Driven by a long-standing desire, her education and her faith, mental health professional, Wendy Nordick, and her husband Bill Blair, a retired judge, plunged into a two-year assignment with Canadian University Services Overseas. She believed her 25 years of clinical social work were appropriate credentials to help a country with the highest rates of suicide in the world. Bill hoped to work for peace and justice. They felt they became laughingstocks when work visa delays left them homeless. Days before leaving, Wendy’s father died. Once in Sri Lanka, she shivered in a rickety beer factory cum hospital where she taught mental health skills. A year later, she was transported into steamy, bombed out Jaffna, the epicenter of a civil war to teach a trauma team who worked with the war affected and tortured during the war. She was humbled by what she did not know and sought help from a previous refugee.
Wendy Nordick holds a PhD and practiced social work for 25 years in acute care psychiatry and mental health in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. She has published academic journal articles and is a member of a local writing group. She is a lover of literature. As a life-long learner, she is tackling the intricacies of bridge, and meets her need for fresh air with skiing, pickleball, cycling and hiking. She and her husband, Bill, love adventure and have visited more than 40 countries. Scuba diving is a thrilling aspect of their travels. A mother of five children and two stepchildren, she delights in her 11 grandchildren.
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31 reviews
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Social Work at its' finest - where positive changes come about in a grassroots, brilliant way!
INDELIBLE - A SOCIAL WORKER IN THE WAKE OF CIVIL WAR is an excellent and inspirational read! The author takes us on a journey through war-torn Sri Lanka at a time when social/mental health services had not been a priority in that country and there was much suffering and post-traumatic stress. The author brilliantly weaves the story of her personal life, Social Work education and career, and her passion for being a conduit for positive change in Sri Lanka, through the CUSO program. The author candidly writes of her experiences, bad, good, humorous, and embarrassing and one is left feeling far more knowledgeable about Sri Lanka and its' people, about the strengths and limitations of social work in the medical field and most especially I was left feeling extremely grateful that there are people in the world like Wendy Nordick, willing to follow their dreams to make the world a better place!
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Indelible: A Social Worker in the Wake of Civil War is a vulnerable but often humorous personal account of Wendy Nordick’s challenges as a volunteer with CUSO in post-war Sri Lanka. Realizing the atrocities of war and its consequences on mental health, but also observing firsthand the resolve of the people to overcome depression and poverty, Wendy finally quenches a long-burning desire to find a way to help and whenever the path was not clear to her, she listened to the voice of God. It drew me in from page 1.
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This memoir, Indelible: A Social Worker in the Wake of Civil War, by Wendy Nordick, invites us to share in Wendy and Bill’s great adventure in exotic Sri Lanka. We first learn that Wendy and her husband Bill, after several visa delays, finally succeed in being accepted by Volunteer Services Overseas(VSO) having been recruited as skilled volunteers. With a freshly minted Ph.D. in social work, Wendy was considered an ideal candidate to help create much-needed sustainable change within the mental health care system of this beleaguered, torn country. After a period of acclimatization, research, and consultation with local mental health care professionals, Wendy developed a Western bio-psychological framework that focused on a team-based approach to teaching doctors, nurses, and health aides the strategies and skills needed to provide effective mental health care to the broader community. She offered a variety of mental health courses and even wrote a curriculum for a postgraduate diploma program in social work.
While Wendy’s substantial contributions to the country’s mental health care system are well documented in this book it is also her descriptions of the great variety of cultural experiences she and Bill lived day to day which make this such an enjoyable read. Written in a straightforward, narrative style Wendy honestly writes of many frustrating cultural misunderstandings with humour and goodwill. Being forced to “spoon” with a gentleman on a “jammed to the rafters” local bus, shivering in an ice-cold shower, watching green mold grow “like fur” on her leather purse, and enduring the sartorial complexity of fitting herself into a traditional sari are just a few of the hilarious examples of her attempts to fit into her new environment. She consistently demonstrates validation and appreciation of the cultural differences surrounding food(which she loved), dress, social etiquette at cultural events, and religious practices that were so foreign to her. As well, her love of the people she encounters shines forth from every page and photograph.
It was very interesting to learn of the extensive training she and Bill had to undergo. They met many caring and committed volunteers from all over the world and it was nice to be introduced to them in these pages.
One limitation of the book which contains only black and white photos is that any long-range shots were unclear; the blurry images were hard to connect to the text description of them.
Also, house husband and English teacher notwithstanding, I would like to have gained a deeper understanding of Bill’s contributions to this two-year project. His role as a “skilled’ volunteer comes across as rather unfulfilled.
In conclusion, as I have personally visited Sri Lanka I would highly recommend it to folks like myself who look back fondly on the many funny and frustrating cultural misadventures we all enjoyed.
Because there is such a wealth of information on the whole process of becoming a VSO volunteer in this book I find it to be a valuable resource for any future aspiring volunteers. Wendy’s story is an inspiration to others to bridge the gaps of culture and make a difference in our world.
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I really enjoyed it as I love to listen to people's stories...why they do what they do, how they end up where they are, and their various experiences. I found I got quite involved emotionally as I read it...whether it be excitement, amusement, peace, sad, anxious, angry etc. I was stopping a lot as I read it to Google the various locations Wendy mentioned, about the Sri Lankan civil war; and Youtube to watch the ceremonies etc.
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Wendy paints a vivid picture of her two years as a Cuso International volunteer in Sri Lanka, working as a social work instructor in two different locations. Accompanied by her husband, she documents the ups and downs of their cultural and climate adjustments and the comfort of an adopted kitten. Recognizing that the horrors of civil war are next to unfathomable to a foreigner she questions what use she can be but eventually finds pathways to connect with colleagues to offer what she can, adapting therapeutic methods from her academic and professional experiences in Canada. Seeking solace in her strong Catholic faith, Wendy openly and honestly shares her deeper questions of purpose. A thoughtful and thought-provoking meditation on the volunteer experience from the point of view of an older Canadian woman with an enduring desire to contribute.
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Indelible: A Social Worker in the Wake of Civil War is a vulnerable but often humorous personal account of Wendy Nordick’s challenges as a volunteer with CUSO in post-war Sri Lanka. Realizing the atrocities of war and its consequences on mental health, but also observing firsthand the resolve of the people to overcome depression and poverty, Wendy finally quenches a long-burning desire to find a way to help and whenever the path was not clear to her, she listened to the voice of God. It drew me in from page 1.
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A fascinating and at times very moving account of the author’s experience of working in Sri Lanka.
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INDELIBLE, A SOCIAL WORKER IN THE WAKE IF CIVIL WAR is a memoir that takes the reader, not only to Sri Lanka, but also onto the heart and soul of the author. Feeling called to do something big and meaningful, the author leaves an comfortable and full life, with a career, family, and friends, and tests her professional training, her strength and her faith by volunteering for two years in country that had been torn apart by civil war. The result is an engaging account of facing the challenges not only of the culture and the sketchy mental health system but the loneliness and homesickness that almost brought her to despair. It is a story of courage, risk, determination, mixed with the occasional folly but driven by faith and a belief that one must heed the calling of their inner voice A worthy read.
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