Another day in paradise : front line stories from international aid workers

257 Pages·2014·3.47 MB·English

by  Bergman

ADIP int. mech. pgs 1-80 UK 9/5/03 10:29 AM Page 1
Another Day in Paradise
ADIP int. mech. pgs 1-80 UK 9/5/03 10:29 AM Page 2
In 1994, children in Sarajevo walk by the broken windows of a building near “Sniper’s Alley,” a
street under frequent sniper fire in the besieged capital city of Bosnia.(UNICEF/94-0864/Roger
LeMoyne)
Another Day in Paradise
Front Line Stories From
International Aid Workers
Compiled and Edited by
Carol Bergman
Earthscan Publications Ltd, London
First published in the UK in 2003 by
Earthscan Publications Ltd
Copyright © 2003 by Carol Bergman.
Foreword copyright © 2003 by David Cornwell. “Another Day in Paradise” copyright ©
2003 by Iain Levine. “Awakening” copyright © 2003 by Henry Gaudru. “Grandmother”
copyright © 2003 by Ngan Thuy Nguyen. “Invincible” copyright © 2003 by Christine
Darcas. “Surviving Genocide” copyright © 2003 by Philippe Gaillard. “My Bodyguard”
copyright © 2003 by Patrick Dillon. “My Testimony” copyright © 2003 by Maria
Blacque-Belair. “The Tremor Within” copyright © 2003 by Paul E. Arès. “Behind the
Lines” copyright © 2003 by David Snyder. “What Is Beautiful” copyright © 2003 by
Marleen Deerenberg. “The House of Prayer and Peace” copyright © 2003 by Theresa
Baldini, M.M. “Camp-bo-dia” copyright © 2003 by Dr. Panayotis A. Ellinas. “Letters
Home” copyright © 2003 by Paul Heslop. “Out of Time” copyright © 2003 by John
Sifton. “Appointed Rounds” copyright © 2003 by MacKay Wolff.
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 1-84407-034-4 (hardback)
Printed and bound in the UK by Thanet Press, Margate, Kent
Cover design by Ruth Bateson
Cover photograph copyright © 2002 by James Nachtwey. “Seven-year-old Khairuddin
works each day after school collecting chips of wood left over from the fuel for brick kilns.
The wood chips are used at home for cooking fires. Location: Kabul, Afghanistan, 2002.”
For a full list of publications please contact:
Earthscan Publications Ltd
120 Pentonville Road
London, N1 9JN
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.earthscan.co.uk
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Earthscan is an editorially independent subsidiary of Kogan Page Ltd and
publishes in association with WWF-UK and the International Institute for
Environment and Development
This book is printed on elemental chlorine-free paper
ADIP int. mech. pgs 1-80 UK 9/5/03 10:29 AM Page 5
for all humanitarian workers,
past, present, and future,
in celebration of their altruism,
and courage

ADIP int. mech. pgs 1-80 UK 9/5/03 10:29 AM Page 7
Contents
Foreword by John le Carré 19
Preface 11
Part One: Natural Disasters
Introduction 19
1. Another Day in Paradise 21
Iain Levine (Sudan)
2. Awakening 30
Henry Gaudru (Ecuador)
3. Grandmother 38
Ngan Thuy Nguyen (Vietnam)
4. Invincible 51
Christine Darcas (Chad)
Part Two: War
Introduction 64
5. Surviving Genocide 66
Philippe Gaillard (Rwanda)
6. My Bodyguard 81
Patrick Dillon (Somalia)
7. My Testimony 101
Maria Blacque-Belair (Bosnia)
8. The Tremor Within 113
Paul E. Arès (Liberia)
9. Behind the Lines 133
David Snyder (Sierra Leone)
ADIP int. mech. pgs 1-80 UK 9/5/03 10:29 AM Page 8
10. What Is Beautiful 143
Marleen Deerenberg (Afghanistan)
11. The House of Prayer and Peace 164
Theresa Baldini, M.M. (Sudan)
Part Three: Fragile Peace
Introduction 173
12. Camp-bo-dia 175
Dr. Panayotis A. Ellinas (Thailand)
13. Letters Home 191
Paul Heslop (Angola)
14. Out of Time 211
John Sifton (Afghanistan)
15. Appointed Rounds 232
MacKay Wolff (Occupied Territories)
Afterword 242
Acknowledgments 245
Contributors 247
Aid Agencies 253
• 8•
ADIP int. mech. pgs 1-80 UK 9/5/03 10:29 AM Page 9
Foreword
John le Carré
The Rwandan genocide, you will read here, killed seven times
more people than the Hiroshima bomb. And the assassins’
weapon of choice? Screwdrivers and machetes, of course.
One in five of the world’s nations is at war. Two out of
five of those wars are being fought in Africa.
Yet the world is governed—if governed at all—by men and
women in suits, from air-conditioned offices and limousines,
who have never in their lives looked into the eyes of a starv-
ing child or walked down a bombed street where the blood is
so thick it spoils their nice city shoes.
With every day that passes in our contemporary world,
the exercise of great power becomes a game of virtual reali-
ty, with terrible and deliberately under-reported conse-
quences for the wretched of the earth. The vast bulk of
Western media is so corporatized as to be indistinguishable
from the forces it purports to expose. Instead of telling us
what they see and hear, journalists in harness to the compet-
ing armies of the entertainment industry have become tor-
turers’ accomplices, mouthing phrases like “collateral dam-
age” when they mean civilians blown to bits, blotting out the
screams and sweeping over the traces in their rush to present
their nations’ heroes in a pleasing light.
In an era of supposedly unlimited communication, it is
the truth-benders and manipulators, not the public, who are
the winners. The truth is another country—the one that is
inhabited by those brave enough to visit life’s hells on foot
instead of on the television screen.
The relief workers who in this book bear witness to their
experiences aren’t saints, but they are members of a rare
• 9•