I first heard about Doctors Without Borders from my good friend Doreen Wicks who with her husband Ben ran an organization called GEMS. They took medical supplies into the third world and later did micro enterprise in the third world. We met when I became a supporter of GEMS. When Doreen retired I began looking for another home for my support and when I asked her whom she liked she instantly answered Doctors Without Borders. She’d witnessed first hand their courage in the field as a relief worker and highly recommended them. I’ve been an avid fan and supporter since.
Founded by a rebel group of French doctors in 1971 Medicins Sans Frontieres or Doctors Without Borders annually sends thousands of volunteers into refugee camps and conflict zones where medical care is desperately needed. They work in dangerous places and many are hurt, kidnapped and even murdered. This Nobel Prize winning group with its 3000 volunteers in 80 countries is the largest independent medical humanitarian organization in the world. When a country’s on fire and everyone’s running for cover MSF is usually charging in where no one else will go. Their heroism is well-documented in books like Touched by Fire and Hope in Hell and the television series Crisis Zone. The idea of well-paid professionals leaving the security of their comfortable lives to go live and perform surgery in war zones captivates the imagination. These are truly the last heroes in a world that desperately needs heroes.