From the Publisher
"People are hungry to be brought closer to the world, even its hard
parts. I went to Sudan, and am writing about it again, because I
believe that which separates action from inaction is the same thing
that separates my friends from Sudan. It is not indifference. It is
distance. May it fall away."
In 2007 James Maskalyk set out for the contested border town of
Abyei, Sudan, as a doctor newly recruited by Médecins Sans
Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). Equipped with his experience
as an emergency physician in a downtown hospital and drawn to the
hardest parts of the world, Maskalyk spent his days treating
malnourished children, coping with a measles epidemic and watching
for war. Worn thin by the struggle to meet overwhelming needs with
few resources, he returned home six months later more affected by
the experience, the people and the place than he had
anticipated.
Six Months in Sudan began as a blog that Maskalyk
wrote from his hut in Sudan in an attempt to bring his family and
friends closer to his hot, hot days. It is the story of the
doctors, nurses and countless volunteers who leave their homes
behind to ease the suffering of others, and it is the story of the
people of Abyei who suffer its hardship because it is the only home
they have. With great hope and insight, Maskalyk illuminates a
distant place and chronicles the toll of war on one community, one
man, and the cost of it to all of us.
From the Jacket
"Maskalyk's soft prose is beautiful and invites with the right
intimate details. He offers a rare window on the inner life of an
aid worker, on what it means to be a humanitarian around the hard
edges of war, and on the certain drive to go on. Why? Because in
his words, `hope not only meets despair in equal measure, it drowns
it.'"
- James Orbinski, author of An Imperfect Offering:
Humanitarian Action in the Twenty-First Century
"This journey is beautifully told in sharp beats and lyrical notes.
It is the voyage of a young doctor into a hard world and deep
within his own heart."
- Vincent Lam, author of Bloodletting and Miraculous
Cures
"Six Months in Sudan is a wrenchingly
heartbreaking account of distant agonies almost too pointed to
grasp. Learning about Maskalyk's work there is stirring, but the
real miracle is this book paints a picture so precisely and vividly
that it becomes impossible to look away. This is Maskalyk's
accomplishment, and his gift to the Sudanese and to us. The shame
of our indifference retreats before his exhortation: 'learn, and
understand,' and perhaps a more bearable future becomes possible
for all of us."
- Kevin Patterson, author of Consumption
"This is an extraordinary book, a piercingly authentic
account of the fear, confusion and hope of a young doctor newly
deployed to a humanitarian crisis wrapped around by a war. James
Maskalyk's commitment to survival - his own as well as his
patients' - illuminates this account of doctoring in the sort of
desperate place where it couldn't matter more."
- Jonathan Kaplan, author of The Dressing
Station: A Surgeon's Chronicle of War and Medicine
"In Six Months in Sudan, James Maskalyk tells of
his extraordinary experiences working as a doctor for MSF, without
a trace of vanity or self-congratulation. His book serves as a
salutary reminder of what it means to be an excellent doctor, and a
brave man. For anyone who is interested in a career in medicine, or
in courage, this is a book to read."
- Gabriel Weston, author of Direct Red: A
Surgeon's View of Her Life-Or-Death Profession
About the Author
James Maskalyk practices emergency medicine and is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine.
Format: Hardcover
Published: June 27, 2011
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
Language: English
The following ISBNs are associated with this title:
ISBN - 10: 0385665954
ISBN - 13: 9780385665957
