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Where Soldiers Fear to Tread: A Relief Worker's Tale of Survival
“There is going to be a shooting here and it is a toss-up who is going to get the boy’s first round. The soldier, about ten years old, is jamming the barrel of his gun hard against my driver’s face, and unless the kid decides to go for me, the relief worker, my driver is going to get his head blown off.”
Where Soldiers Fear to Tread
John Burnett survived this ordeal and others during his service as a relief worker in Somalia. But many did not. In this gripping firsthand account, Burnett shares his experiences during the flood relief operations of 1997 to 1998. Ravaged by monsoons, starvation, and feuding warlords, Somalia continues to be one of the most dangerous places on earth. Both a personal story and a broader tale of war, the politics of aid, and the horrifying reality of child-soldiers, his chronicle represents the astonishing challenges faced by humanitarian workers across the globe.
There are currently thousands of civilian workers serving in over one hundred nations. Today, they are as likely to be killed in the line of duty as are trained soldiers. In the past five years alone, more UN aid workers have been killed than peacekeepers. When Burnett joined the World Food Program, he was told their mission would be safe, their help welcomed–and they would be pulled out if bullets started to fly.
When he arrived in Somalia, Burnett found a nation rent by a decade of anarchy, a people wary of foreign intervention, and a discomfiting uncertainty that the UN would remember he’d been sent there at all.
From Burnett’s young Somali driver to the armed civilians, warlords, and colleagues he would never see again, this unforgettable memoir delves into the complexity of humanitarian missions and the wonder of everyday people who risk their lives to help others in places too dangerous to send soldiers.
“Where Soldiers Fear to Tread is a rousing adventure story and a troubling morality tale....If you’ve ever sent 20 bucks off to a relief organization, you owe it to yourself to read this book.”—Michael Maren, author of
The Road to The Ravaging Effects of Foreign Aid and International Charity
Where Soldiers Fear to Tread
John Burnett survived this ordeal and others during his service as a relief worker in Somalia. But many did not. In this gripping firsthand account, Burnett shares his experiences during the flood relief operations of 1997 to 1998. Ravaged by monsoons, starvation, and feuding warlords, Somalia continues to be one of the most dangerous places on earth. Both a personal story and a broader tale of war, the politics of aid, and the horrifying reality of child-soldiers, his chronicle represents the astonishing challenges faced by humanitarian workers across the globe.
There are currently thousands of civilian workers serving in over one hundred nations. Today, they are as likely to be killed in the line of duty as are trained soldiers. In the past five years alone, more UN aid workers have been killed than peacekeepers. When Burnett joined the World Food Program, he was told their mission would be safe, their help welcomed–and they would be pulled out if bullets started to fly.
When he arrived in Somalia, Burnett found a nation rent by a decade of anarchy, a people wary of foreign intervention, and a discomfiting uncertainty that the UN would remember he’d been sent there at all.
From Burnett’s young Somali driver to the armed civilians, warlords, and colleagues he would never see again, this unforgettable memoir delves into the complexity of humanitarian missions and the wonder of everyday people who risk their lives to help others in places too dangerous to send soldiers.
“Where Soldiers Fear to Tread is a rousing adventure story and a troubling morality tale....If you’ve ever sent 20 bucks off to a relief organization, you owe it to yourself to read this book.”—Michael Maren, author of
The Road to The Ravaging Effects of Foreign Aid and International Charity
368 pages, Paperback
First published May 31, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
January 10, 2018
This book is about the hastily conceived flood-relief to Somalia in 1997-1998. The author was told that the situation was safe, and if it started to go downhill, he'd be evacuated. Lies upon lies. He's very lucky to be alive ... no thanks to the folks that were supposed to have his back.
The volunteers seem to be very expendable, just so long as the United Nations, and the NGOs (non-government organisations), keep that donor money flowing in. Politics and money are the ruling forces behind decisions that could mean life, or death, to some hapless volunteers. Not to mention the folks they are supposed to be trying to help.
I won't go into any further detail, but if you are unaware of what goes on behind the scenes, read this book. Even if you are aware, read this book.
The volunteers seem to be very expendable, just so long as the United Nations, and the NGOs (non-government organisations), keep that donor money flowing in. Politics and money are the ruling forces behind decisions that could mean life, or death, to some hapless volunteers. Not to mention the folks they are supposed to be trying to help.
I won't go into any further detail, but if you are unaware of what goes on behind the scenes, read this book. Even if you are aware, read this book.
December 8, 2014
Burnett went to Somalia as a relief worker with the World Food Program (a part of the UN) in the late 90s. He hadn't done humanitarian work before, but he was at loose ends and wanted something different, and, well, the WFP needed people capable of handling boats.
It's a complicated situation on many levels: Nobody asked the UN to come in, but then, Somalia's government wasn't in a shape to do so. Where the relief workers could go was dictated largely by where they could form local agreements for protection, but there was the added factor of in-fighting not between subclans but between relief organisations: Burnett finds himself, as a man with a boat, miles away from the river that will get him to people in need of help -- because if he and his boat go elsewhere, he'd have to be under somebody else's jurisdiction. It's messy.
It must have been frustrating, and frightening. Burnett has barely touched down in Somalia before he has to duck and cover, as there's a gunfight at the aeroport. Over the weeks he spends in Kismayo (it's not clear quite how long), he does no formal relief work: he doesn't have supplies, and it's not safe, and every time safety is negotiated the agreements break down days, or hours, or minutes later. Instead they spend much of their time crafting escape plans in case they have to pull out in a hurry...although approval for such a pull-out seems a long time coming. It's 200 pages before he finds himself somewhere he can actually get supplies out, and even then it seems like a drop in the bucket. (There are, of course, other teams at work in other areas; also, I'm not suggesting that Burnett is responsible for any of this. But it's frustrating how much of it ends up being waiting.)
I am exasperated by some of Burnett's generalisations (usually about Somalis) and by his patronising treatment (in writing) of Amelia, but he does ask some very hard questions about aid work, politics, effectiveness. Didn't love the book, but it made me think.
Assorted bits from the book:
Is this not serious enough to get the hell out before someone gets hurt? I catch myself in mid-thought, for already I am dismissing the dead Somali woman and dying child. "Someone" means one of us, not one of them. (76)
They, we, have so little in common with anyone not here. It is not unlike returning to the mainstream after crossing an ocean on a small boat; the eyes of friends glaze over when I try to tell them of my adventures, as do mine when they tell me of their day-to-day lives. How can you tell your partner about Somalia? A soldier goes to war, gets shot at, suffers the traumas of combat, goes home. Who is he going to talk to? (109)
It is universal; in the West, schoolchildren creatively deface their schoolbooks, desks, school bags, walls, and even subway trains with personal totems, brands, and markings. Here in Somalia they disfigure their guns. (135)
I saw in the boy's eyes at the barricade that he could pull the trigger for reasons that I am too old to understand. Age gives us the ability to reason, to communicate, and these children behind the guns, who have no fear, prove to be well beyond our ability to do either. (140)
He turns to me with a look of desperation I hope never to see again from anyone else who is in command, a look of desperation that demands some solution. (160)
Those who are actually delivering food, rescuing people--I would presume they feel some inner satisfaction. I wouldn't know. I haven't saved a life or handed a moldy biscuit to a starving child. I know there are people dying out there--I practically saw it happen. I remember the desperate pleas for rescue when we flew over the makeshift shanties on the dikes, families on their rooftops. In Kismayo, we are satisfied to know that we are hanging on, that we have survived another day. We are being paid, and that for now is one reason we are here, to buy that dream machine to vanish into the heavens--money for a yacht to sail around the world, for a party business in Nairobi. I need it because I have sailed the world and I am broke. The job offered money. It did not guarantee satisfaction. It did not guarantee survival. (183)
I have nothing to gain from anyone here, and it is a relief to put a lid on the ego. (247)
It's a complicated situation on many levels: Nobody asked the UN to come in, but then, Somalia's government wasn't in a shape to do so. Where the relief workers could go was dictated largely by where they could form local agreements for protection, but there was the added factor of in-fighting not between subclans but between relief organisations: Burnett finds himself, as a man with a boat, miles away from the river that will get him to people in need of help -- because if he and his boat go elsewhere, he'd have to be under somebody else's jurisdiction. It's messy.
It must have been frustrating, and frightening. Burnett has barely touched down in Somalia before he has to duck and cover, as there's a gunfight at the aeroport. Over the weeks he spends in Kismayo (it's not clear quite how long), he does no formal relief work: he doesn't have supplies, and it's not safe, and every time safety is negotiated the agreements break down days, or hours, or minutes later. Instead they spend much of their time crafting escape plans in case they have to pull out in a hurry...although approval for such a pull-out seems a long time coming. It's 200 pages before he finds himself somewhere he can actually get supplies out, and even then it seems like a drop in the bucket. (There are, of course, other teams at work in other areas; also, I'm not suggesting that Burnett is responsible for any of this. But it's frustrating how much of it ends up being waiting.)
I am exasperated by some of Burnett's generalisations (usually about Somalis) and by his patronising treatment (in writing) of Amelia, but he does ask some very hard questions about aid work, politics, effectiveness. Didn't love the book, but it made me think.
Assorted bits from the book:
Is this not serious enough to get the hell out before someone gets hurt? I catch myself in mid-thought, for already I am dismissing the dead Somali woman and dying child. "Someone" means one of us, not one of them. (76)
They, we, have so little in common with anyone not here. It is not unlike returning to the mainstream after crossing an ocean on a small boat; the eyes of friends glaze over when I try to tell them of my adventures, as do mine when they tell me of their day-to-day lives. How can you tell your partner about Somalia? A soldier goes to war, gets shot at, suffers the traumas of combat, goes home. Who is he going to talk to? (109)
It is universal; in the West, schoolchildren creatively deface their schoolbooks, desks, school bags, walls, and even subway trains with personal totems, brands, and markings. Here in Somalia they disfigure their guns. (135)
I saw in the boy's eyes at the barricade that he could pull the trigger for reasons that I am too old to understand. Age gives us the ability to reason, to communicate, and these children behind the guns, who have no fear, prove to be well beyond our ability to do either. (140)
He turns to me with a look of desperation I hope never to see again from anyone else who is in command, a look of desperation that demands some solution. (160)
Those who are actually delivering food, rescuing people--I would presume they feel some inner satisfaction. I wouldn't know. I haven't saved a life or handed a moldy biscuit to a starving child. I know there are people dying out there--I practically saw it happen. I remember the desperate pleas for rescue when we flew over the makeshift shanties on the dikes, families on their rooftops. In Kismayo, we are satisfied to know that we are hanging on, that we have survived another day. We are being paid, and that for now is one reason we are here, to buy that dream machine to vanish into the heavens--money for a yacht to sail around the world, for a party business in Nairobi. I need it because I have sailed the world and I am broke. The job offered money. It did not guarantee satisfaction. It did not guarantee survival. (183)
I have nothing to gain from anyone here, and it is a relief to put a lid on the ego. (247)
January 4, 2023
This was interesting but I think problematic at times. As an exposé of the failure of the UN to adequately consider the safety of its staff it is excellent; Burnett has also managed to provide a great feel for what that type of work is like. It was relatively well written, engaging enough (for the most part), and I thought it was great that it so heavily involved his voice and perspective.
The biggest issue I have is a little bit of casual misogyny and racism here and there. I don’t think it diminishes from what the book is trying to say, but it makes for the wrong kind of uncomfortable reading. Otherwise this was an eye-opening, thought provoking and colourful book that threatened to become a little boring at times, but was ultimately interesting enough to have me finish it.
The conclusion: being an aid worker is terrifying. I hope the UN has sorted out their shit since then.
The biggest issue I have is a little bit of casual misogyny and racism here and there. I don’t think it diminishes from what the book is trying to say, but it makes for the wrong kind of uncomfortable reading. Otherwise this was an eye-opening, thought provoking and colourful book that threatened to become a little boring at times, but was ultimately interesting enough to have me finish it.
The conclusion: being an aid worker is terrifying. I hope the UN has sorted out their shit since then.
November 4, 2017
Where Soldiers Fear to Tread is an extremely interesting and frightening account of Burnett's time working for the United Nations during the 1998 flood relief operations in Somalia. Whilst mostly a first person story about the difficulties and experiences he endures, Burnett also provides an indictment on how the UN treats those in the field, as well as the issue of Western aid that is sure to have you questioning the role of foreign intervention in third world countries.
Suffering from a "complex emergency" due to severe flooding, and in the midst of a civil war which began in 1988, the UN's World Food Program puts out a call for people with boating experience to undertake a humanitarian relief effort in Somalia.
A major problem is that Somalians view any foreign intervention with suspicion and animosity. This was most publically illustrated during the the UNOSOM disaster five years previously in which 18 US soldiers were killed in Mogadishu whilst protecting transportation routes to allow delivery of relief and food supplies. Mark Bowden's excellent book Black Hawk Down does a superb job of detailing this and is highly recommended.
In the absence of a central government, the country is ruled by warlords and militia and one where the six predominant clans fight one another, and the subclans and sub-subclans also fight amongst themselves. With ethnic Somalis treating the Bantu and Bajuni peoples as either slaves or little more than animals and with one of the highest number of guns per capita, aid workers face working in one of the most dangerous places on earth.
Experiencing marital problems while travelling on their yacht in East Africa, Burnett decides he will take up the challenge as his wife flies back to the Netherlands. Hired as Acting Port Manager in the city of Kismayo in South Sudan, Burnett's role is to arrange emergency supplies to be brought in by boat before being delivered to refugees further up country. On arrival in Somali, however, shit gets real fast, as he is shot at by a crazed AK-47 wielding Somalian within minutes of getting off his flight. This serves as an introduction to a sick symbiotic-type relationship where the warlords get fat off UN-money and the UN agencies are enabled to build their empires.
Having previously been a political speech writer and investigative journalist and due to his unique position on the ground, Burnett attempts to try and understand why things are this way. Put simply, aid is big business. In 2003 WFP was feeding 104 million people in 81 countries at a cost of $3.3 billion and yet 24,000 people a day were still dying around the globe of starvation. Our Western arrogance assumes that we must help to assuage some form of our guilt or white man's burden or more likely, simply to keep the bureaucratic wheels turning. And yet, the questions that aren't being asked is whether or not this intervention is helping in the long-run.
Where Soldiers Fear to Tread is not a travel book in the truest sense of the term, but the book provides glimpses of life in Somalia during its civil war whilst also providing an insight into the competing rivalries of the diplomats, NGO's, donor groups and nations that are living off the aid gravy train. It is also a book where corrupt officials needing to have their palms greased in order to allow any assistance to be undertaken will have you seething with frustration and wondering about the futility of it all. Yet it remains a compelling and easy to read book and one which is well worth reading.
Suffering from a "complex emergency" due to severe flooding, and in the midst of a civil war which began in 1988, the UN's World Food Program puts out a call for people with boating experience to undertake a humanitarian relief effort in Somalia.
A major problem is that Somalians view any foreign intervention with suspicion and animosity. This was most publically illustrated during the the UNOSOM disaster five years previously in which 18 US soldiers were killed in Mogadishu whilst protecting transportation routes to allow delivery of relief and food supplies. Mark Bowden's excellent book Black Hawk Down does a superb job of detailing this and is highly recommended.
In the absence of a central government, the country is ruled by warlords and militia and one where the six predominant clans fight one another, and the subclans and sub-subclans also fight amongst themselves. With ethnic Somalis treating the Bantu and Bajuni peoples as either slaves or little more than animals and with one of the highest number of guns per capita, aid workers face working in one of the most dangerous places on earth.
Experiencing marital problems while travelling on their yacht in East Africa, Burnett decides he will take up the challenge as his wife flies back to the Netherlands. Hired as Acting Port Manager in the city of Kismayo in South Sudan, Burnett's role is to arrange emergency supplies to be brought in by boat before being delivered to refugees further up country. On arrival in Somali, however, shit gets real fast, as he is shot at by a crazed AK-47 wielding Somalian within minutes of getting off his flight. This serves as an introduction to a sick symbiotic-type relationship where the warlords get fat off UN-money and the UN agencies are enabled to build their empires.
Having previously been a political speech writer and investigative journalist and due to his unique position on the ground, Burnett attempts to try and understand why things are this way. Put simply, aid is big business. In 2003 WFP was feeding 104 million people in 81 countries at a cost of $3.3 billion and yet 24,000 people a day were still dying around the globe of starvation. Our Western arrogance assumes that we must help to assuage some form of our guilt or white man's burden or more likely, simply to keep the bureaucratic wheels turning. And yet, the questions that aren't being asked is whether or not this intervention is helping in the long-run.
Where Soldiers Fear to Tread is not a travel book in the truest sense of the term, but the book provides glimpses of life in Somalia during its civil war whilst also providing an insight into the competing rivalries of the diplomats, NGO's, donor groups and nations that are living off the aid gravy train. It is also a book where corrupt officials needing to have their palms greased in order to allow any assistance to be undertaken will have you seething with frustration and wondering about the futility of it all. Yet it remains a compelling and easy to read book and one which is well worth reading.
July 30, 2011
Somalia, as you may well not know cos no Brits died so we didn't bother having reports in our media, was badly flooded in 1998. This is the personal story of one UN aid worker and the cock ups that are his experience of aid relief. The kit they were sent with is very flashy, had the sponsors name writ large so it shows up should it get on the telly, but is totally unsuitable for the conditions. One package of humanitarian aid turned out to be 200 electric blankets. For a country that has no electricity and is flooded this defies belief!! They used em. Just cut the cables off!!
He behaved like a Westerner, cos he is so had little choice, and suffered, as did others. This is an eye-opening good read. I recommend it. It hurts, though, to know what's done in our name. Be warned! This isn't to say you shouldn't give, cos I happen to think we all should give far more than we do, but be conscious of which organisation you're giving to and what they think is a reasonably use of your donation. See if it meets with your aspiration and, if it doesn't, find an organisation that does!
He behaved like a Westerner, cos he is so had little choice, and suffered, as did others. This is an eye-opening good read. I recommend it. It hurts, though, to know what's done in our name. Be warned! This isn't to say you shouldn't give, cos I happen to think we all should give far more than we do, but be conscious of which organisation you're giving to and what they think is a reasonably use of your donation. See if it meets with your aspiration and, if it doesn't, find an organisation that does!
January 25, 2010
I thought it was a telling story of the complexities in Relief work and those that put their lives on the line.
I found the section sad but all too familiar where it was acceptable for relief workers to be killed as long as the UN bureaucrats kept the donations coming. And also how keeping the donors happy and feeling good was as important, if not more so then actually providing food and supplies to those in need.
I found the section sad but all too familiar where it was acceptable for relief workers to be killed as long as the UN bureaucrats kept the donations coming. And also how keeping the donors happy and feeling good was as important, if not more so then actually providing food and supplies to those in need.
June 23, 2008
A new insider's look at the world of those who deliver emergency aid, one that doesn't paint a very pretty picture of the NGO world. Scary and frustrating by turns. I could've done with more descriptions of Somalia and the 1998 famine, and a lot less slobbering over every expat female that crosses the author's path.
October 4, 2018
What a load of conceited trash.
An humanitarian crisis and this bored, white, American decides it might be fun to tag along and play the good guy (for a lot of money, naturally.)
There are small nuggets of importance scattered far and few throughout this book- Most of it however, is the author telling us just how goddamn hard it was for him.
An humanitarian crisis and this bored, white, American decides it might be fun to tag along and play the good guy (for a lot of money, naturally.)
There are small nuggets of importance scattered far and few throughout this book- Most of it however, is the author telling us just how goddamn hard it was for him.
September 6, 2019
A journey through one persons experiences supporting humanitarian efforts in Somalia in 1998. John shares his thoughts and narratives as he joints the effort across children soldiers, raw working conditions, humor, stress, death, and security. He skirts the personal challenges of time and being okay with mistakes, learning, and rawness.
April 5, 2019
While not diluting the gravity of the dangers that came with the Somalia mission, John's memoirs are well supplied with a rich sense of humor that keeps the reader captivated to the end. John is the perfect definition of a Realist.
November 10, 2019
This wasn’t extra ordinary ...it was just a very factual retelling of incidents which took place over maybe a month or two in 1997-98 and can’t say much has changed within the aid sector, almost 12 years later...
November 1, 2015
"I have become involved, not the way I expected, but involved. My nerves are raw and at the same time I feel dulled. I play out a role in this Danteque set piece while constantly staying alert that I don't walk into someone's bullet, yet maybe - maybe not much caring if I do. I wonder if aid workers elsewhere experience this ineluctable ambivalence toward survival. Any one of the events here would make an indelible, possibly traumatic mark in its singularity, but cumulatively, they blend into one continuous and barely manageable bad dream. Perhaps that is healthy."
"There are three hundred thousand children under the age of eighteen fighting in thirty armed conflicts around the world. In Afghanistan, as well as in Somalia, thirty to forty-five percent of the solders are children. In Ethiopia, Uganda, and El Salvador, almost a third of the child soldiers are reported to be girls. Considered a renewable resource, children have become classic cannon fodder. ….Children from four to fourteen are the best soldiers. They are easily trained, they don't ask a lot of questions, they are less demanding, their notions of right and wrong are easily manipulated, they obey their elders, who themselves may be veterans of only fourteen or fifteen years old, they don't know the effect of killing, they are inexpensive to maintain because they eat less, and they can easily be turned into killing machines through drugs, alcohol, and sheer fear."
"There are three hundred thousand children under the age of eighteen fighting in thirty armed conflicts around the world. In Afghanistan, as well as in Somalia, thirty to forty-five percent of the solders are children. In Ethiopia, Uganda, and El Salvador, almost a third of the child soldiers are reported to be girls. Considered a renewable resource, children have become classic cannon fodder. ….Children from four to fourteen are the best soldiers. They are easily trained, they don't ask a lot of questions, they are less demanding, their notions of right and wrong are easily manipulated, they obey their elders, who themselves may be veterans of only fourteen or fifteen years old, they don't know the effect of killing, they are inexpensive to maintain because they eat less, and they can easily be turned into killing machines through drugs, alcohol, and sheer fear."
July 29, 2010
In this book, John Burnett chronicles his experiences as a relief worker during flooding in Somalia in 1997-1998. He had very interesting insights into the infighting and politics of the UN, Unicef, and the World Food Program. He also vividly describes the anarchy within Somalia--subclans and sub-subclans fighting for territory and power with complete lawlessness. The warlords permit the relief agencies to do their thing only because the agencies pay them to allow it, and despite huge security issues, the agencies insist on doing their thing because that is how they get and keep donors.
Burnett was completely unprepared for the terror and chaos that he found in Somalia. The lack of security and oversight was amazing--I am surprised even more relief workers are not killed. This book made more clear why aid organizations are not always welcome.
Even though I found parts of the book fascinating, I didn't like Burnett's writing and I don't think I would like him. He seemed very self centered and detached from the suffering experienced around him. When someone accuses him of being in it for the money and tells him to quit pretending to be altruistic, Burnett has to agree.
Burnett was completely unprepared for the terror and chaos that he found in Somalia. The lack of security and oversight was amazing--I am surprised even more relief workers are not killed. This book made more clear why aid organizations are not always welcome.
Even though I found parts of the book fascinating, I didn't like Burnett's writing and I don't think I would like him. He seemed very self centered and detached from the suffering experienced around him. When someone accuses him of being in it for the money and tells him to quit pretending to be altruistic, Burnett has to agree.
October 26, 2015
To get straight to the point: This was an excellent read. I could hardly put it down, it highlights the complexities of the situation in a deeply personal way, and Burnett's vivid descriptions are thoroughly engaging and heartbreaking. There is something undeniably endearing about his level of reflection and sometimes unflattering honesty, the way he doesn't provide answers but rather opens the floor for new questions. These questions regarding motive have no easy answers, and he doesn't attempt to provide them.
My one reason for subtracting a star here -and this may seem petty, but it's an important aspect to me- is the pervasive misogyny. I couldn't help rolling my eyes at the way every single woman (including the author's superiors etc.) is described based on her sexual attractiveness to the author, the attitude towards the "little girl" (read: 31-year-old woman) wanting to drive a boat, the description of women as "surprisingly assertive", and the list goes on and on.
My one reason for subtracting a star here -and this may seem petty, but it's an important aspect to me- is the pervasive misogyny. I couldn't help rolling my eyes at the way every single woman (including the author's superiors etc.) is described based on her sexual attractiveness to the author, the attitude towards the "little girl" (read: 31-year-old woman) wanting to drive a boat, the description of women as "surprisingly assertive", and the list goes on and on.
February 27, 2015
A surprisingly un-obnoxious book about doing UN relief work in Somalia. In the beginning, I really thought that the author was going to be too self-involved, but he was actually rather humble. The behind the scenes look into the political forces that govern relief efforts are startling and scary. The branding of aid by governments, particularly the US, has compromised the neutrality of humanitarian aid and the number of relief workers kidnapped and killed has increased. Burnette's big kick is the lack of security precautions for relief workers, which is actually a serious concern. It was not what I expected, but interesting and eye-opening nonetheless.
December 31, 2007
A quote from near the end: “While writing this did serve as therapeutic balm that partially healed the wounds of Somalia, it could not affect the change in attitude and outlook that resulted from such experiences. There are a few short-term, a few long-term effects, both salutary and deleterious. In any case, I cannot recall the person I was before Somalia. It is for damn sure that I sometimes do not recognize the person I have become.”
I like the quote because I can relate so much to it. Africa, life and death, changes us. And sometimes the result is not at all what we expected.
I like the quote because I can relate so much to it. Africa, life and death, changes us. And sometimes the result is not at all what we expected.
December 31, 2007
Interesting story about the perils of a relief effort during the Somali floods in the late 90s. Unfortunately, the author's acrimonious tone quickly gets old. I admire his honesty, but he came off seeming emotionally unstable and unfit for the job he jumped into. Especially when describing himself jumping around and pantomiming sex for a village full of starving Muslims. Cringe. The ugly American.
March 25, 2012
It's a great read about a topic that is complicated and bound to stir up emotions. It's well written and moving. The only reason I'd give it 3 stars is the author is extremely involved in the story (naturally) and for this reason, the facts appear to be skewed in some sections. I wouldn't mind this so much if it hadn't been presented as a "factual book" of sorts that's meant to inform how humanitarian operations are run. It's an awesome memoir but the barks louder than the bike.
August 6, 2007
fascinating look inside relief operations during tragic flooding in Somalia. written from a first responder's viewpoint and exposing the often dangerous worlds Aid workers encounter. well written, and fast paced. Also great introduction to crisis in Somalia and the politics of the surrounding region.
May 5, 2009
I like the brisk pacing of the book and his concise assessments of scenarios. I'm also rather amazed at his candid portrayal of his relationships. He'd have gotten a four for ridding me of rose-tinted glasses with regard to relief efforts but the ending of the book was somewhat abrupt and messy. Overall it's still a rather good read.
September 28, 2010
A look inside Somalia and the life of a aid worker employed by the U.N. Burnett is very critical of the lack of support given aid workers in very dangerous situations. Burnett is a good writer and we read about the events, but also learn about his very mixed feelings regarding himself and the whole system of providing humanitarian aid.
November 23, 2007
Relief work isn't for sissies. It's 70 % frustration and 30 % satisfaction. And what is more scary, the abnormal becomes normal when you deal with it long enough.
Not that I didn't know any of this in advance, but it is a compelling read never the less.
Not that I didn't know any of this in advance, but it is a compelling read never the less.
October 10, 2008
More like a 2 1/2. I didnt like his style of writing, although the story was interesting he just seemed so jaded with the system. While no doubt what he says is true (that the foreign relief system is broken) his alternative is that we fend for ourselves. Not a great solution.
July 29, 2008
highlights the sometimes slap-dash nature of relief work. It all sounds so organized when we hear about it on CNN or BBC, but the reality on the ground appears to be far more chaotic and hit-or-miss. I enjoyed hearing this "yachtie's" version of joining the ranks of relief workers in East Africa.
April 3, 2013
I found this an enlightening book about an average citizen becoming involved with humanitarian efforts. I enjoyed the author' s humor and perspective especially because I was living near Nairobi when I read it.
August 1, 2007
In 1998 I tried, unsuccessfully, to get from Ethiopia into Somalia. This book is a good reminder why that was possible the worst idea I have ever had.
October 3, 2007
Interesting read about the UN, NGO's, and wealthy donors like the US and how they all work (or don't work) together.
October 11, 2007
it really makes think about child soliders in war torn country. how do you do you talk a child out of shotting you; a child who has no concept of life or death; a child who has been trained to kill?
March 10, 2008
Not much of a fan of the guy himself, but his account of the 97-98 humanitarian relief effort after the floods in Somalia got better as the book went on.
August 1, 2008
i read this book because i wanted to know more about the political situation in somalia... and that was somewhat successful. but the author is such a dude!
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