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Political Science Ngos (non-governmental Organizations)

Rebel Without Borders

Frontline Missions in Africa and the Gulf

by (author) Marc Vachon

preface by Jean-Christophe Rufin

with François Bugingo

translated by Charles Phillips

Publisher
ECW Press
Initial publish date
Apr 2008
Category
NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations), Political
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781550227864
    Publish Date
    Apr 2008
    List Price
    $24.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781554902965
    Publish Date
    Apr 2008
    List Price
    $11.95

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Description

 

This is a true story.

Marc Vachon was born in Montreal in 1963. He went from one foster home to another. He knows the injustices that the weak must suffer in any society. He knows the violence, the abuse, and the emptiness that life can offer in so-called developed countries.

He dealt with it the only way possible: through drugs and crime. He turned into “a bad egg” as he puts it.

Until the day when, escaping an unbearable situation at home, he came across Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Paris. Since he had some experience in construction, he was hired to supervise the logistics of a cholera camp in Niaminthutu, Malawi. From that point on, he drew on the survival instincts he picked up on the streets, delving into his work to forget the pain, never looking back. He made himself indispensable, quickly becoming the frontline logistician for MSF, moving mountains, commanding respect, afraid of nothing or no one, able to build shelters for tens of thousands of refugees in record time.

Power struggles often occur in the humanitarian sector, and Marc Vachon could never really accept them. They always seem to go hand-in-hand with injustice. This has inspired him to deliver a biting and fascinating review of humanitarian aid, or at least the way it is in the present “news-entertainment” era.

 

About the authors

Marc Vachon's profile page

Jean-Christophe Rufin's profile page

François Bugingo's profile page

Charles Phillips is a convert to colour therapy who has experienced the power of colour to lift the spirit and transform the home. The author is based in London, UK.

Charles Phillips' profile page