I congratulate the Listener for the stunning Médicins San Frontières photographs and article (“Heroes & hope”, December 3). It left me wanting more.
Working as an aid worker in Sudan in 1985, I recall one of the senior Save the Children staff members describing MSF as “cowboys”. In my experience, working in Wad Kowli refugee camp with Save the Children then later with the World Health Organisation, MSF is one of the best aid organisations.
At Wad Kowli, MSF were responsible for adult curative care, inpatient and outpatient. Our relationship with them was at all times excellent. At the MSF clinic for adults, the four doctors saw 1000-1500 patients a day.
A Save the Children report from 1985 mentions, “[MSF’s] handling of the cholera outbreak was copybook, and placed very few extra demands on our staff. A very professional group who work well as a team.”
The suspected cholera patients were in two wards, where they had electricity, and plastic sheeting on the floors. Everywhere, intravenous drips were up. The bed bases were made of cord, and they tied back the cord to make a hole – the “rice water” stool going through into a big Oxfam plastic biscuit tin.
I wore a plastic, long-sleeved gown, and gloves that covered the cuffs of the gown. My task was to dip my stool container into the tin of faeces and take it back to the lab for examination using a microscope. I remember the smile on
