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An Imperfect Offering: Humanitarian Action for the Twenty-First Century
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Product Description
From one of the world’s greatest humanitarian activists comes a searing personal memoir that is also an urgent call to confront suffering in all its many forms.
Having seen things we hope never to see, confronted suffering and 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 for revealing this is stories from his own experience—a doctor’s indelible testimony from the front lines in Peru, Somalia, Afghanistan, Rwanda, Zaire—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. With an eye for detail like that of the finest journalist and the empathy of the most committed doctor, Orbinski’s powerful 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 wants to make a difference.
Excerpt:
“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. 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. At its best, politics is an imperfect human project. It is at its worst when we delude ourselves into thinking it can be perfect. 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.” (a composite from chapter 1)
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #194104 in Books
- Published on: 2008-09-30
- Released on: 2008-09-30
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 448 pages
Features
- ISBN13: 9780802717092
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best of the Month, October 2008: Judging by his biography, James Orbinski is superhuman. As a med student in the late '80s, he spent a year researching pediatric AIDS in Rwanda, which opened his eyes to the human consequences of political failure. After cofounding the Canadian chapter of Doctors Without Borders, Orbinski embarked on relief missions to the world's most chaotic pockets, including war-torn Somalia and the refugee camps of Afghanistan. When reports of genocide filtered out of Rwanda, Orbinski led a small team that--with scant supplies--tended to the sick and wounded in Kigali. Within 14 weeks, 800,000 people were killed as the international community sat idly by, and Orbinski experienced a profound personal crisis. He emerged with a renewed commitment to his role as doctor, not only as a healer but as a voice for those who have been disastrously failed by governments. In An Imperfect Offering, he bears witness to surreal levels of suffering, and his actions seem impossibly heroic. But descriptions of his patients' courage and his own moral challenges make this story an exploration of what it means to be human, and what our responsibilities are to each other. Through his story, the suffering of millions is no longer unimaginable, and indifference is not an option. --Mari Malcolm
From Publishers Weekly
In this captivating look at humanitarian intervention in the 20th century, Orbinski, former head of the NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), uses stories from his decades of service with the group to examine how to be in relation with the suffering of others. The author describes his time on the front lines of suffering in Russia, Somalia and Afghanistan. When Orbinski recounts his second term in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, the book reaches an emotional peak: it was his undoing, and struggling with the horror he has seen, he drifts into a netherworld of confusion, fighting to regain his footing as a man, as a doctor and as a putative humanitarian. His ensuing reflections on humanitarianism are as riveting as his personal thoughts, which include diary entries, recollections and correspondence with friends in the humanitarian and diplomatic corps. The book manages to be both personal enough to construe the human toll of political and social disasters without falling into the trap of maudlin, patronizing depictions of human suffering. Orbinski, who accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for Médecins Sans Frontières in 1999 does credit to his organization and his humanitarian credo. (Oct.)
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From Booklist
Recipient of a Nobel Peace Prize for his work with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Orbinski has practiced medicine in very hard circumstances. Defying grinding poverty and horrifying conflict, he has treated peasants afflicted with cholera in Peru, sutured genocide survivors mutilated by machetes in Rwanda, and nourished starving North Korean refugees in China. His deeply harrowing experiences have taught him much about individual courage and compassion in the face of great danger. Readers will indeed marvel at the bravery of individual doctors and nurses who have survived bullets and torture to alleviate suffering. But they will also share in the hard lessons that Orbinski has learned while fighting difficult political battles: NATO has ignored the protests of MSF by launching a “humanitarian war” of intervention in Kosovo; the U.N. Security Council has brushed aside MSF’s plea for an international condemnation of the genocide in Rwanda. Such frustrating episodes may have dispelled Orbinski’s utopian hopes for a perfect world, but they have not quenched his desire for a better, more humane world order. To that end, he summons readers to definite political actions—making donations, for instance, to international organizations providing aid to the world’s most vulnerable. A powerful synthesis of analysis and activism. --Bryce Christensen
Customer Reviews
An Imperfect Offering
Dr. Orbinski's account of his life's work with Medecins sans Frontieres / Doctors without Borders reads like a thriller. Orbinski's stories from his Irish-Canadian childhood as the son of very poor Irish immigrants give insight to his passion to help the less fortunate.
The memoirs of his MSF work in treacherous places like Somalia, Afghanistan, Kosovo and Sudan reveal the inner politics of providing humanitarian aid to developing countries especially those in conflict. What these doctors and healthworkers had to do and not do to make deals with tribal leaders in Somalia or Afghanistan exemplify what true dialogue, diplomacy, cooperation, tolerance and respect for the cultures of the regions look and feel like.
Although I skipped the chapters on Rwanda and Zaire, MSF's work to make HIV/AIDS drugs available to the poorest of the poor in the most challenging of environments is truly awe-inspiring. I gleaned some beautiful quotes of which I have committed to memory and will share with my activist colleagues:
"We are not certain that speaking out saves lives, but we are certain that silence kills." Philippe Biberson, President MSF France 1999
"No one can do everything, but everyone can do something." James Orbinski, the author and past International President MSF
An inspiring memoir that teaches not preaches. Be braver than I and read it in its entirety!
Reality Check
An outstanding narrative filled with behind the scenes political details that open your eyes to the TRUTH. I have a much better understanding of how genocide happens and how governments make endless excuses despite all reports to the contrary. I am humbled by this book and enlightened. A very informative read.
