Beyond Borders: Reflections from the Humanitarian Frontline

by Cassandra Arnold

“Two weeks ago, I didn’t even know that Niger was a country… now I am deep in its south with Doctors Without Borders, responsible for saving people’s lives.”

In this story of humanitarian emergency medical work as a physician with Médecins Sans Frontières in Africa, Cassandra Arnold uses spare prose and haunting images to share the heartbreak and the humor, the challenges and the celebrations of volunteer work overseas.

From February 2009 to October 2013, Dr Cassandra Arnold spent twenty months in the field as a volunteer with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières. In that time, she accepted 8 posts in 5 different countries: Niger, Haiti, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Iraq. This is Niger, where it all began.

Part journal, part photo album, part poem… deeply personal and deeply confronting… If you have ever wondered what this work is really like, read this book and you will know.

“Follow me now into the sands of the Sahel.”

Profits from the sale of this book will be donated to Doctors Without Borders Canada.

This is a full colour, fixed page layout ebook. It is best read on a tablet or with the free Kindle App for your laptop or PC. It will be in black and white on a standard Kindle.

Publication date
  • July 25, 2018