Mission to Heal: Sharing Medical Knowledge at Africa's Pole of Inaccessibility

by Glenn W. Geelhoed

Teaching and healing in a remote and precarious land Some might ask why Dr. Glenn Geelhoed has the right to make wrenching life-and-death decisions about the impoverished people he treats. Simply, where he travels, there is no one else to make them. This is especially true in the Central African Republic, where the so-called government provides no security and no infrastructure. Mission to Heal is the story of several weeks in the CAR teaching, healing, and learning. This is a tale of Western and indigenous caregivers operating side-by-side on the fringes of surgical civilization. Day by day, Glenn and his teams operate without electricity, with limited supplies, often with only local anesthesia. Their patients are stoic, and the supporting caregivers are resourceful and generous in the extreme. Many believe that the Zande and Mbororo people in this region, very near the most remote point on the African continent, are beyond help. Yet Glenn tells a different story--sometimes tragic, but frequently funny and often hopeful. Despite the backdrop of marauding invaders, refugee camps, and a deep history of geopolitical instability, Glenn works with the local people to develop a sustainable healthcare program--work he has been doing around the world for more than forty years. The feats of his caregiving teams and the indigenous communities in which they work reveal a crucial lesson for our humility, perseverance, and resilience can be effective weapons against some of the world's greatest problems.

Genres: Africa

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 5, 2014

About the author

Surgeon and educator Glenn W. Geelhoed has led medical students, residents, and physicians on more than two hundred health care missions to the developing world, including Africa, Asia, the South Pacific, and South America. He is past president of the Washington Academy of Surgeons, an inductee of the Academie de Chirurgie de Paris, the 2006 recipient of the GWU Medical Center’s Faculty Distinguished Service Award, and in fall 2009, received the American College of Surgeons’ Volunteerism Award for International Outreach.

Reviews

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Mission to Heal: Sharing Medical Knowledge at Africa's Pole of Inaccessibility by Glenn W. Geelhoed is a compelling account of humanitarian medicine, resilience, and the power of knowledge-sharing in some of the world's most challenging environments.

Geelhoed takes readers into remote communities in the Central African Republic, where medical teams work with limited supplies, little infrastructure, and extraordinary uncertainty. Yet the book is not simply about hardship. It highlights the resourcefulness of local caregivers and the importance of working alongside communities to create sustainable healthcare solutions.

What makes Mission to Heal especially powerful is its message of humility and partnership. The stories demonstrate that meaningful humanitarian work involves not only treating patients but also teaching, learning, and empowering local caregivers. It is an inspiring reminder of what perseverance and compassion can accomplish.

[AJ Payne]

It seems to me that this book was just rushed to press to get something out there on the Central African Republic because the country was going to shambles (well, more than its usual state of affairs anyway). It really wasn’t a great book, mostly because it felt rushed and like someone’s diary packaged in a nice cover. The author does amazing work, and I really did like learning about his organization and what it is like for him to travel in central Africa for his medical missions. I also do like most of his philosophies of imparting skills and knowledge to the local people and not (completely) being the great white hope for the area. But, the author at times seemed rather self-centered (when he is very likely not at all, given his life’s work) and incredibly focused on how much of his own money he was spending on the trip. Now, I completely get that the trips are expensive and largely funded by the author, but sometimes I couldn’t help but feel it was a thinly disguised note of “look how awesome I am, and I have to pay for it all myself, so… *hint hint* *nudge nudge*”

Nonetheless, I do greatly admire the work he and his team are doing and continue to do in central Africa and elsewhere. It’s amazing and I would love to join it. I really did learn a lot about providing humanitarian health missions on a small scale in CAR and the incredible amount of work it takes, along with the amazing rewards. I only wish it would have been less diary like and more polished and well thought out.

[Olivia Wilks]

What a fascinating look into a part of the world that is often only a footnote of tragedy. I was truly struck by the difficulties faced by a nation wrought by a lack of resources and positive governmental structure. This book and those like it shine a light on the painful realities faced by men, women and children lacking basic needs such as food, water, housing and specifically healthcare. I was pleasantly surprised to read Geelhoed’s grassroots efforts to teach medical knowledge to CAR citizens. That is the only way to provide sustainable, long-term care. Mission to Heal is an invitation to educate ourselves about the world we live in and then, take action; inspiring us to remember that one person really can make a difference.

[Sara]

I received a free hardcover copy of this book through the Goodreads First Reads program.

This book is about Dr. Glenn Geelhoed's 2013 trip to the Central African Republic. Dr. Geelhoed heads Mission to Heal which seeks to work with indigenous people throughout the world to develop sustainable medical programs. The program is funded by Dr. Geelhoed. The book goes in-depth into medical issues and procedures including pictures of tumors, goiters, etc.. so don't read if you are squeamish. It's amazing what he can accomplish medically with so few resources in these areas. These people would have no chance without Dr. Geehhoed's work because this area is so inaccessible.

[Anya]

I won this book through Goodreads First Reads.

Overall, it was a nice book. For a person who is scared of anything medical related, this was beyond my comfort zone. I was highly disturbed with the pictures especially the one behind the prologue, that was like one of my worst nightmares! But there were interesting and inspiring parts in the book. You can't help but admire people who dedicate their lives in helping other people especially the impoverished one and me growing up from a third world country such help are always highly appreciated.

[Natalie]

Few people may ever journey to CAR in their lives - or another location this rural. After decades of work in CAR and with the people there, Geelhoed opens the window to a world of beauty, struggle, strength and healing that I never knew existed. There's an urgency to the situation in CAR and the work of Mission to Heal that everyone needs to be aware of. An anthropological book laden with human story and the importance of learning and education from both sides of the world.

[Stephie Predmore]

Good book that brings light to the crisis in CAR as well as similar countries around the world. Would be great for use in higher-ed - I even sent a copy to my former anthropology professor for use in one of her classes.