What does an intrepid medical graduate or mature-age nurse with a need for action do when he or she has a few months up their sleeve? Go on a mission with international aid organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). Every year, around 120 Australians are deployed to far-flung MSF missions, from Sudan and Afghanistan to Burma and Papua New Guinea, in the hope their expertise can make a difference. The organisation’s 27,000-strong global army of doctors, nurses, midwives, logisticians and support staff endure difficult and often dangerous conditions to bring much-needed assistance to people in about 60 countries. For the millions of people worldwide who have fallen victim to disasters – natural or man-made – the impartial and compassionate presence of Médecins Sans Frontières is often the difference between life and death. Despite isolation, physical and emotional fatigue and rudimentary communications, many field workers manage to send letters home. We profile four Australian Médecins Sans Frontières workers and get their first-hand accounts of life in the field.
