Aaron Goodman - Multimedia Journalist & Instructor

Buddha’s Body Snatchers – Dispatches, CBC Radio

Aaron — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 18:20:56 +0000

Bangkok traffic can be murder, literally, claiming a life on average every half-hour. But, a number of Buddhist volunteers are trying to pull a few back from death’s door.

The “body snatchers,” as they’re known, patrol city streets, tending to the injured and arranging funerals for the unclaimed dead. Their relentless enthusiasm has won them praise, but it also gets them in trouble, as I learned on overnight patrol with the body snatchers of Bangkok.

Listen to the story:

Body snatchers Anatacha Sindhu, Hruhra Piyawat and colleague in rescue vehicle. Photo: Aaron Goodman.

Click to see more photos:

Body snatchers Hruhra Piyawat and Anatacha Sindhu. Photo: Aaron Goodman.

Body snatcher and Thai soap opera actor Hruhra Piyawat. Photo: Aaron Goodman.

Body snatcher and soap opera actor Hruhra Piyawat posing for photo at crash scene. Photo: Aaron Goodman.

Body snatcher and soap opera actor Hruhra Piyawat inspecting crash scene. Photo: Aaron Goodman.

Body snatcher and actor Hruhra Piyawat cleans wound on accident victim's forehead. Photo: Aaron Goodman.

Body snatcher and actor Hruhra Piyawat comforts accident victim while rushing to hospital. Photo: Aaron Goodman.

Motorcycle accident victim rescued by body snatchers. Photo: Aaron Goodman.

Reporters Overcome Obstacles to Report on Human Rights Issues

Aaron — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 20:34:31 +0000

US Department of State staff writer Eric Green touches on my reporting in his 22 October 2008 article:

www.america.gov/st/freepress-english/2008/October/200810221626221xeneerg0.7904627.html?CP.rss=true

Philippines: Living with the Dead

Aaron — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:09:00 +0000

Manila’s Northern Cemetery is home to hundreds of squatters. But not for much longer.

Dozens of families have lived here for decades in cramped homes fitted between burial plots. Their only jobs are taking care of tombs belonging to the some of the country’s wealthiest citizens, now dead.

Manila’s mayor, Alfredo Lim, also known as Dirty Harry, because of his crackdown on crime and drugs,

has ordered all illegal homes in the cemetery to be demolished by the end of August 2007.

Faced with a shortage of land, and having to keep burying the dead, the city has started constructing apartment-style tombs. At the edge of the cemetery, towers of tombs, that appear to be at least 40 caskets-high, are being built.

Most of the families who lived in the cemetery have dismantled their homes to avoid clashes with authorities, and have moved out of the graveyard.

Others like Jun Calma, 30, his wife Laura Lynn, and their three sons are refusing to budge. The couple has been here for 20 years, and they have no other home. But authorities have told them their days in the cemetery are numbered, and they’ll have to pack up.

Desperate to evade city officials, the family has decided to temporarily hide their belongings – absolutely everything – at a neighbour’s house that is close by. At night, they move back into their empty home, and sleep on its bare floor, hoping one day, they can reclaim their right to stay.