Médecins Sans Frontières: A Documentary about "Living In Emergency"

The following is a trailer for the documentary film "Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders."


Living in Emergency Trailer from LivinginEmergency on Vimeo.

I had the privilege of seeing this film today with friends from my North Minneapolis Faith community. A small group of us from St. Philip's Catholic church were joined by the Northside Visitation Sisters at the St. Anthony Main theater, for this Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival screening. It blew my mind. It made me ask a lot of questions:

What does it mean to be a medical practitioner living and working beyond borders?
What are the frontiers of health care workers?
What implications does the work of Médecins Sans Frontières have for the rest of us?
How does entering a war-torn country resemble anything remotely familiar to your average US citizen?
How does a film like this push us all beyond our comfort zones and challenge us to step into the messy circumstances of conflict, terror, trauma, seeming scarcity, the absurd?
What does it mean to navigate the chaos of war -- the cruelty of the ridiculous and possibly insane?
Why even try?

I sat next to Antoinette Bennaars Lukanga. Behind me were Ann Shallbetter, Kristin Moffit, Carol Assiobo Tipoh and her cousin Adjo "Ellie" Amouzou. Sisters Mary Frances, Mary Virginia, Mary Margaret, Katherine, Suzanne and Karen were about five rows up and to the right. We were a crazy cross section of women from African countries and American states. Pink and brown-skinned; blond, brunette, black and grey-haired. Some of us work in the sciences with healthcare careers ; others were employed in education with classroom experiences. Still others had expertise in business, with human resource management and leadership roles. All of us were connected in one way or another to the film's central characters --the doctors without borders -- all struggling with the responsibility of trying to heal, mend - step in and witness what is bleeding and broken.

I cried watching this film. I laughed out loud at the absurdity of what I was seeing. I squirmed and squeezed my eyes shut at the horrific but ridiculous reality presented. (Drilling into a human skull to aleviate pressure on an already blown open-by-gunfire brain?!) I cursed alongside the isolated physician in Liberia without resources or support to do his job. I marveled at the arrogance and egos at play between the blessed humans doing this work. I wondered a lot about translating communication and culture in spaces like Congo. I thought long and hard about how connected we all are. I returned to the privilege I have to see such things and truly contemplate them. What exists at the heart of such war-torn spaces? Why do these conditions persist?

I invite all of us to see this film, support the efforts of such work, and recognize how we all might - as individuals and a larger global community --step into solutions.

In peace,
Your contemplative friend, (and catholic beyond borders),
Melissa

Your Responses to President Obama's Speech

The following are a collection of your responses to President Obama's Inaugural Address, that I have had the privilege of receiving in my email inbox. I stand in awe. Humbled. In love. Moved. Inspired. Hopeful. Grateful. Yes. For what unifies us, gives us hope, and invites us to continually be about the change that we so desire on this planet. I point you especially to the words of Nomi Nkomo, who, along with Colette Deharpporte, inspired me to initially publish the blog posting on Obama's speech. Nomi writes to further clarify why President Obama's line about creation vs. destruction was so powerful to her. I find her writing as a South African friend, alongside all of yours, insightful and wise, and giving voice to that which doesn't often get named, seen, acknowledged.

For it all, I say, "Amen!"

Happy Contemplating!
Melissa

***

Nomi Nkomo said...

"Know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy." - President Obama

I can't even call it a 'favourite line'. It was profound. It was a truth. We don't speak those. They mean nothing to us. We feel them but we don't speak them because speaking them would give life to them. If it's alive, we have to acknowledge its existence.

What it meant to me was so much more than a message to the Iraqi leaders. He was saying 'forgive'. Forgiveness frees you to move forward and build. Holding on to anything is a hindrance and you focus on what is/went wrong instead of celebrating the lessons and focusing on what is important - you, your well-being, the people that matter to you, your future, your family, your truths, your reality.

"[Your] people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy" - What matters in life is your successes, not your failures. I need to remember that it's my successes that matter, not my failures. I... need to remember that people will judge me on what I can build, not what I destroy.

When he said it there was a stunned silence. Honestly, it was the most powerful thing he said. Live up to that and tell me it wasn't... you know?

Nomi
***

Andrea said...

Amen, amen and amen, sister!

xo
Andrea

***
Jane K said...

Dear Melissa,

These grabbed me:
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. The nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous.

The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart -- not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

words of hope,
peace
Jane

***

Sarah G. said...

Yee-haw!

***
tmr said...

thank you so much...i so appreciate your sharing this link and your sentiment ~ you're the best!

peace be...

t.
***

Sondra Samuels said...

I love it!!
SS

Sondra Samuels,
President
PEACE Foundation
1119 W. Broadway Ave.
Minneapolis, MN
***

Colleen said...

My favorite line is actually from his acceptance speech at the DNC
"Let us lead by the force of example, not an example of force."

***

Kate Johnson said...

Amen, Sister!

***

Cece Ryan said...

AMEN!!!!!!!! We got to watch it here at work on the big screen in our conference center. My Favorite is also “for we know that our patchwork……… and I do hope that we can finally put aside childish things, like party lines to accomplish the things that will serve all people!

***

Anonymous said...

My Dearest Queen Mab,

You have my AMEN. When the pastor started reciting the "Our Father" moments before the swearing in...I found myself joining in prayer outloud...in unison...in hope...in faith...in love.
Lovingly,
A.

***

Jody said...

Okay, in addition to what you have written (apologies if I repeat anything you already had I'm trying not to) here are some phrases that stuck out to me.

-On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

-In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never given, it must be earned.

-What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.

-To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds.

-For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies.

-But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism...

-This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

And of course all that you shared before which were the things at the top of my list before the ones I listed above.

***

Tanya said...

Amen my friend!! AMEN!!!

***

Julia said...

AMEN!

***

Sr. Rafael Tilton said...

AMEN AMEN!!
Sr. Rafael

***
Julie Landsman said...

I loved the poem by Alexander too...

***

Philip said...

We'll I hate to rub it in, but I just had to say, "Yes, I caught it live!" I was one of the many who attended it….it was simply an electric atmosphere.

***
Brendan and Marie said...

How marvelous to get a glimpse into the world's reaction to our miracle! Thanks for sharing this with us.

Prayers for our new President, his Cabinet and our government--they will need them every day as they face the task of rebuilding our country.

Regards, Marie and Brendan

***
Ann Dillard said...

Amen!

"North of Uganda and God" - Compassionate Inquiry as Response

The following arrived in my inbox as a response to Monday's blog post about the recent massacre in the Congo. I found it particularly powerful in the complex and compassionate questions that my friend is posing. He writes from his perspective as a Ugandan residing in Minnesota. I share anonymously with his permission, and with much gratitude for such correspondence. You will see my response below.

***

Melissa, is this why some people choose to stay within their areas of comfort, environments they understand, situations they can interpret? Sometimes our quest to expand our horizons can be a nightmare in itself! Sometimes its better to stay within the confines that make sense. I have reached a point in my life where I do not fault those who are not traveled (not even beyond their state of origin). Sometimes one is better off knowing so little but, at the minimum, in position to make sense of the little. More knowledge, of and about our world can be overwhelming. It can be confusing. It can be hard to reconcile human nature and humanity.

Obviously, as you state in your writing, you are conflicted by what you read and what you experienced in your travels. How do you reconcile that? The terrible truth is that you reconcile by digging deeper into the details, into the history, into the propaganda and guess what....... sounds like even more confusion as you uncover the background noise.

For example, the bitter truth about the LRA atrocities over the last 16 years is that more than half have been committed by the Ugandan army. Remember all this has happened in the North of Uganda and God..... does the government have such spicy hatred for the people of the North........ Wanna know why?..... read some more*...... Its terrible........!! Those people have suffered at the hands of our government!

In Uganda not many people would pay attention to a 'Church Burning' story by the LRA. Suprise!!! ....... Well yeah.. Because no one believes that it either happened or it was at the hands of the LRA.

Enough for now..... Its a terrible world.

Its a beautiful day out here, in MN...., in the US of A.

Too bad for the Iraqis or Palestinians who can't say the same......

Well, if you have a headache blame it on the winter!

***

*For more information on the Lord's Resistance Army, here's a link to the International Criminal Courts Investigations. This is provided by the Global Policy Forum, which monitors Policy -Making at the United Nations.
-Melissa

Love to Northern California!

Hey! Greetings! Sacramento! San Francisco! Rio Linda! McClellan! Belvedere Tiburon! Berkeley! Stockton! Valley Springs! Oakland!

You all are lighting up my blog site!

I am so curious who is reading these random blog entries of mine in Cali! In the last month, my blog-reader report has blown up with statistics about communities in Northern California. Two specific communities, actually: Rio Linda and McClellan. (You may even note this inspired a line in a poem I wrote this past month!)

I am inviting your response here. I welcome your thoughts, comments, questions, prayers, your own story of who you are, and what brings you to "Queen Mab Contemplates."

Yes!

I know I have a blessed community of family and friends and colleagues around the globe that keep tabs on me through this site. I love hearing words and prayers as response. That this could be, IS a space of mutual gift - gives me the greatest joy.

Please write. A comment in the comment section below. Or send me an email:
Queenmab31@yahoo.com.

It's a privilege to hold space and inspire. We are all walking this road together, right?

Peace, Sunshine, Respect,
Melissa

Last Night in St. Paul: "An Amazing Event -- at street level, gut level" By Nick Coleman

It was History. It is amazing. Nick Coleman's article bears some inspiring, rocking witness to what transpired last night in St. Paul; (on a larger level: to what is somehow happening in our country?!?)

I'm thankful to my friend Ann Shallbetter, who forwarded this Star Tribune Article with her own appreciative words: "Awesome coverage the rally from last night is getting! I love Nick Coleman and always appreciate his perspective. Enjoy the read!"

I echo her invitation: "Enjoy the read!"
Peace,
Melissa

The full Article, with any associated images and links can be viewed here.

An amazing event -- at street level, gut level
NICK COLEMAN, Star Tribune

A black man came to Minnesota Tuesday, claimed the presidential nomination of a major political party, and was met with adulation, ovations and brisk sales of T-shirts.

If that doesn't seem amazing, you have been living on a better planet. Or in a better state.

Barack Obama came to a place that once was flyover land, never made political news and used to be as segregated as any to declare -- at 9:14 p.m. CDT on June 3, 2008 -- that he had won the Democratic nomination.

In a building where the most exciting thing said is usually, "Now it's time to drop the puck," it was a startling occasion, startling at street level and at gut level, too.

Lines of people waited hours for a chance to get into the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, and many of them were people of color. This was not just another hockey game at the corner of West 7th and Kellogg.

This was even bigger than a run at the Stanley Cup.

"I love him," said the Rev. Joseph Webb III, the African-American pastor of the Free at Last Church, a block from the X, where parishioners who normally feed the hungry were raising money for the Lord's work by selling brats to the Obama throng.

"He answers questions that have been on my mind about the government, and the war and things that don't make sense to me," Webb said before heading to the X with his wife, Andrea.

"I don't see it as a black or white thing. I just see it as what's good for the country."

Next to the X, in the humid corridors of the Roy Wilkins Auditorium, 400 St. Paul Central seniors in caps and gowns waited, with their families, for their lives to start.

Some felt that way about their country, too.

Barabara Freese and Jim Coben were there for son Tom's graduation. They were wearing Obama shirts and were keenly tuned to the drama next door, and to the juxtapositions of personal and political histories.

“This is a night of beginnings,” Freese said. “A night when kids begin the next stage of their lives, and the country is starting a new chapter.”

Last week, on the last day of classes, the Central seniors gathered at the school door and waited for the final bell, sending them out of school for the last time and into the world for the first. As they waited, a chant rose from among their ranks: “Yes, we can! Yes, we can! Yes, we can!”

For some in a racially diverse inner-city community in the middle of a state and country that has known racial polarization, it is simple:

"I'm for Obama," said Hakeem McLane, a senior who was posing for pictures with his friends before the ceremony. "I ain't trying to be racist or anything. But he's black."

Others just as surely will vote against Obama because of his color. But Hakeem’s mother, Patricia McLane, also a Central alum, added a parent’s proud hopes to her son’s exuberance.

“We need the change that’s going to come,” she said, standing near a bust of Roy Wilkins, the civil rights pioneer from St. Paul for whom the auditorium is named. “We need something new to rise up to give hope to all these kids who are graduating tonight. And it seems like the country is going to stand for something again.”

No one knows how it will turn out on Election Day. That’s still five months away, and not everyone looks at life through blue-colored glasses.

The crowd booed, loudly and on cue, when Obama, who came to Minnesota to upstage John McCain, mentioned that the Republican Party will hold its convention at the Xcel in September.

St. Paul is not a battleground. It gave former Mayor Randy Kelly, a Democrat, the boot after he danced with George W. Bush on the same Xcel Energy Center stage four years ago. Brother No. 4 in the Coleman family, Mayor Chris, benefited from Kelly’s misstep and did a soft shoe of his own last night, abandoning the Hillary Clinton victory barge, which was sinking, and leading a couple dozen Clintonistas onto the Obama ship.

There were more hugs and high-fives than at a Winter Carnival Vulcan dance last night, but all the hugs were consensual in a love fest that would have put a Springsteen mosh pit to shame. It was hard to remember why we need to even have an election.

But we will have one. And it won't be as unanimous as last night. The Republicans will have their own love fest in St. Paul, and the campaign will be long and hard-fought and it could get nasty, and Americans will cross their fingers and mark their ballots and hope the best man wins.

One of them, in a country that is 232 years old and was built on the blood and sweat of slaves, is black.

That has never happened before. It happened last night.

In St. Paul.

Finished Review!!! (Arts Ed around the Globe)

Beloved People,

Help me celebrate!

I just finished writing this review for the Teaching Artist Journal, published at Columbia College in Chicago. The "Resource Roundup" section is edited by my dear poet-friend-colleague, Becca Barniskis, who asked me months ago to write a review on "The Wow Factor: Global research compendium on the impact of the arts in education" by Anne Bamford.*

Lalala! Fancy case study and research on arts education from around the globe. Hey hey! I am a global person. I like art. I am a teacher. This seemed to sort of be a good fit. ?!

So, of course now I want to share this with everyone I know! Because I'm so thrilled to be done! And because Becca Barniskis is probably the BEST EDITOR I've ever met in my life. The woman makes me sound smarter and smoother than I am. (Not funnier ---but definitely more CONCISE!)

What follows is a tiny excerpt from the review and a quote from the book on this Namibian concept, "Ngoma" - which ROCKS MY WORLD!

..................................

At the heart of this global analysis, we need to be able to articulate how and why teaching in and through the arts is an important thing. "The results of this world study suggest that a community—and education—pays a clear price for "blind" practices." Part of our job (as teachers, artists, administrators, policy makers) is not to be blind. We begin by first and foremost naming for ourselves the value of an education in and through the arts. Here is an example from Namibia:

The Namibian Term, "Ngoma" sees the arts as being a united whole. While this same term can mean any one of the art forms, (e.g dance, music, visual arts and drama) it also stands for the communication between the arts and spirit. Ngoma can also mean "drum", but under this notion it implies the rhythm or beat of a drum that charges life with energy. It implies a transformation, where the individual becomes transformed by the arts. It encompasses the individual becoming part of the community, linking the past with the future, the heaven with earth, ancestors to children, and the mind to the spirit. The term Ngoma also implies that the action of the arts has a purpose or function larger than the art form itself. It prepares the individual and community for the task, be those tasks the mundane or the profound, the educative and spiritually enlightening. Ngoma also sees the arts as integral to society (p. 51).

Couldn't we all benefit from adopting such a philosophy?!

......................................

Had to share! Go buy the book, or order the Teaching Artist Journal!! (The entire review will probably go to print in 5 or 6 months!)

Smiles, Good times!

Melissa

*The Wow Factor: Global Research Compendium on the Impact of the Arts in Education

By Anne Bamford

Waxmann, 2006

ISBN 3-8309-1617-5

EUR 24.90, paperback

"Eat, Pray, Love": Colleen Berliner Responds to Mysterious Magnetic Forces at Work

The following response to yesterday's blog entitled, "Another Recipe for World Peace: Sorting this Love and Chemistry Business" is from my high school classmate, Colleen Berliner. She is writing from Ohio, and just the other side of a recent decision to take a new job - that pays nothing! except compensates her heart and spirit in deeply satisfying ways. I love her statement,

"I think about the mysterious magnet,

and I know that my happenstance decision to take this job was my heart pulling me in a direction I didn't know I wanted to go."

Enjoy! Read on!

Smiles,

MAB

....................................

Melissa,

It's funny you should send this. Of all of the book club books this

year, this one was my favorite. Mainly because I got to experience

the journey of a woman leaving behind what she thought she wanted just

at a time when my life was in transition. I'd lost my job, and I

realized it was a relief. But what to do next? I took a job at my

son's preschool/daycare because I thought it would get me through to

my next "career move."

And it turns out that this job...taking care of other people's

children...is something I'm more passionate about than I could have

ever imagined. I love it. It pays nothing, but I still love it.

There are neglected kids that I wish I could bring home with me, and

guilty conscience moms I wish I could comfort more. Every child makes

me smile in his or her own special way. Even the button pushers!

Every now and again, when I'm covered in drool and mashed bananas and

snot, I think about Elizabeth Gilbert's first nights alone, when she

was crying on the bathroom floor because she felt bad for being so

happy to be leaving her husband. I think about the mysterious magnet,

and I know that my happenstance decision to take this job was my heart

pulling me in a direction I didn't know I wanted to go.

I'm not a consistent responder to your contemplations, but this book

resonated so deeply with me, that I had to say something. Not because

I want to leave Jay...he's the love of my life!!!! But because I know

what it's like to stumble into your heart's journey rather than walk

confidently into it!

It's late on a Saturday, so I hope my ramblings make sense.

And I hope all is well with you in MN!

Peace Out!

Colleen

Response from Amy Baione

Friends,

The following is one of the most potent, powerful, prayerful responses I've ever received to one of my reflections. I feel so fortunate to receive thoughtful responses from all of you. This one I just had to ask permission of the author to share on the "Queen Mab Contemplates" blog site.

Read Amy's words, and then ask yourself, "What would the world look like if we really had this sort of attitude or perspective toward our partners, spouses, lovers? What would the nature of our homes be? How would our children benefit?"

I don't think there would be war. Honestly. The Middle East, and our Urban Centers, North Korea and Darfur: they would all be experiencing a revolution of LOVE! Yes! My dear Boston friend is communicating something that reeks of the secret to love and lasting, transformative happiness.

Peace,

Melissa

.....................................................................
From: "Amy Baione"
Date: May 31, 2007 1:04:29 PM CDT
To: "Melissa Borgmann"
Subject: Re: Post-Mo Contemplation: Encountering Poetry Alone vs. in Partnership

Melissa Borgmann writes:

And this makes me sort of wonder, "What happens when I get married? Will this part of myself that I so love - and so loves God - and that I believe makes my life sort of mean something and worthwhile, will she disappear when I become a wife and full-time partner?"

And your writing, thinking, questioning this makes me sort of wonder, "Why have I felt so alone in feeling sadness over the loss or atrophy of the me-ness I remember from my single days?" It was the me that loved the questions and had the opportunity--actually maybe it's just more time-- to work through their mystery in a sweet, silent dialogue between one me and another me--maybe the earthly me and the transcendent me, I'm not sure.

But before I start passing by reality on the grief train I so love to ride sometimes, I meditate, Melissa, on the reality that the best moments in my life so far as a nearly 33-year-old woman have come within the last 3 years, the years of my marriage, my awesome, scary, strong, rickety, unique and universal marriage to a friend-lover-stranger-father-son-brother-flawed-perfect man. These moments can be few and far between, but when they happen they are truly divine. They happen when (after having carved out some retreat within the constant-exchange-that-is-marriage for tuning into me and the evolution of my thoughts) I savor him and look on him with kind eyes and we talk as though we really love and cherish one another--I mean soul exchange...which in the best, best moments leads to no talking at all. ; )

I mean every last bit of what I just said, and you're going to be okay no matter what.

Amy