Doctors Without Borders in Ethiopia: Among the Afar

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 seemingly ordinary people can do with the skills at hand to make the world a better place — while enjoying the process. The team concept, so vital to the mission concept, comes alive in the author's depiction of the mission 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 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, this "impossibly" hot, dry land is home to a wide range of wonderfully resourceful people and colorful fauna. The World Trade center disaster took place one week after the author's return from a Muslim part of the world, and the response of the people whom she had just left tells volumes about why we must not tar all Muslims with the brush of terrorism.