A profound exploration of emergency medicine practiced at the most remote and challenging frontiers of East Africa. This inspiring collection of essays finds hope and meaning in the face of extraordinary odds, as a young physician asks: What are the ethical and moral dimensions of saving one life knowing countless others will die?
In 2008, a young doctor set out for Kenya, to volunteer with the famed AMREF East African Flying Doctors Service. An emergency physician looking to make a difference, Marc-David Munk flew dozens of missions as a flight surgeon to eleven East African countries, including war-torn Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
From his unarmed air ambulance, Munk and his team treated patients suffering from severe trauma, possible Ebola hemorrhagic fever, elephantiasis, malaria, and gunshot wounds. The crew dodged corrupt officials, landed planes on unlit grass strips after first scaring away livestock, were threatened by al-Shabaab jihadis, navigated war zones, and clandestinely treated a U.S military serviceman. They also experienced some of the most beautiful parts of Africa and met the incredible people who live there. The tight-knit crew was passionate about saving lives despite the risks inherent in flights across war zones.
In Urgent Calls from Distant Places, the missions described are real and compelling. Readers will meet sick NGO workers in Somalia, malnourished Ugandan soldiers, suicidal teenagers, violent cow rustlers, American special forces, albino children murdered for their body parts, and even 19th-century explorers David Livingstone and Henry Stanley. Each chapter details the medical challenges of the mission but also explores the greater philosophical questions raised by treating patients in East Africa: African history, the impact of colonialism, communism, religion, terrorism, and war. Munk examines the unique histories and politics of the eleven countries he visits.
Urgent Calls is the story of the doctors, nurses, and pilots who tackled complex and dangerous missions to save lives. The book also bears witness to the author’s moral development as a healer and as a human. Urgent Calls takes readers to the wild beauty of East Africa and embraces the challenges of healing patients with humility, gratitude, and hope... one life at a time.
Quarter Finalist
Assessment:
Plot/Idea: Munk recollects his time serving as a voluntary physician with AMREF Flying Doctors in Africa. He takes on the gritty details of the job, shares the awakenings he experienced while living in a different culture, and reflects on his time there as a microcosm of larger societal patterns and health system challenges across the world.
Prose: Munk evokes the chaos and flurry of Africa’s larger cities alongside the desolation of desert landscapes, all in expert prose that smoothly transports readers into another world. He renders accident scenes in raw, sometimes disturbing spaces, an echo of the tragedies he witnessed during his time abroad, but just as powerful are his reflections on hard-won healings.
Originality: Munk’s ability to draw out the tender moments of his experiences and juxtapose them with the stark reality of his medical work in often-dire circumstances lends this memoir originality and magnetism.
Character/Execution: Readers will soak up Munk’s attention to detail, even in the moments he delves into the specifics of equipment, medical procedures, and his environment. He examines his role—and the stereotypes that often accompanied it—against cultural backdrops, consistently paying heed to nuances that impacted his work and interactions with others.
Date Submitted: January 11, 2024
