Where Soldiers Fear to Tread: A Relief Worker's Tale of Survival

This book is a perfect summary of the dark side of humanitarian work. Unequipped, unprepared contract workers who are unprotected and essentially thrown to the wolves. The author answers an fax looking for boat drivers and the only preparation he's given is a night at a bar and told to watch out for displaced wildlife. From the moment he steps off the plane it goes downhill. Even a good deed ends in tragedy because he doesn't understand the population he's trying to help. Mostly though this is an indictment of the conditions the relief workers have to deal with because different UN agencies and Non governmental organizations all want to show how much they are "helping". The individuals may do good things but the organizations use it to play politics.

This is a well-written, fast-paced book that sheds an important light on relief work, its benefits and its risks. I knew very little about the floods in Somalia, and this was a great lesson as to what I missed. Great read. You won't be disappointed.

Superbly written and very hard to put down, this book throws quite a few surprises. Burnett provides first-hand insight into the adventurous and dangerous world of those on the field who distribute humanitarian aid.Relief workers, like those they are trying to help, survive crocodiles, snakes and hippos, feuding warlords, and child soldiers. At the same time they are dealing with competing aid organisations and governments' political and military agendas. Through tears, anger and frustration, he reveals what it is like trying to save lives in a war zone.

"Where Soldiers Fear To Tread" is a startling, well-written book, that revealed to me a world I never knew existed. You hear about relief workers in some far away regions of the world and sometimes you read that they are kidnapped or killed. But to read a first hand account of how John Burnett survived these hazards brought the news of these stories straight home. Some of the scenes will likely give me nightmares for months to come. Whether or not you care about relief work, this book is a great adventure story that is hard to put down.

There are not many books that you pick up and don't put down until its finished but I've found one. It starts fast and stays that way, building the suspense. The TV survival shows pale in comparison to the events in this book. This is fascinating read and it certainly opened my eyes, from the politicizing of aid to dodging the bullets in a war zone. These people, the relief workers, are the real heroes. As the cover says - anybody who gives 20 dollars for a humanitarian crisis, better read this book.