Touched by Fire: Doctors Without Borders in a Third World Crisis

by Elliott Leyton

When the rapes and massacres, the plagues, the famines, the floods, or the droughts erupt in far-off places, the world stands still. MSF does not. They are the "smoke jumpers" among international aid organizations. While others are often stymied or delayed by bureaucratic red tape, the men and women of Doctors Without Borders (M?decins Sans Fronti?res or MSF) move in. They provide food and clean water. They dig latrines. They set up first-aid stations...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0771053053
• ISBN13: 9780771053054
• Release Date: April 1998
• Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
• Length: 212 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Level Appraisal

The criticisms I can aim at this book are few: there's some needless reiteration of points made early on and some loss of context in the wash of events described. Both are stylistic and really just matters of taste.Knowing only what an outsider can glean about MSF, this seems a wholly objective, balanced assessment of the group(s), its membership(s) and the circumstances, compromises, and pervasive questions attendant to both. The very real limitations and dangers of international aid are presented frankly, as is the selfless dedication of the MSF staff. Individuals are not squeezed into comfortable categories; the complexities, even the occasional flashes of swagger or ugliness, of each participant are served up with relative detachment.As an introduction to the politics and human costs of genocide (admittedly from a singular, but coherent political perspective), it's hard to beat.The photographs, which portray a parallel narrative, are likewise honest, and both stories are rendered with sufficient feeling expose what is truly uplifting about MSF.

The clearest explanation of "why" aid workers do it.

Of all the texts I have read concerning Africa and its political/economic problems, this is the best contribution to understanding the motivations of those involved in providing humanitarian assistance. It represents ultimately a message of hope which counters the many pessimistic texts covering this area. The hope is neither misplaced or naive, but is a product of a level of understanding on the part of the authors rarely grasped I think by similar authors. Highly recommended.