Plans can be made and everything is clear and no-one realises how fragile they are. One action and the whole edifice comes tumbling down. In this case it was a literal fall, the building in Kowloon the nuns were using collapsed. The need for immediate help was recognised and answered, but at what cost?

The confidence of the locum for the surgery and maternity home was knocked back when lack of practical experience became apparent. The ability of a young man to cope with both work and a family home, which ran so apparently effortlessly normally, was challenged.

As so often, those who know little about the undercurrents, either for good or bad, discover how fragile what they believe they know, truly is.

But then, the experience of those who may feel their time for contribution is passed, become invaluable. An elderly nun, physically fragile, yet with knowledge born from decades of having to cope with whatever she was faced with, still knows what needs to be done. A qualified midwife steps in elsewhere, her knowledge demonstrates how vital the experience of dealing with people in their individual situations remains.

And what more will break before the fragile is strengthened?