about yourself,â he said.
âWhat would you like to know?â
âWhat kind of doctor you are, for one. And why youâre interested in this.â
âIâve been practicing cardiology for almost thirty years. Iâm on the faculty here at the medical school. Iâm taking a few months off. Iâd like to do something useful.â
âHow much time do you have?â
âAt least three months, possibly more.â
âGood,â he said. âA week or two is pointless. Itâs tourism.â
He looked at me.
âThere wonât be much cardiology up there,â he said. âYouâd be dealing with problems like diarrhea and malnutrition andskin infections. Nothing fancy like cardiology.â
âI realize that.â
He nodded.
âSo why donât you tell me,â I said, âwhy I should volunteer with you and not a more established organization?â
âA good question,â he said. âThe best answer is that while we are small, we are much more efficient than some other groups, and you would have a lot of autonomy. We keep things simple and pure. We keep staffing to a minimum. We donât waste anything. We empower our employees and volunteers to make decisions as they see fit. Individual initiative matters and we value it. Thatâs why we need to screen people so carefully.â
He took another sip of wine.
âItâs an astonishing place, it really is,â he continued. âItâs beautiful and wild. Itâs like going to another world. Itâs about as far away from thisââhe swept his hand across the roomââas itâs possible to get.â
The meal arrived. He curtly thanked the waiter, lifted his knife and fork, and started in on the fillet. We were quiet for a while as he ate. I picked at my salad.
âItâs nothing personal,â he said, finally. âBut we need people who are serious and come to work. Weâve already had one or two bad experiences.â
âSuch as?â
He swallowed.
âPeople who like the idea of relief work more than actually doing it. People who think itâs a vacation. Itâs not a vacation. Itâs a reduction to the essentials. You see exactly what is important and what isnât. Itâs deeply satisfying to dig a well for a village that hasnât ever had one before. Or build a school. It really is like nothing else.â
He wiped his mouth with his napkin, took another swallowof wine. He jerked his chin toward the other tables.
âThese people here,â he said. âThey have no idea. They have no idea how big the world really is. Theyâre thinking only about themselvesâtheir own lives and careers. Maybe theyâre thinking about their childrenâs lives and careers. Theyâre telling their kids to become lawyers and bankers and stockbrokers. Theyâre telling them to compete and win and get rich, thatâs it. Theyâre oblivious, they really are. They donât know whatâs important. They think you get a prize at the end, and you donât. But saving people from hunger and disease, thatâs important. That actually matters.â
He had a look in his eye again, and hadnât finished chewing, and I could see the red meat and wine in his mouth. The profusion of individual gray hairs on his head stood out in the dim lighting against the youthful black of the rest.
âHow old are you?â he asked, bluntly.
âIâm fifty-eight.â
âDo you have any health problems?â
âNothing significant.â
âConditions are rough. You should understand that. Youâd be living out of a tent. There wonât be any modern conveniences.â
I took another sip of wine.
âDo you have a family? Even three months is a long time up there.â
âIâve had some personal issues recently. Iâm alone now. My son lives in New
George Simpson, Neal Burger