CAN’T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT . . .
David Morley. president and CEO of UNICEF Canada, heads the world’s largest humanitarian organization for children. He shares his must-haves for travelling with Mai Nguyen
Fiction of the country
“I always take works of fiction from the country (I’m travelling in). Last time I was in Haiti, I took Edwidge Danticat’s most recent book. In Nigeria, I read Chinua Achebe; I don’t know why he never won the Nobel Prize. When I was in the Philippines during the terrible typhoon, I read Noli Me Tangere. This is the book people say prompted the Philippine Revolution in the 1890s that eventually led to independence.”
Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat, $18 Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achbe, $13.87 Noli Me Tangere by José Rizal, $14.55
Grab Bag
“Two foreign aid workers were kidnapped while I was in Kenya in 2011. In places of conflict, you have to be ready to run away and escape. If I get kidnapped, I’ll grab this bag. It’s little and light. There’s always a book in there, some energy bars, a reading light that I use as a flashlight. I have Aquatabs for water purification, malaria pills, and Gastrolyte to rehydrate in case I get some bad stomach stuff.” MEC Daypack, $28
Mike Babcock Lucky Tie
“I wore this at a big UN conference in Ethiopia. I love hockey, and I always take this tie I got from McGill. This was the tie Babcock was wearing as coach when the Canadians won the Olympic gold medal in Vancouver. Now that he’s a Leafs coach, I don’t have to feel guilty about wearing it.”
Compact Travel Iron
“When people come to meet me, they’re well-dressed. They want to welcome me into their homes. I feel I need to be at my best and show respect back to them. So, I bring the travel iron and cotton shirts. I don’t want to take a wrinkle-free shirt, because if it’s polyester, it’s going to be uncomfortable when it’s hot. The iron is a pain to bring!” Rowenta Latitude Compact Iron, $39
Family Pictures
“I’ll show these to the local people I meet. I took them to Ukraine where we worked with young people with HIV and displaced people who fled the conflict. I was showing them in a town called Zaporizhia. When people see I have a wife and sons and grandkids, they can start to locate me better. Even if it’s for a moment, you get a fleeting bond with people.”