Doctors Without Borders

Doctors Without Borders PDF Author: Renée C. Fox
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421413558
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 327

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Book Description
An intimate portrait of the renowned international humanitarian organization. Winner of the PROSE Award for Excellence, Sociology and Social Work of the Association of American Publishers This study of Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) casts new light on the organization’s founding principles, distinctive culture, and inner struggles to realize more fully its “without borders” transnational vision. Pioneering medical sociologist Renée C. Fox spent nearly twenty years conducting extensive ethnographic research within MSF, a private international medical humanitarian organization that was created in 1971 and awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1999. With unprecedented access, Fox attended MSF meetings and observed doctors and other workers in the field. She interviewed MSF members and participants and analyzed the content of such documents as communications between MSF staff members within the offices of its various headquarters, communications between headquarters and the field, and transcripts of internal group discussions and meetings. Fox weaves these threads of information into a rich tapestry of the MSF experience that reveals the dual perspectives of an insider and an observer. The book begins with moving, detailed accounts from the blogs of women and men working for MSF in the field. From there, Fox chronicles the organization’s early history and development, paying special attention to its struggles during the first decades of its existence to clarify and implement its principles. The core of the book is centered on her observations in the field of MSF’s efforts to combat a rampant epidemic of HIV/AIDS in postapartheid South Africa and the organization’s response to two challenges in postsocialist Russia: an enormous surge in homelessness on the streets of Moscow and a massive epidemic of tuberculosis in the penal colonies of Siberia. Fox’s accounts of these crises exemplify MSF’s struggles to provide for thousands of people in need when both the populations and the aid workers are in danger. Enriched by vivid photographs of MSF operations and by ironic, self-critical cartoons drawn by a member of the Communications Department of MSF France, Doctors Without Borders highlights the bold mission of the renowned international humanitarian organization even as it demonstrates the intrinsic dilemmas of humanitarian action.

Doctors Without Borders

Doctors Without Borders PDF Author: Renée C. Fox
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421413558
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 327

Get Book

Book Description
An intimate portrait of the renowned international humanitarian organization. Winner of the PROSE Award for Excellence, Sociology and Social Work of the Association of American Publishers This study of Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) casts new light on the organization’s founding principles, distinctive culture, and inner struggles to realize more fully its “without borders” transnational vision. Pioneering medical sociologist Renée C. Fox spent nearly twenty years conducting extensive ethnographic research within MSF, a private international medical humanitarian organization that was created in 1971 and awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1999. With unprecedented access, Fox attended MSF meetings and observed doctors and other workers in the field. She interviewed MSF members and participants and analyzed the content of such documents as communications between MSF staff members within the offices of its various headquarters, communications between headquarters and the field, and transcripts of internal group discussions and meetings. Fox weaves these threads of information into a rich tapestry of the MSF experience that reveals the dual perspectives of an insider and an observer. The book begins with moving, detailed accounts from the blogs of women and men working for MSF in the field. From there, Fox chronicles the organization’s early history and development, paying special attention to its struggles during the first decades of its existence to clarify and implement its principles. The core of the book is centered on her observations in the field of MSF’s efforts to combat a rampant epidemic of HIV/AIDS in postapartheid South Africa and the organization’s response to two challenges in postsocialist Russia: an enormous surge in homelessness on the streets of Moscow and a massive epidemic of tuberculosis in the penal colonies of Siberia. Fox’s accounts of these crises exemplify MSF’s struggles to provide for thousands of people in need when both the populations and the aid workers are in danger. Enriched by vivid photographs of MSF operations and by ironic, self-critical cartoons drawn by a member of the Communications Department of MSF France, Doctors Without Borders highlights the bold mission of the renowned international humanitarian organization even as it demonstrates the intrinsic dilemmas of humanitarian action.

Life in Crisis

Life in Crisis PDF Author: Peter Redfield
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520955188
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
Life in Crisis tells the story of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders or MSF) and its effort to "save lives" on a global scale. Begun in 1971 as a French alternative to the Red Cross, the MSF has grown into an international institution with a reputation for outspoken protest as well as technical efficiency. It has also expanded beyond emergency response, providing for a wider range of endeavors, including AIDS care. Yet its seemingly simple ethical goal proves deeply complex in practice. MSF continually faces the problem of defining its own limits. Its minimalist form of care recalls the promise of state welfare, but without political resolution or a sense of well-being beyond health and survival. Lacking utopian certainty, the group struggles when the moral clarity of crisis fades. Nevertheless, it continues to take action and innovate. Its organizational history illustrates both the logic and the tensions of casting humanitarian medicine into a leading role in international affairs.

Doctors Without Borders

Doctors Without Borders PDF Author: Katie Marsico
Publisher: Cherry Lake
ISBN: 1631881132
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 24

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Book Description
Doctors Without Borders is a very important international organization. Around the world this agency's volunteers and staff are working to provide urgent medical care, immunizations and treat disease outbreaks. Have you ever wondered how this important work gets done? How do organizations like Doctors Without Borders help? What kinds of problems do they have to solve? Read How Do They Help? Doctors Without Borders to learn more about many people who help in your community and around the world.

Hope in Hell

Hope in Hell PDF Author: Dan Bortolotti
Publisher: Firefly Books
ISBN: 1770850805
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
More fascinating and harrowing accounts of the volunteer professionals who risk their lives to help those in desperate need. Praise for the second edition: "Direct and evocative, this well-written book pushes readers to the edge of a world of grueling realities not known by most Americans." -- Choice Doctors Without Borders (aka Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) was founded in 1971 by rebellious French doctors. It is arguably the most respected humanitarian organization in the world, delivering emergency aid to victims of armed conflict, epidemics and natural disasters as well as to many others who lack reliable health care. Dan Bortolotti follows the volunteers at the forefront of this organization and its work, who daily risk their lives to perform surgery, establish or rehabilitate hospitals and clinics, run nutrition and sanitation programs, and train local medical personnel. These volunteer professionals: Perform emergency surgery in war-torn regions of Africa, Asia and elsewhere Treat the homeless in the streets of Europe Honor cultural customs and understand societal differences that affect health care Witness and report the genocidal atrocities so often missed by mainstream media This new and revised third edition includes updates and new inside stories from recent relief operations, and it covers changes within the organization, such as its new emphasis on nutrition. There are also many new and revealing color photographs and insights gained from the author's 2009 trip to Haiti, where he found three different arms of MSF operating in dire conditions. Hope in Hell is a widely acclaimed portrait of a renowned Nobel-winning humanitarian organization, revealing how Doctors Without Borders provides immediate and outstanding medical care.

An Imperfect Offering

An Imperfect Offering PDF Author: James Orbinski
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0802777570
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 449

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Book Description
"This book is a series of stories in which I ask, again and again, 'how to be in relation to the suffering of others.' It is a personal narrative about the political journey I have taken over the last twenty years as a humanitarian doctor, as a citizen, and as a man. This is a story about a way of seeing that requires humility, so that one can recognize the sameness of self in the other. It is about the mutuality that can exist between us, if we so choose. I have come to see humanitarianism not as separate from politics, but in relation to it, and as a challenge to political choices that too often kill or allow others to be killed. Speaking is the first political act. It is the first act of liberty, and it always implicitly involves another. In speaking, one inherently recognizes that 'I am and I am not alone.' In this space lies our humanity." Having seen things we hope never to see, confronted suffering, dispassion, and evil we hope never to encounter, and faced deep personal torment, James Orbinski still believes in "the good we can be if we so choose." His chosen medium is stories from his own experience-a form of testimony from the front lines-embodied in which are warnings, hope, and lessons in how we can inject humanitarian activity into our lives. Being political, he has discovered, is not only reserved for politicians; admitting imperfection is essential to compassion. The crystal clarity of Orbinski's voice is matched by the urgency of his message; at a time of great political and moral uncertainty, An Imperfect Offering is invaluable reading for anyone who feels he/she can make a difference.

The Practical Guide to Humanitarian Law

The Practical Guide to Humanitarian Law PDF Author: Françoise Bouchet-Saulnier
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN: 1442221135
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 827

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Book Description
Now in a comprehensively updated edition, this indispensable handbook analyzes how international humanitarian law has evolved in the face of these many new challenges. Central concerns include the war on terror, new forms of armed conflict and humanitarian action, the emergence of international criminal justice, and the reshaping of fundamental rules and consensus in a multipolar world. ThePractical Guide to Humanitarian Law provides the precise meaning and content for over 200 terms such as terrorism, refugee, genocide, armed conflict, protection, peacekeeping, torture, and private military companies—words that the media has introduced into everyday conversation, yet whose legal and political meanings are often obscure. The Guide definitively explains the terms, concepts, and rules of humanitarian law in accessible and reader-friendly alphabetical entries. Written from the perspective of victims and those who provide assistance to them, the Guide outlines the dangers, spells out the law, and points the way toward dealing with violations of the law. Entries are complemented by analysis of the decisions of relevant courts; detailed bibliographic references; addresses, phone numbers, and Internet links to the organizations presented; a thematic index; and an up-to-date list of the status of ratification of more than thirty international conventions and treaties concerning humanitarian law, human rights, refugee law, and international criminal law. This unprecedented work is an invaluable reference for policy makers and opinion leaders, students, relief workers, and members of humanitarian organizations. Published in cooperation with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières.

Hope in Hell

Hope in Hell PDF Author: Dan Bortolotti
Publisher: Buffalo, N.Y. ; Richmond Hill, Ont. : Firefly Books
ISBN:
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Doctors Without Borders, also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres, delivers emergency aid around the world. This book tells its history and examines the lives of individual volunteers. Topics range from emergency surgery in war zones to witnessing atrocities.

Doctors Without Borders in Ethiopia

Doctors Without Borders in Ethiopia PDF Author: Nyla Jo Jones Hubbard
Publisher: Algora Publishing
ISBN: 0875868525
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
Annotation. Naturalists as well as volunteer workers and medical professionals will enjoy the warm and personal tale of one woman's experiences in the scorching climate and the heart-melting expressions of humanity at this tent hospital in Ethiopia. This book describes the function of a Doctors Without Borders program at the ground level, at the TB mission they established in eastern Ethiopia during 2001. The culture of the Afar people is part of the story as well as the physical surroundings of the mission including the birds and animals of the desert setting. It is also a story about relationships and how like a family a vastly different group of people from all over the world can become when they all share a life of physical hardship but enormous reward. Setting up a hospital and lab in the desert, and battling daily on behalf of people ill with TB, malaria and other tropical diseases, the invaluable organization of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) succeeds against enormous odds. Their success proves what a collection of individuals can do with the skills at hand to make the world a better place - and enjoy the process. The team concept, so vital to the mission concept, comes alive in the author's depiction of the scene at Gahla. The culture of the migratory Afar people, with their fierce reputation and teeth filed to points, and the city lifestyle in Ethiopia's capital Addis are explored. As an avid birder, the author also includes descriptions of the exotic birds, animals and insects of this part of the Rift Valley with its searing heat and volcanic vents. Geologists suggest that one day the entire Afar Triangle may give way in a tectonic shift to become the new Afar Sea. Until then, it is home to a wide range of wonderfully resourceful people and colorful fauna that enliven this "impossibly" hot, dry land. The World Trade Center disaster took place one week after the author's return from a Muslim part of the world and the outpouring of compassionate correspondence she received from the people whom she had just left tells volumes about why we must not tar all Muslims with the brush of terrorism.

Doctors Without Borders

Doctors Without Borders PDF Author: Ann Parry
Publisher: Macmillan Education AU
ISBN: 9780732997380
Category : Humanitarian assistance
Languages : en
Pages : 36

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Book Description
A look at well-known humanitarian organisations around the world and how they strive to help those in need.

Doctors Without Borders

Doctors Without Borders PDF Author: Renée C. Fox
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 142141354X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 327

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Book Description
Pioneering medical sociologist Ren e C. Fox spent nearly twenty years conducting extensive ethnographic research within M decins Sans Fronti res/Doctors Without Borders (MSF), a private international medical humanitarian organization that was created in 1971 and awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1999. Drawing on unprecedented access to MSF staff meetings, doctors, and field workers, Fox weaves a rich tapestry of the MSF experience with emerging and reemerging infectious diseases. Including vivid photographs of MSF operations, Doctors Without Borders explores the organization's founding principles, distinctive culture, and inner struggles to realize more fully its "without borders" transnational vision.