A Life Well Lived
Peter Waddup, CEO - The Leprosy Mission Great Britain
This week I had the privilege of attending the inspirational aid worker Simon Boas’s funeral online. I wanted to pay my respect to the man now also known for writing A Beginners Guide to Dying. Although not even published until September, it’s already an Amazon bestseller. Simon captured the hearts of a nation. He packed more into his 47 years on earth than 99% of us reaching our threescore years and ten could ever hope to. Yet although a great thinker and a humorous writer, it was Simon's heart for the marginalised that held my attention.
I didn’t have the privilege of knowing Simon well, but we met a few times on his adoptive island of Jersey, a place he fell in love with. Since 2016 he headed up Jersey Overseas Aid until his untimely death from throat cancer last month. Through his role of Director, he demonstrated a true passion for our projects in Asia and Africa. Under Simon's leadership, JOA funded Leprosy Mission programmes in Mozambique, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar. The projects that caught his eye were wide-reaching. Under his watch, basic health services were set up in poor leprosy-affected areas of Ethiopia.
He was brilliant at balancing long-term gain with the provision of emergency aid. Last year JOA provided emergency food and medicine to the communities we serve in Myanmar in the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha. We were so thankful for his big picture thinking. My colleagues at the Leprosy Mission have described his generosity and how he worked so humbly with us. He always wanted to understand the challenges faced by our field partners, being passionate about working together to have the greatest impact on the lives of the most marginalised.
I attended Simon's funeral online and, as you can imagine, it was standing room only at Holy Trinity Church, Jersey. I learnt so much about him from the words shared at his funeral and also from the letters that he wrote following his terminal diagnosis. Not only did Simon make the world a better place, but he contributed hugely to island life. He was a trustee and chairman of Jersey Heritage, a volunteer with the Samaritans, and he and his wife Aurelie were volunteer police officers! His soon to be published book grew out of three articles he wrote for the Jersey Evening Post. Being an accomplished published letter writer to the Times he could have set his sights beyond the boundaries of the island. But courting the media was never his priority.
What I took away from Simon's funeral confirmed what had always struck me about him when we met-his humour and ability to put everyone at ease. Privately educated, he wrote about dining with lords and billionaires yet broke bread with the poorest people on earth. How many people can feel truly comfortable in any setting and therefore encourage everyone else to be themselves? It is a rare gift!
In many ways funerals can be uplifting experiences if we can see beyond the heartbreak of loss. It is inspiring to take away a reminder of the finest qualities a person this world is mourning. This in turn inspires us to live out the very best life we can and, through this, their light continues to shine. They are also a stark reminder that life is short and to use our time left wisely.
Although we cannot all be UN aid workers like Simon, every single person has time, experience and resources to make this world a better place. We can all leave lasting legacy on this earth, whatever our circumstances, just like Simon showed us.
All at the Leprosy Mission Great Britain pass on our sincere thanks and condolences to his family and the people of Jersey, as we acknowledge the impact he had for the world’s most vulnerable communities.
