Now that I have this site up and running, I'm finally able to share this post that I've been sitting on for quite some time.

A friend of mine in med school recommended me a book entitled "An Imperfect Offering: Humanitarianism in the 21st Century" by Dr. James Orbinski. She had told me that this book had significantly changed her life and her outlook, and spoke very highly of it. Admittedly, I was hesitant to pick up the book, thinking that the content could only really relate well with doctors and other health care workers. But, I really appreciate her opinion, so I went out and bought the book anyway, and I'm really glad I did.

"An Imperfect Offering" is a recounting of the work and life experiences of Dr. James Orbinski, the former president of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders). This book surprised and struck me in many ways. For one, this book is aimed at readers of any professional background, so it was an easy read (save for the emotional strife) while remaining quite informative. This was also the first account I've read about genocide through the eyes of a health care worker. All the other accounts I've read has been through the eyes of journalists, politicians or of civilians, but reading about the experiences of doctors who went through hell and back, fighting against all odds to provide health care to those who needed it really demonstrated the depth of our human fabric. This book is a detailed account of the different sides of humanity. And most importantly, my god, does this book make you realize how horrible war can be. Even if you think you're desensitized to depictions and accounts of war, if you've been raised in a developed world, then this is definitely a book that will still shock you. It shows you how atrocious war could be, from those who suffer, to those who orchestrate their suffering. Dr. Orbinski describes in blunt and honest detail the callousness of the political forces that drive the gears of war. This was a phenomenal read, I recommend this book to anyone.

But I somewhat digress. What I really wanted to write about was Dr. Orbinski's lecture that I had attended in September 2008. It was an absolutely inspirational speech. I wanted to highlight the main points he mentioned that I found to be good food for thought:

- Empathy not sympathy. The lecture really demonstrated how we can't separate ourselves from others, and we cannot enhance the quality of life for others by simply giving charity and sympathy. Instead, he spoke of pursuing solidarity, to understand that "they are us". Charity implies a separation, an "I'm sorry you're stuck there, but I don't really want to step out of my comfort zone to help you too much". Dr. Orbinski encouraged us to see that the impoverished are us, we can't separate ourselves or think of ourselves as different. When you accept that we are all humans and all should be treated similarly in similar situations then we can stand in solidarity and not accept the unacceptable. That is solidarity. Not charity, not vacuous band-aid solutions, but fighting for change by understanding the circumstances under which people live.

- Health care is not a commodity. This is one reason why I'm proud to be a Canadian citizen. Our public health care system makes us take health care services for granted. If we're hurt or feeling ill, there is no concern over the cost of care. But consider other nations. Consider having little to no health care coverage while living in a country with privatized health care. One fracture can set you back thousands of dollars. Now consider having no money, being in a war-torn country, with a bleeding gash on your arm. Dr. Orbinski told us a rather shocking story of Sudanese boy he once treated. The boy had come to him seeking treatment for a gash on his arm, inflicted by a food vendor from whom, in his starving desperation, he attempted to steal. As Dr. Orbinski was stitching the wound, he noticed symmetrical punctures all along the gash, punctures that suggested stitches. He asked the boy what those injuries were from. The boy said that he visited another doctor earlier who had stitched the wound, but upon realizing that he had no money with which to pay him, the doctor slit the stitches, undoing the work he did, and sent him out. The silence from the audience this point was sufficient enough to explain how shocking this is. How strong of a dichotomy there is between the developed world and the war-torn. I wish I had further commentary, but I can't find appropriate words to explain how wrong, in terms of human potential, this situation is. We are a remarkable species, but to see humanity stripped and degraded to such a form just renders one speechless.

I'm hoping this might get you thinking, or it might help organize some of your feelings. I'm one of those people who feel the weight of the world. I've always been looking for the right word to define the emotion I feel when I considered prisoners of circumstance like those born into poverty, war-torn areas. It was something more than just empathy. Attending that speech made me realize the word I was looking for this whole time was "solidarity".

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