Hope in Hell: Inside the World of Doctors Without Borders Hardcover - 2004

From the publisher

Gripping accounts of medical workers who volunteer to serve in some of the world's most dangerous hotspots.

The humanitarian organization, Doctors Without Borders, (also known as Mdecins Sans Frontires or MSF) delivers emergency aid to victims of armed conflict, epidemics, natural disasters and those who lack reliable health care. Each year, more than 2,500 volunteer doctors, nurses, and other professionals join locally-hired staff to provide medical aid in more than eighty countries.

At the forefront are the volunteer doctors who risk their lives to perform surgery, establish or rehabilitate hospitals and clinics, run nutrition and sanitation programs, and train local medical personnel. This book follows these volunteer doctors as they risk their health and lives to treat patients in desperate need.

Combining engaging text with dramatic color photographs from around the world, Hope in Hell examines the lives of individual MSF volunteer medical professionals.

Topics include:

• Performing emergency surgery in the war torn regions of Africa and Asia
• Understanding cultural customs and societal differences that affect health care
• Witnessing and reporting genocidal atrocities.

Also, the most recent world events are explored and how MSF is reacting to them. These include the challenges of delivering aid during the Rwandan massacre and the controversial decision to criticize the U.S. for delivering humanitarian aid to Afghan citizens while at war.

The book also covers the raucous founding of Doctors Without Borders in 1971 as the first non-governmental organization to both provide emergency medical assistance and publicly bear witness to the plight of the populations they served. In 1999, the organization was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Hope in Hell is a fascinating and often harrowing account of the men and women who struggle to improve the lives of people in desperate need.

About the author