Where the Road Leads: An Australian woman's journey of love and determination

Jean E Calder

Mar 2011 · Hachette UK

About this ebook

For almost three decades, Jean Calder has been working with children with disabilities in Lebanon, Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

In 1981 Jean Calder left a comfortable life in Queensland and a respected academic career to work as a volunteer in Lebanon. When the war broke out and many foreigners fled, Jean stayed and cared for a group of children in Beirut. They spent weeks sleeping on floors, sheltering under a hospital staircase and being held at gunpoint. Three of these children wood change the course of her life forever.

Jean has made her home in the Gaza Strip, where she deals each day with the ongoing fighting. Yet for the last ten years she has built up a rehabilitiation program that has improved the lives of hundreds of children with disabilities. In 2005 her outstanding work was recognised when she received our highest civilian honour, the Companion of the Order of Australia.

In WHERE THE ROAD LEADS Jean shares her life story and offers a rare insight into the daily existence of people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Motivated by a passionate desire to help those around her, Jean brings hope to people living in some of the most dangerous areas of the Middle East.

About the author

Jean Calder was born in Queensland. She was awarded her PhD from Penn State University, USA. In 1981 she became a volunteer with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, the Palestinian equivalent to the Australian Red Cross. She went on to become the Director of the Children's Unit at Haifa Rehabilitian Centre in Lebanon, the Director of the Ain Shams Rehabilitian Centre in Cairo, and the Director of the Rehabilitian Department of Al-Amal City in the Gaza Strip. She is the 'adopted mother' of three and currently lives with her adult children in the Gaza Strip. In 2005 she was awarded Australia's greatest civilian honour, the Companion of the Order of Australia, for her inspirational work.