In Sunday Morning, Shamwana Linda Robinson describes working conditions unimaginable to me, a physician who had seen the best and worst of emergency wards from Chicago to Boston to Maryland.  Struggling with minimal resources to aid the suffering women from Congo as they gave birth and sometimes as they died, she wears her heart on her sleeve as she recounts the highs and lows, triumphs and tragedies of this time as well as her endeavor to redefine herself following a time of personal crisis. Her experiences are laid out with a palpable passion conveying joy, fear, friendship and resolve that seem to reverberate at the end of each chapter. I came away from reading this book echoing the words of an old friend–“Surely you know the meaning of making it count.”

~Herbert Morse, MD    National Institute of Health

 

This book is so rich from so many points of view as “il temoigne” and conveys your admiration for the Congolese people, for your patients and co-workers, for the environment, and even for MSF and their discipline and obsession for the safety of their staff (probably built on their historical experiences in these dangerous settings). Each Sunday morning letter is “un sincere cri du coeur de la semaine” and a description of events often so tragic that they desperately and urgently needed to be said.

Merci de l’avoir ecrit pour nous tous.

~Robert Gossart, MD

I found this to be one of the best books I’ve ever read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I find myself so envious of your trip. I don’t know if I would ever have the courage to do something like that by myself and I wanted you to know how much I enjoyed reading about your experience. I have been recommending your book to all my friends. Thanks for sharing your story. I also enjoyed reading about your strong faith and your mass experiences. I found myself at the end of the book hoping you’d decide to stay another year so that I could keep reading! I’m sad that it’s over. Thank you.

~Kristi Losquadro, owner of Saltair Inn, Bar Harbor, Maine

 

The journal format with which Linda Robinson documents her time in the Congo working as a midwife for Doctors’Without Borders was compelling and I found myself unable to put Sunday Morning, Shamwana down. As a midwife, I was struck by the remote conditions and the loss of life with which everyone becomes accustomed, but as an American, I could not help being horrified by the lack of food and support. Linda describes well her emotions, the politics, the amazing people, and the community where she lives. She does not shy from being frank and honest about the good and the bad of the experience. She does not glorify the team or herself and constantly questions their “work”. The stories will amaze you.

~Catharine Heffernan, CNM, MSN Past President of Maine Affiliate of the American College of Nurse Midwives