Customer Reviews

Window on Afghanistan: Rebuilding Health, Hope and the Human Spirit

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As a surgeon who has lectured and traveled throughout Asia, I was intrigued by another physician who chose to risk life and wife as he rebuilt the healthcare system of Obstetrics and Infectious Disease in a dangerous war-torn land. Most of us struggle with understanding the complex nature of fanatical vs. moderate Islam through reading and watching the news, while Fred and Mary Hartman lived the experience fraught with all the obstacles of kidnapping, tribal conflict, and desperately ill patients. Despite the handicap of working in primitive conditions Hartman is able to convey the warm, dedicated, hard-working ethic of the Afghanistan physicians and nurses.

The powerful rivers descending from the harsh winters of the Hindu Kush mountains nourish the lush valleys to feed the villages and the cattle. The rivers seem to symbolize a sense of serenity and calm as they bring life to the valleys and the resilient population who inhabit them. Only courage and perseverance could sustain the rugged commitment of such determined professionals to sustain the reconstruction of a healthcare system demolished by decades of war with the Russians and then the Taliban.

One can sense the love affair between the Hartmans and their devoted Afghanistan colleagues. One is left with a great sense of accomplishment to create such an important framework for others to follow. This memoir is a sincere dedication to the passion of medicine and love of country.

This book was written by a doctor, not a lifelong professional author, however, it is well written! Fred and Mary Hartman lived and worked in a troubled country. They gave three years of their lives to others in an attempt to help build a health system and prevent thousands of needless deaths. This book follows the foremat of a journal as they experience the post Russian/Taliban war torn Afghanistan. This book is about people and their struggle to survive. I learned a great deal about the country, but learned a great deal more about it's people. Well done!

Windows on Afghanistan puts a very human face on the daily challenges Afghanis confront to survive the continuing chaos of their country's search for stability and a normal life for all citizens.

Written by an American husband and wife medical team who spent three years working to improve the health care delivery system against great odds and in the face of daily dangers, it describes the close bonds they forged with many of their Afghan colleagues and the wrenching decision to leave when the security situation became intolerable.

Dr Hartman continues to visit Afghanistan periodically to help with the work he began.

Timely, anecdotal, at times both funny and heartbreaking, it is a great addition to our understanding of a faraway land