Episode: "The Compromise"

Full name: Christopher George Tiley
Nationality: British
Profession: Doctor (family doctor and neurologist)
Birthplace: Cambridge, England
Hobbies: Sports, music, exploring, reading, experimental cooking
MSF Missions: Afghanistan only

What made you volunteer for MSF?

Realizing that medicine does not have borders and that we can get very fixated with high-tech medicine instead of focusing on the needs of poor people worldwide. Also, realizing that doctors are numerous, spread throughout a worldwide network, and that they are often influential in causing change.

What moment do you remember most from Afghanistan?

The first time I saw a malnourished child die

What do you think you took away from your mission?

Admiration for the Afghan people and their resilience, realizing again that my own position is privileged… a sense of unease at the ongoing political difficulties there. The current politics in Afghanistan compound the difficulties in food distribution and security, with the most marginalized taking the heaviest fallout. I was proud to have worked for MSF.

Did the mission help you professionally?

I learned a lot about malnutrition and a return to basic medicine. I also learned about working in a strained environment in a small team (not always easy!)

How about on a personal level?

Personally it was great to feel that your efforts were so worthwhile. It was interesting to find that the field of aid work is so full of ambiguities – you can see why people want to charge in and help but it has to be targeted in the right way, i.e. at what is needed, not what you want to supply, what is culturally acceptable and also sustainable. What happens when you have to go home again or evacuate?

What are your hopes for the population you were serving in Afghanistan?

That peace and stability is allowed to return to the country – this is largely an internal choice and unfortunately the history of that country is of one long skirmish.