Beyond Borders

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 essay, 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.

Genres: Medicine, Nonfiction

104 pages, Paperback

First published July 19, 2018

About the author

I was born in England, spent most of my life in Australia, and moved to Calgary, Canada in 2010.
I have had a greater variety of jobs than I care to remember. Loosely from worst to best:
• mobile ice cream van driver
• frozen chicken factory worker
• babysitter
• housewife
• household census taker
• leafleteer outside London Underground stations
• lunchtime waitress
• shop assistant
• screen printing entrepreneur
• community group leader
• government office clerk
• domestic violence refuge worker
• elected Newcastle City Councillor
• Australian emergency and remote area doctor
• physician with the international humanitarian organization, Doctors Without Borders
I retired from medicine in 2015 and have since been joyfully diving into writing and art.

Reviews

[Shawn Bird · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gentle, poetical book of one doctor's response to her experiences in Niger with Medecins San Frontieres. In brief snapshots of select experiences, she captures in poetry a depth of feeling that reverberates off the page and settles with disquiet in the reader.

I purchased this book after meeting Cassandra Arnold and being captivated by some of what she related in conversation. The book's unassuming, visual, statistical, and poetical presentation work as juxtaposition, leaving the reader contemplating the challenge of aid, the bounty of the West, and what we can do to alleviate suffering.

[Kayla Kurin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an insightful and eye opening book about the author's experience with doctors without borders! Loved the stories and the insight on travelling to a nearly unknown country completely different from home. If you're thinking of volunteering abroad I recommend this book!

[Liralen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and thoughtful, with very spare prose. I think I'd have preferred something a bit longer, but less because it felt like something was missing and more because I tend to prefer long-form writing.

I recommend reading this only in hard copy—the Kindle version I read was only available for the app on my phone (not for my admittedly elderly Kindle), and because of the way it's formatted (for hard copy, basically) the text was teeny teeny tiny and could not be enlarged. Recommend reading this on your phone only if you have young, healthy eyes and want to ruin them.