Get Free Ebook Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid, by Jessica Alexander
When obtaining this publication Chasing Chaos: My Decade In And Out Of Humanitarian Aid, By Jessica Alexander as recommendation to review, you could get not only motivation however likewise new knowledge as well as lessons. It has greater than common benefits to take. What type of e-book that you read it will be valuable for you? So, why must get this book qualified Chasing Chaos: My Decade In And Out Of Humanitarian Aid, By Jessica Alexander in this article? As in link download, you can get the book Chasing Chaos: My Decade In And Out Of Humanitarian Aid, By Jessica Alexander by online.
Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid, by Jessica Alexander
Get Free Ebook Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid, by Jessica Alexander
Is Chasing Chaos: My Decade In And Out Of Humanitarian Aid, By Jessica Alexander book your preferred reading? Is fictions? Exactly how's concerning history? Or is the most effective vendor unique your option to satisfy your downtime? And even the politic or spiritual publications are you searching for now? Right here we go we provide Chasing Chaos: My Decade In And Out Of Humanitarian Aid, By Jessica Alexander book collections that you require. Bunches of numbers of books from several fields are given. From fictions to scientific research as well as religious can be searched and discovered right here. You may not stress not to discover your referred book to read. This Chasing Chaos: My Decade In And Out Of Humanitarian Aid, By Jessica Alexander is one of them.
As one of guide collections to propose, this Chasing Chaos: My Decade In And Out Of Humanitarian Aid, By Jessica Alexander has some solid reasons for you to read. This publication is quite suitable with exactly what you require now. Besides, you will certainly additionally love this publication Chasing Chaos: My Decade In And Out Of Humanitarian Aid, By Jessica Alexander to check out because this is one of your referred books to review. When going to get something brand-new based on encounter, amusement, as well as various other lesson, you can use this publication Chasing Chaos: My Decade In And Out Of Humanitarian Aid, By Jessica Alexander as the bridge. Beginning to have reading habit can be undertaken from numerous ways and from alternative kinds of publications
In checking out Chasing Chaos: My Decade In And Out Of Humanitarian Aid, By Jessica Alexander, now you may not additionally do traditionally. In this modern age, gadget and computer will certainly help you a lot. This is the time for you to open the gadget and remain in this website. It is the appropriate doing. You could see the connect to download this Chasing Chaos: My Decade In And Out Of Humanitarian Aid, By Jessica Alexander right here, can not you? Simply click the web link as well as negotiate to download it. You could reach purchase the book Chasing Chaos: My Decade In And Out Of Humanitarian Aid, By Jessica Alexander by online as well as all set to download. It is quite various with the conventional means by gong to guide store around your city.
However, checking out the book Chasing Chaos: My Decade In And Out Of Humanitarian Aid, By Jessica Alexander in this website will certainly lead you not to bring the printed book everywhere you go. Simply store guide in MMC or computer system disk and also they are available to read any time. The prosperous heating and cooling unit by reading this soft file of the Chasing Chaos: My Decade In And Out Of Humanitarian Aid, By Jessica Alexander can be leaded into something brand-new routine. So currently, this is time to confirm if reading could boost your life or otherwise. Make Chasing Chaos: My Decade In And Out Of Humanitarian Aid, By Jessica Alexander it definitely function and obtain all benefits.
Jessica Alexander arrived in Rwanda in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide as an idealistic intern, eager to contribute to the work of the international humanitarian aid community. But the world that she encountered in the field was dramatically different than anything she could have imagined. It was messy, chaotic, and difficult—but she was hooked.
In this honest and irreverent memoir, she introduces readers to the realities of life as an aid worker. We watch as she manages a 24,000-person camp in Darfur, collects evidence for the Charles Taylor trial in Sierra Leone, and contributes to the massive aid effort to clean up a shattered Haiti. But we also see the alcohol-fueled parties and fleeting romances, the burnouts and self-doubt, and the struggle to do good in places that have long endured suffering.
Tracing her personal journey from wide-eyed and naïve newcomer to hardened cynic and, ultimately, to hopeful but critical realist, Alexander transports readers to some of the most troubled locations around the world and shows us not only the seemingly impossible challenges, but also the moments of resilience and recovery.
- Sales Rank: #77638 in Books
- Published on: 2013-10-15
- Released on: 2013-10-15
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 7.98" h x .88" w x 5.21" l, .63 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 400 pages
Review
“In Chasing Chaos, Jessica Alexander serves up a sharp critique of the multi-billion dollar humanitarian aid industry, wrapped in a tender coming-of-age story. Her quietly evocative prose recreates the painful, poignant, and sometimes hilarious experience of marching into 'the field' of armed conflict and disaster to relieve suffering, supported by donations from those who expect heroism. With remarkable honesty and empathy, Alexander reveals how absurd and presumptuous it is to imagine we can fix the world and, even more profoundly, why we must continue to try. An important book.” —Sheri Fink, New York Times bestselling author of Five Days at Memorial
“Terrific new memoir...It's Wild in Sudan.” —Nicholas Kristof, New York Times columnist
“In her new book Chasing Chaos, Jessica Alexander offers a poignant, clear-eyed look at the world of international disaster relief and her own addiction to aid work…Chasing Chaos is a reminder that happiness is an act of delicate and ever-evolving inner compromise. The book makes you simultaneously want to pack your bags and never leave home.” —The Daily Beast
“Enlightening...eye-opening...Chasing Chaos is a solid contribution to what is hopefully a growing genre of writing about a sector that deserves more attention and oversight.” —Associated Press
“Jessica Alexander's book, Chasing Chaos, is not only a candid portrait of the life of a humanitarian aid worker, but a wonderful coming-of-age story that will resonate with any woman who has questioned how to have a more meaningful life.”
—Mia Farrow
“Refreshingly absent in Chasing Chaos are any declarations of grandeur or of superior moral fiber. Rather, Alexander’s honesty about her own ignorance on the true severity of the conditions in the places she visits is precisely what makes her remarkable story so accessible. Even now, after a decade working with multiple humanitarian organizations, the author still makes plain how much she has to learn. Alexander is proud of her achievements, and certainly should be, but it is in her detailing of the vast room for improvement in the system that she focuses, with a dry wit and healthy dose of honest self-evaluation, that we are able to connect with her experiences on a more personal level. We are all the more fortunate for it.”
—Bustle.com
“I think that is what Jessica does so well: puts a human face on aid work. And not just her face, but the faces of her international and national colleagues…Jessica reveals the inconsistencies, the ambivalence of aid work as she takes us to Sudan, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, New York, and Haiti. But, she also offers valuable lessons for the next generation.” —Brendan Rigby, whydev.org
“What Mary Roach does for the alimentary canal in Gulp and Robin Nagle does for garbage collecting in Picking Up, Jessica Alexander does for global catastrophe in Chasing Chaos...An entertaining memoir of life on the front lines of global catastrophe reveals as much about its author as the world of humanitarian aid.”
—Shelf Awareness
“A no-holds-barred description of what it is like to travel to world disaster sites and engage in the complex, challenging, nitty-gritty work of making a difference across lines of culture, class, age, gender, and perspective. In telling the story of her decade as a young and passionate humanitarian aid worker, Jessica Alexander also manages to tell us the best and the worst of what this work is like and to speculate on the aid establishment—how it has changed, where it works and what its limits are. A must read for anyone with global interests—and that should be all of us.” —Ruth Messinger, President, American Jewish World Service
“Chasing Chaos examines the lives that aid workers lead and the work which aid workers do with honesty, clarity, and warmth. While the book is peppered with hilarious anecdotes—it is also salted with tears. Honest, genuine, heartfelt tears. This life and this work that aid and development workers embark upon so often oscillates wildly between stomach bursting laughter and shoulder seizing weeping—Chasing Chaos captures these oscillations, and the doldrums in between the ends of the spectrum, perfectly.” —Casey Kuhlman, New York Times bestselling author of Shooter
“During ten years of working with the sick, the hungry, and the injured, Jessica Alexander touches and is touched by victims of genocide, earthquakes, tsunamis, and bombs. The compelling quality of this book is Alexander’s honesty, sharp observations, and conversational prose. With humor and insight, she shares the intimate details of her everyday life. Even if you’re a seasoned traveler, this entry into the world of humanitarian aid organizations—the good, the bad, and the frustrating—is fascinating.” —Rita Golden Gelman, author of Tales of a Female Nomad
“In Chasing Chaos, Alexander takes us to a place where few outsiders can go, cracking open the rarefied world of humanitarianism to bare its contradictions—and her own—with boldness and humor. The result is an immensely valuable field guide to the mind of that uniquely powerful and vulnerable of beasts: the international aid worker.” —Jonathan M. Katz, author of The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster
“Not only is Jessica Alexander a wonderful writer—her clear, evocative prose transported me into refugee camps in Darfur, war-trials in Sierra Leone and post-earthquake Haiti—but she is honest about the complexity of 'doing good,' without being defeatist. Funny, touching, and impossible to put down, this book should be required reading for anyone contemplating a career in aid, and for all of us who wonder how we can make a useful contribution to a better world, wherever we are.” —Marianne Elliott, author of Zen Under Fire: How I Found Peace in the Midst of War
“A fresh, very readable, highly personal account of the trials and tribulations of a young aid worker as she confronts the daily realities— the good, the bad and the very uncomfortable—of life dealing with some of the most important humanitarian challenges of the last decade.” —Ross Mountain, Former Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General and Humanitarian Coordinator, United Nations
“You'll start Chasing Chaos because you are interested in humanitarian aid. You'll finish because of Jessica Alexander's irresistible storytelling: her honesty, her humanity, her wackadoodle colleagues, her dad. I loved it.” —Kenneth Cain, author of Emergency Sex: and Other Desperate Measures
“A hardened idealist's challenging look at the contradictions, complications, and enduring importance of humanitarian aid.” —Robert Calderisi, author of The Trouble with Africa: Why Foreign Aid Isn't Working
"Jessica Alexander’s Chasing Chaos is a must read for anyone concerned with helping those in need. Americans are some of the most generous people on Earth in reaching out to those coping with disasters, both natural and man-made, but how we give and what we give can make the difference between saving lives and only making a bad situation even worse. The path to hell really can be paved with good intentions, as Ms. Alexander perceptively describes and as I have seen during my own twenty plus years working in Africa and the Middle East, including many tours dealing with the same countries Alexander portrays. She knows of what she speaks.” —Christopher Datta, Former American Foreign Service Officer and author of Touched with Fire: Based on the True Story of Ellen Craft
About the Author
JESSICA ALEXANDER spent much of the last decade responding to humanitarian crises across the globe. A former Fulbright scholar, she has worked for various NGOs as well as UN agencies. She has a dual masters degree from Columbia and is currently working toward her PhD.
Most helpful customer reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful.
Uneven
By Electronica
I bought this book when I went to one of her public appearances. As another reviewer noted, Ms Alexander is an impressive speaker, thoughtful and knowledgeable, and I was hoping the book would follow through.
Although her prose was as excellent as her public speaking, I thought the book was disappointing. It's more of a "coming of age" story, complete with failed relationships, occasional hookups, idealism sullied by harsh realities, and late-night discussions about the meaning of life with her girlfriends. I was amused when "years later" and "years ago" turned out to be 3-year spans of time....really she could benefit from a little perspective; her lifetime is just beginning! And really no one should be surprised that aid agencies staffed by real human beings and dependent on donations fall prey to politics,image-burnishing, and inefficiencies. Hardly a revelation!
All that being said, I learned a lot about the particular catastrophes she was involved in; I'll admit I'm one of the people who has trouble with African geography. And her descriptions of the maturing aid "community" which is really a late-20th century development are enlightening. With people like her involved, I'm sure it will continue to improve in effectiveness and efficiency.
Summary--excellent writing and informative about some recent history, but way too chatty. Perhaps her next book will provide a more thorough perspective on international aid.
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful.
Excellent Book
By John Standiford
I've often wondered what draws people to save the world by traveling around the globe and offering aid to those in other countries. While it sounds xenophobic, I've often thought that with all the needs in our own nation, why go somewhere else and why would you think you can make a difference.
That's what led me to Chasing Chaos by Jessica Alexander. While I can't say that the book answers all of my questions, it does an excellent job in providing information and a personal experience that I found informative, thought-provoking and important. Ms. Alexander has spent considerable time in places in Africa, Haiti and other locales and has provided an excellent account and analysis of foreign aid and the world of NGOs, the U.N. and disaster recovery efforts.
Her description and re-telling of her time in Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Haiti were excellent and I feel much better informed after reading it.
I recommend this book wholeheartedly. Ms. Alexander walks the lines between autobiographer, journalist and scholar in this book and the end product is exceptional.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
An Engrossing, Eye-Opening Read
By PushkinLover
If you've ever wanted to save the world and wondered how (and how not) to do it, Chasing Chaos is the book to read. Chasing Chaos is neither an academic treatise nor a muckraking expose, and readers should not expect to find either prescriptions for or blanket condemnations of the current aid effort. The book is an extremely readable and engaging personal memoir that charts one young woman's education in the challenging, maddening, and ultimately heartbreaking world of humanitarian aid.
The reader will learn a great deal about the ways that valiant aid workers like Jessica Alexander strive to confront some of the most difficult humanitarian situations of our time. In her years of work in the field, Alexander experienced a wide range of different aid scenarios and the book does an excellent job of revealing the particular complexities and challenges of each, giving the reader a compelling and thought-stimulating overview of the significant challenges that "doing good" poses for everyone concerned, and it does so in a way that is engrossing, sympathetic, and often quite funny.
Readers will be drawn in by Alexander's personality and the way she vividly writes about her own development in the developing world, from wide-eyed ingénue to someone who is critical of many aspects of the aid effort, but also deeply hopeful about the difference that coordinated aid can make in people's lives. There will always be disasters, both natural and man-made, so you can read this book and be thankful that people like Jessica Alexander are willing to go to places that most of us would not want to visit, much less live, and marshal their intelligence, financial resources, and empathy in humanitarian service to some of the most dispossessed people on our fraught planet.
Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid, by Jessica Alexander PDF
Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid, by Jessica Alexander EPub
Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid, by Jessica Alexander Doc
Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid, by Jessica Alexander iBooks
Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid, by Jessica Alexander rtf
Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid, by Jessica Alexander Mobipocket
Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid, by Jessica Alexander Kindle
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar