian attacks.
Dr Lara Wieland has traded her life in Far North Queensland for the chaos of Ukraine – volunteering her medical skills amid relentless Russian attacks.
Explore coverage of our upcoming Ukraine medical mission — from news features to radio interviews — and see how you can help at www.passingthrough.net/donating.
URGENT: DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT FOR UKRAINE’S HEALTH HEROES A generous donor has stepped forward to MATCH the next $10,000 in donations made to our account
July 2025 update on Ukraine: see how local organizations supported by Australia are working and how your donations make an impact.
There is a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine right now- let us share with you the work of our heroes working to provide aid and care. Find out how you can help.
Explore the vital role of Western support in Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression. In particular, the moral imperatives to support Ukraine.
Join Dr. Lara Wieland in her profound journey into Ukraine, unveiling untold sufferings and the resilience of its people amid war.
In these challenging times, OPT’s partnership with CMA-Ukraine and ‘Fortress of Good’ shines as a beacon of hope for Ukraine, combining efficiency, transparency, and deep community connections to deliver life-changing aid. Witness their impact: from the courageous volunteers are aiding bomb-stricken villages, and providing essentials like food, medicines, and much-needed equipment across Ukraine. Your contribution, tax-deductible for Australians, extends beyond mere donations. It’s a powerful act of solidarity, offering tangible support in the form of essentials like warm clothing, medicines, food and life-saving tourniquets. Join us in this heartfelt journey of hope and healing, and see how every bit helps light up the darkest corners. Together, with your support, we can make a significant difference in Ukraine.
So I’m not in Ukraine anymore, I am back home, but it’s not over yet. In fact you could say perhaps the journey is only just beginning. I will write…
A couple of years ago I went on a life changing journey to Bangladesh on a clinical placement in tropical paediatrics ( kids medicine) as part of my Masters of…
So much to see in Victoria but we were only here for a couple of days. Has been a full on year so opted to treat ourselves to a nice…
We were only passing through Victoria very briefly, so weren’t doing justice to any of the beautiful places. If visiting the Dandenongs along, one could spend days exploring all the…
Did some great drives from our base at Gruyere, Victoria. There are beautiful hikes everywhere. We stuck to some smaller ones largely because we only had a couple of days…
Off to Tasmania now! Got a phone call from the car rental company checking what time we were coming in as they closed at 6. Seemed very keen to ensure…
Heading to Cradle mountain – the place of many wonderful walks. Not the best time to be going there with a painful foot condition (plantar fasciitis) that could get worse…
Headed north from Cradle Mountain towards Launceston and the Tamar Valley. Driving around parts of Tasmania is wonderful because the place is just full of gorgeous little rural towns that…
It seems I’m not the only one who assumed Bay of Fires is named after the beautiful firey-orange lichen covered rocks that line the white sandy beaches where they meet…
On the way down from Bay of Fires there were lots of pretty seaside towns to stop at or drive through or stay at. So picturesque with the smell of…
Headed towards Tasman Peninsula through Dunalley. We remembered hearing about the bushfires in Tasmania in 2016 but didn’t think much of it. It’s not until you see it yourself and…
I often travel a lot for work and the older I get, the lighter I want to travel. The lighter I go, the more I realise how much of the…
So off to weipa for work to do some training visits for some docs up there. I wondered why the wonderful lady who books my travel seemed apologetic about her…
Ok so I ended up with a checkin bag – even I can’t manage carry on only for a 9 week trip that covers work, meetings, study/research, hiking and camping.…
This Canadian journey is going to be exciting but it’s something more. The backstory is that late last year I was awarded a #churchilltrust fellowship ( in memory of Sir…
2 July Have arrived in Newfoundland – St johns. Really different place starting with the temperature going from a heatwave to 8c! Don’t be fooled into not bringing warm clothes…
So the planes are getting smaller as we head West.. Although after 17 years on and off working for the Royal Flying Doctor Service I’m used to much smaller. In…
7 July Headed back to Deer Lake today so we could meet with Dr Dave Thomas who is chief of staff at Port Aux Basques (but he was flying back…
17 July Heading north to Inuit community Kuujjaaq. Only have a brief stopover in Montreal – overnight at an airport hotel. But it’s been interesting just seeing how strong the…
12 July Flew into Goose Bay which is the main centre in Labrador, a Canadian province with lots of remote wilderness and remote Inuit and Innu communities. If flying from…
22 July Churchill, Manitoba Off to the Polar Bear Capital of the world! However I’m here for work as well as play. Had been having a lot of trouble getting…
Wednesday 25 July More wandering and bushwhacking today. I am pretty sure there isn’t a track left in this town we haven’t explored. The huge tundra buggies that the tourists…
Heading off into the rocky mountains of Canada… Almost didn’t make it after a few dramas with the car hire. Second time we’ve had issues with Hertz and their crazy…
Sunday 29th July On to Radium Hot Springs in the beautiful Kootenay National Park. The scenery was amazing even though the sky was quite hazy with smoke from bushfires throughout…
30-31 Jul Peyto glacier and lake is a fantastic short walk with magnificent views off the Icefields parkway in the Rockies. It’s sobering to see how rapidly many of these…
Headed out of Jasper to Miette Hot Springs – there is more beautiful scenery than you can poke a stick at here. Stopped at the site of the Jasper house…
Thursday 2 Aug Away from the mountains heading south to the warmer climes where they grow all the delicious summer fruits and to meet up with another dr down there.…
8 August On the road to Saskatchewan. Endless hours of canola and wheat fields dotted with the occasional oil well. It felt a lot like outback Australia. It was dry,…
9 August Waskesiu Lake at Prince Albert National Park in Northern Saskatchewan is our stop today on the way to the next doctor meeting. A welcome oasis after yesterday’s crazy…
11 August Today we were meeting one of the longest standing northern doctors and his wife. He has raised two sons here – both have come back to work here…
15 August Leaving the north now and kind of sad knowing we’re leaving the wilder parts of this country. Has been beautiful and amazing. I know life can be tough…
Otters & Orcas 18 aug. Flew to Vancouver today. Had a little hiccup at airport security. They pulled my bag aside and insisted I had a knife in there. Well…
Alaska Inside Passage finale to the Canadian Journey 22-29 August ‘North to Alaska…’ the old song was playing in my head as we headed north to Anchorage, Alaska. The investigation…
So, I find myself with a bunch of twenty something medical students from the big smoke for four weeks in Bangladesh! Hmm. Well it’s interesting and I have to remind…
Driving to a town in The Middle East only 12 days after getting back from remote villages in Bangladesh. As we drive past a refugee camp it occurs to me…
Excited to be heading off to Ireland for a conference on World Rural Health where I’ll be presenting but will also get to have a bit of a look around.…
Lovely taxi drive into Limerick. Everything is so green and lovely. The university grounds where I’m staying are beautiful and sit along the banks of the River Shannon which is…
In the right place at the right time at end of conference to be offered a lift with some colleagues on a sightseeing afternoon. We drove to Allwee Cave where…
There’s a chance you’ve heard of Aran knits or Aran sweaters – even if you didn’t know that they came from the Aran Islands in the wild Atlantic Ocean. Couldn’t…
Arrived in Killarney (Ireland) after two buses and a train. Had a walk around the quaint old town and bought a couple of gifts. The Claddagh is a traditional Irish…
Despite the rain, today was a wonderful day that made up for yesterday. Walked for 32 km through beautiful forests, lakes, abbeys and castles. Started off at Ross Castle which…
Had some very Irish experiences in my last 24 hours in Ireland. Attended a traditional music concert in an old church, had a tender Irish lamb dinner in a pub,…
So how did the carry on baggage only go? Well firstly, as always, it makes travel so much easier in so many ways. Jumping on buses, getting bags up stairs,…
13/6 Flying to Malawi the scenery on the way looked like vast areas of Cape York where I work, in the dry season. But as we approached Malawi the landscape…
16/6 This morning we had planned to visit a mission hospital in Koche – a visit arranged with the Christian Hospital Association of Malawi. But the sister in charge was…
18/6 Dar es salaam was a bit of a surprise looking like a massive shiny clean metropolis as we flew in. Our hotel was in an older part of town…
22/6-23/6 The next couple of days were spent at the conference with some inspirational sessions hearing from doctors all over the world doing some amazing humanitarian work. We heard from…
28/6 John and I went for a walk around Warsaw while Elsie continued to recover. We came across a cathedral that had been used to shelter people during World war…
1/7 Today was the day we were heading to Ukraine from Krakow. Rudi had arranged for a car to pick us up. Unfortunately the driver Denis was a bit of…