Doing a world of good

Ending a one-year mission in Burundi, my sister Marie-Eve Raguenaud, a doctor with Médecins Sans Frontières, got quite a welcome home. She had been back in Brussels for less than 48 hours when she was casually asked by her boss if she could attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo on December 10, 1999, to "pick up the medal." Just as casually, Marie-Eve agreed.

Top: Refugees in Burundi in 1996. Above: Marie-Eve Raguenaud with the Nobel medal and diploma. PHOTO: AFP/CORBIS TOP: WIM VAN CAPPELEN

"It was only two days later that I realized the importance of the event. I was deeply moved. It's an incredible honour to personally receive such a prestigious award. My family, of course, was ecstatic."

The transition from saving lives in primitive conditions in Burundi to sharing centre stage with the Peace Prize committee and Norwegian royalty surrounded by the media was quite disorienting, but a large contingent of colleagues helped her stay calm during the ceremony. "I was happy to be able to share this memorable moment with a huge team from MSF that was sitting right in front of the stage," she says. "I am very proud to be working with MSF," Marie-Eve adds, "but accepting the Nobel Peace Prize certainly won't change my way of working in the field."

The decision to have her stand in for the more than 2,000 volunteers who serve with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) was based in part on the fact that the majority of MSF members are women, most of them doctors and nurses. In addition, she has been in the field almost continuously since joining the organization in 1997, participating in missions in southern Sudan, Mozambique and Burundi. Her commitment to the work and idealism involved make her the quintessential MSF volunteer.

For 30-year-old Marie-Eve, the road leading to the Nobel ceremonies consisted of discipline, determination and clear convictions. Something which helped shape those convictions was her study of anthropology at McGill, especially medical anthropology, which looks at the ideas and behaviours of health practitioners in a variety of cultural settings in both developed and developing countries. "It helped me understand how we as human beings function," she says, adding that her teacher, Professor Allen Young, "opened up my mind like no one else has."

Another important influence on her future involvement with humanitarian organizations was the two-month mission to Haiti she participated in during her first year in medical school. "I decided then to specialize in tropical medicine. It's a specialty that allows me to pursue my interest in infectious diseases while discovering the world," she says.

From right: Marie-Eve Raguenaud and Dr. James Orbinski, who delivered the acceptance speech at the Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, with the Norwegian Royal Family. PHOTO: SANDRA ASLAKSEN/MSF

Marie-Eve chose McGill not only for the reputation of its medical school, but also for its international environment. Before coming to Montreal, she had lived in the U.S. and in France, where she was born. As a result, she had acquired a taste for travel and learning foreign languages, and had the ability to adapt to different cultures.

Two months after graduating from medical school, she was off to Angola for a one-year mission with the UN organization Action Contre la Faim (Action Against Hunger). She then decided to further her studies, and having established a home base in Belgium, she attended the renowned Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, which offers a six-month course for general practitioners who want to work abroad.

"It gives you a good basis of public health and epidemiology in addition to the tropical pathology courses," says Marie-Eve. "I highly recommend the course for anyone interested in joining the medical staff of MSF."

She approached Médecins Sans Frontières for work in February 1997. "As a doctor with no deep-rooted origin in any particular community, it just felt natural to join MSF. I wanted to join an international organization that is interested in the contexts it works in, an organization that will stand up to defend the dignity of individuals."