Living in Emergency

Today my uncle gave me a project that I will be working on until I leave in two weeks.  I am creating a document comprised of MSF's videos and multimedia, powerpoints, books, reports and newsletters, merchandise, and social media that can then be added to the website under the public events tab.  This addition to the website will allow people to do their own screenings of MSF videos, or lead discussions about MSF's work.  The document is called "Share MSF With Your Community."  Along with creating the document, I am also watching a number of the films on the list to further familiarize myself with the organization.

I just finished watching the first film on the list, Living in Emergency.  This film is a heart wrenching documentary about three MSF doctors in Africa.  Two are in Liberia in 2003 after a 15 year long civil war working at Mamba Point Hospital, a MSF hospital, which, at the time, was the only free emergency hospital for a city of one million people.  The third doctor is in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The film focuses on the impact that these missions place upon the doctors who volunteer.  The doctors describe the missions as being not what they expected, unimaginable, indescribable, rewarding, and draining.  "Thousands apply to MSF each year, but given the challenges of the work, MSF accepts very few volunteers.  From these few who are chosen, only a small number advances beyond their first mission" (Living in Emergency).  Being a doctor in the field is difficult for many reasons: the doctors come in at the very last minute to try and fix what should have been fixed years ago, they become responsible for far more than what they were responsible for in their home countries, there is no limit between what is personal and what is professional, they must know their personal limits as doctors, and they have to quickly decide when and when not to operate.  

Of all the previously stated difficulties, one trumps them all: being able to recognize when to leave.  When MSF decides to pull a mission out of a country, the doctors have to notify the natives.  The natives often feel they are being abandoned and beg the doctors not to leave.  MSF wants to help those in need, but is unequipped to fix the underlying social and political problems that cause and maintain crisis.  When the emergency and immediacy dies down, that is the indication that MSF's work is finished and it is time for them to move on.  Although, the end of crisis does not mean the end of suffering.  

Many doctors go abroad to fix people, but also to try to heal themselves.  MSF missions, and humanitarian work in general, change you and your priorities in one way or another.  It is what you do after your MSF mission that ultimately defines you.