Until he chanced upon a video in 1991 about the suffering of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh in the conflict with Azerbaijan, Anthony Peel was a general surgeon specialising in biliary, pancreatic and breast surgery in a district general hospital in the North East of England, a position from which he had expanded his interests in training and standards in surgery. Disturbed by images of human rights abuses he embarked upon a hazardous career change. He has worked with a number ofcharitable agencies, including Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), Medical Aid to Palestine (MAP), Medical Assist International (MAI), Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART) and Global Hand. Anthony has spoken to the Lancaster Medical Book Club and at an evening meeting held recently in the Education Centre at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary. For those who wereunfortunate to miss either of these events, the Journal is privileged to report on his work in Indonesia, Burma and Palestine.