By Silvia Aloisi
zones
Shot in 2005-2006 and presented at the Venice film
festival, "Living in Emergency" follows four Western volunteers
working in Africa for Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the
French-based aid agency which won the Nobel Peace Prize in
1999.
Two are new recruits and two are experienced field workers
in Liberia after its brutal civil war and in the lawless
northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
All struggle to cope with a crushing work load, the lack of
adequate supplies, and the chaos and carnage around them.
Using graphic footage of emergency surgery and frank
interviews with aid workers, the documentary gives a powerful
sense of what life in the field is really like for MSF doctors,
and stays away from the sanitized images which are sometimes
used to make humanitarian work easier for audiences to watch.
"It was very clear from the beginning that we did not want
to make some kind of 'cause documentary'. That's a genre like
'everything is going to be okay and here are the heroes',"
director Mark Hopkins, who is a dual U.S. and British national,
told Reuters in an interview.
"They (MSF doctors) don't view themselves like that, they
are humans. They are doing quite extraordinary stuff in crazy
situations but ... it would be disingenuous to the actual
reality of the situation to turn it into one of those standard
cliches."
It also explores how their ideals, perspectives and motives
are transformed over time by what they witness in the field,
and how difficult it is too keep morale high amid the tension
and frustrations.
"This is low-grade medicine. The things that we do are not
as good as they could be," one of the volunteers says in the
film.
While most describe their work as a highly enriching
experience, the stress and the exposure to the horrors of war
can take a heavy toll.
Chris Brasher, an Australian anesthetist who worked with
MSF for nine years and is one of the doctors at the centre of
the documentary, has now left the agency for a Paris hospital.
"I was completely burnt out .... dreaming about burned
bodies and dying people. I had trouble in my personal life
maintaining my relationships. I was becoming aggressive," he
said, adding it was very hard to readjust to normal life.
He offered this advice to the thousands of people who every
year apply to become an MSF volunteer: "To all those who think
they are doing this for other persons and not for themselves,
think again."
(Editing by Caroline Drees)
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