From the Publisher
National Bestseller
"As Albert Camus wrote, the doctor's role is as a witness-to
witness authentically the reality of humanity, and to speak out
against the horrors of political inaction. . . . The only crime
equaling inhumanity is the crime of indifference, silence, and
forgetting."
-James Orbinski
In 1988, James Orbinski, then a medical student in his twenties,
embarked on a year-long research trip to Rwanda, a trip that would
change who he would be as a doctor and as a man. Investigating the
conditions of pediatric AIDS in Rwanda, James confronted widespread
pain and suffering, much of it preventable, much of it occasioned
by political and economic corruption. Fuelled by the injustice of
what he had seen in Rwanda, Orbinski helped establish the Canadian
chapter of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders/MSF).
As a member of MSF he travelled to Peru during a cholera epidemic,
to Somalia during the famine and civil war, and to Jalalabad,
Afghanistan.
In April 1994, James answered a call from the MSF Amsterdam office.
Rwandan government soldiers and armed militias of extremist Hutus
had begun systematically to murder Tutsis. While other foreigners
were evacuated from Rwanda, Orbinski agreed to serve as Chef de
Mission for MSF in Kigali. As Rwanda descended into a hell of civil
war and genocide, he and his team worked tirelessly, tending to
thousands upon thousands of casualties. In fourteen weeks 800,000
men, women and children were exterminated. Half a million people
were injured, and millions were displaced. The Rwandan genocide was
Orbinski's undoing. Confronted by indescribable cruelty, he
struggled to regain his footing as a doctor, a humanitarian and a
man. In the end he chose not to retreat from the world, but resumed
his work with MSF, and was the organization's president when it was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999.
An Imperfect Offering is a deeply personal, deeply
political book. With unstinting candor, Orbinski explores the
nature of humanitarian action in the twenty-first century, and
asserts the fundamental imperative of seeing as human those whose
political systems have most brutally failed. He insists that in
responding to the suffering of others, we must never lose sight of
the dignity of those being helped or deny them the right to act as
agents in their own lives. He takes readers on a journey to some of
the darkest places of our history but finds there unimaginable acts
of courage and empathy. Here he is doctor as witness, recording
voices that must be heard around the world; calling on others to
meet their responsibility.
"Ummera, ummera-sha" is a Rwandan saying that loosely
translated means 'Courage, courage, my friend-find your courage and
let it live.' It was said to me by a patient at our hospital in
Kigali. She was slightly older than middle aged and had been
attacked with machetes, her entire body rationally and
systematically mutilated. Her face had been so carefully disfigured
that a pattern was obvious in the slashes. I could do little more
for her at that moment than stop the bleeding with a few sutures.
We were completely overwhelmed. She knew and I knew that there were
so many others. She said to me in the clearest voice I have ever
heard, "Allez, allez. Ummera, ummera-sha"-'Go, go. Courage,
courage, my friend-find your courage and let it live.'
-From An Imperfect Offering
From the Jacket
"Thoughtful and passionate."
- The Globe and Mail
"With vivid personal anecdote, Orbinski chronicles the struggle
around humanitarian intervention in one hotspot after another
across the planet. In a narrative of grace and power, he displays
the intense components of his remarkable life: integrity,
compassion and principle. He is undaunted in the face of the worst
the world has to offer. He is determined to salve the wounds of
humankind. He is a truly committed man, mind and soul throbbing
with incandescent decency."
- Stephen Lewis, Former UN Special Envoy
"An Imperfect Offering is more than a memoir of
life on the frontlines of disaster - it is a provocative and
revealing meditation on what it means to be human. What do we do,
and what should we do, in the face of unspeakable suffering."
- Ottawa Citizen
"James Orbinski has lived for years in the middle of the worst that
humans can be, and somehow emerged with both his compassion and his
desire to understand us intact. He is a marvellous storyteller, and
the stories he has to tell are some of the most powerful I have
ever read."
- Stephanie Nolen, author of 28: Stories of AIDS in
Africa
"In this complex era of massive abuses to human rights by
governments in too many countries, it is suprising to read such a
poignant book that describes, without fanfare, the constant
ethical, moral, and even legal dilemmas that those in the field
must confront hundreds of times a day. Clarity, compassion and
commitment are presented in spades in this book about those who are
fighting the lack of political will that too often fails to prevent
man's inhumanity to man."
- L.Gen. Roméo Dallaire, author of Shake Hands with the
Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda
"The rich beauty of Dr. James Orbinski's writing contrasts with the
stark poverty and suffering of the people he has served…. This book
exposes truths most of us would rather not know. Do not put it
down…. See who you become after reading it."
- Canadian Medical Association Journal
"A powerful personal memoir from a courageous Canadian who has
spent most of his adult life in front-line humanitarian work in the
world's worst conflict zones…. It's also a hopeful story about the
emergence of MSF as a new and independent agent of civil society,
and the possibilities of making the world a better place."
- Edmonton Journal
"A highly personal and wrenching memoir."
- The Walrus
"Almost unbearably intense…. Orbinski's writing is strongest and
most compelling when he is recounting his actual experiences as a
doctor."
- Winnipeg Free Press
"Orbinski pulls no punches…. With his vivid descriptions,
Orbinski brings the stench of death and illness to his pages with
unflinching realism, giving us detailed narratives of such shameful
events as the ruthless genocide of over one million Tutsis in
Rwanda, and the United Nations' complicity in turning a blind eye
to the horror."
- Toronto Star
"An essential text for our dire times. Orbinski plunges into
the heartbreak, the maelstrom, the moral dilemmas of the genocide
territories of the world - Rwanda, Kosovo, Sudan - and finds there
enough courage and redemption for us all to feel that there is hope
for our sad humanity."
- Ariel Dorfman
About the Author
Dr. James Orbinski is a past international President of Médecins sans Frontières (MSF). He is a Research Scientist and Associate Professor of Family and Community Medicine and Political Science at St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto. He is a founder of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative, a not-for-profit pharmaceutical research and development entity focused on the diseases of the South. He recently founded Dignitas, an organization focused on community based treatment, care and prevention of HIV in the developing world. Dr. Orbinski lectures internationally on humanitarianism and global health.