num_pages: 360
description: A powerful surprisingly funny and ultimately uplifting account of life on the medical front line and a moving testimony of the work done by Medecins Sans Frontieres Damien Brown a young doctor thinks he's ready when he arrives for his first posting with Medecins Sans Frontieres in Africa. But the town he's sent to is an isolated outpost of mud huts surrounded by landmines; the hospital for which he's to be the only doctor is filled with malnourished children and conditions he's never seen; and the health workersAngolan war veterans twice his age who speak no Englishwalk out on him following an altercation on his first shift. In the months that follow Damien confronts these challenges all the while dealing with the social absurdities of living with only three other volunteers for company. The medical calamities pile upincluding a leopard attack a landmine explosion and having to perform surgery using tools cleaned on the firebut it's through Damien's evolving friendships with the local people that his passion for the work grows. This heartbreaking and honest account of life on the medical front line in Angola Mozambique and South Sudan is a moving testimony of the work done by medical humanitarian groups and the extraordinary and sometimes eccentric people who work for them.
language: English
title: Band-Aid for a Broken Leg
publisher: Allen & Unwin Australia