We regularly remember in our prayers the humanitarian workers who have chosen to serve others in places of great violence, disaster, sickness, and tragedy. In this long-needed anthology, Carol Bergman has gathered accounts by some of these compassionate men and women who willing to put their own lives on the line in order to help those who are suffering.
The book is organized into three sections on natural disasters, war, and fragile peace. In the first, there are stories about humanitarian response to natural disasters: famines in Sudan and Chad, a flood in Vietnam, and a volcanic eruption in Ecuador. Bergman points out that we all bear responsibility for these hazards: 61 percent of all "natural" disasters from 1980 to 2001 were linked to global warming.
In the second section, there are gripping accounts of the havoc brought by war in Rwanda, Somalia, Bosnia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, and Sudan. In the final accounts, there are stories from countries or regions recovering from war, including as Thailand, Angola, Afghanistan, and the Occupied Territories (Palestine).
The humanitarian workers are oftentimes humble about their efforts. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude for representing care and compassion in a world rocked by genocide, hunger, ethnic hatred, and unending violence. In a foreword, John le Carre salutes them for their courage and dedication and then states that he is most impressed with their self-control: "It's their suppression of useless pity in favor of doing something practical. It's their determination, in the foulest conditions that man and nature can draw up between them, to make human decency work rather than weep; to do what they can, again and again, knowing it can never be enough." We agree, and may God continue to bless their efforts.
