Prioritizing global health
Hand on My Heart: A Canadian Doctor’s Awakening in Afghanistan
by Maureen Mayhew
Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2023
$26 / 9781773861029
Reviewed by Dr. Laura Sauvé
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When people – especially women – are working in resource-limited settings they are often questioned about why they are there – why are they not at home, raising children, looking after a husband. We are looked at as misfits – people wondering if we pursue that work because we don’t fit in at home. It’s probably true that many do overseas work to escape expectations or challenges at home.
Growing up with the privilege of being a white person in Canada, Dr. Maureen Mayhew describes her desire to help, and her awareness of the tremendous inequities. She talks about pursuing work with Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) – whose mission it is both to help but also to witness. In this book, Dr. Mayhew provides poignant witnessing of an area filled with suffering, but also joy.
With this memoir, Dr. Mayhew evocatively describes her experiences working in Afghanistan. Her descriptions of events both big and small are vivid and help the reader see the common humanity in a country that is often vilified in the mainstream media.
Often, culture is described as an iceberg – there are the easily visible aspects, like burkas, turbans, food, and tea. Often people traveling just see that visible portion of the iceberg. Dr. Mayhew eloquently explores the less visible parts of that iceberg – starting to learn about how the society interacts, how women cope with the cultural mores which keep them isolated. Issues of feminism and women’s rights – and how as a foreign woman she skirts those experiences are described in a way that is evocative and realistic.
As someone who has had the tremendous privilege of working in hospitals in multiple countries in Africa, the descriptions of some of the experiences of culture shock, and the life changing learning that happens, rang true. There are differences in our experiences – Dr. Mayhew describes her initial dismay at being offered a posting in Afghanistan and at being put off by the many restrictions women face in the country. I remembered reviewing the potential places for my posting and intentionally choosing the least-resourced country – but one where I had the freedom to move about, and where there was no war (at that time).
Once people see the inequities in the world, it is hard to unsee them – Dr. Mayhew’s descriptions bring a humanity and familiarity in a way to a very different culture. Hopefully, readers will see some of the people behind the challenges that the area has faced for generations.
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Before her career in British Columbia began, Dr. Laura Sauvé, MD, MPH, worked in Burkina Faso for the Baylor Pediatric AIDS Initiative, gaining an understanding of caring for children in very resource limited settings that she was able to apply to her work in BC. She is currently a pediatric infectious disease specialist who has a special interest in Pediatric HIV/AIDS at British Columbia Children’s Hospital and a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia. Her main research interests include public health surveillance especially with respect to HIV, vaccine preventable disease, global child health, and pediatric HIV/AIDS. Recently, she was instated as Assistant Head, Clinical Partnerships, Department of Pediatrics, UBC & BC Children’s Hospital. She lives in Vancouver.
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The British Columbia Review
Interim Editors, 2023-25: Trevor Marc Hughes (non-fiction), Brett Josef Grubisic (fiction and poetry)
Publisher: Richard Mackie
Formerly The Ormsby Review, The British Columbia Review is an online book review and journal service for BC writers and readers. The Advisory Board now consists of Jean Barman, Wade Davis, Robin Fisher, Barry Gough, Hugh Johnston, Kathy Mezei, Patricia Roy, Maria Tippett, and Graeme Wynn. Provincial Government Patron (since September 2018): Creative BC. Honorary Patron: Yosef Wosk. Scholarly Patron: SFU Graduate Liberal Studies. The British Columbia Review was founded in 2016 by Richard Mackie and Alan Twigg.
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