Terminal Justice by Alton L. Gansky

Author:Alton L. Gansky [Gansky, Alton L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-60142-831-8
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2015-04-15T04:00:00+00:00

The sun was dropping behind the highland mountains and staining the sky with gold that turned to pink that in turn deepened to red. David, Kristen, and Dr. Goodwin strolled down the lane that was formed by the rows of tents on either side. A.J., Sheila, and Peter were still in Goodwin’s tent, resting and reviewing the doctor’s notes.

“I wanted to talk to you apart from the group,” Goodwin said with a slight but noticeable Irish brogue. “I felt the need to apologize to you.”

“What on earth for?” David asked.

“For the incident with the young lady … the deceased. We normally don’t allow the dead to lie around like that. We’re still checking, but it seems she had just arrived and died where you found her. We were unaware of her arrival. Still, I feel badly.”

“No apology is necessary,” David replied quietly.

“We work hard here. Our battle is unending, our resources limited, and our help sparse, but we fight the good fight, and we make a difference.”

“I can see that,” David said. Then he asked, “Is this a large camp compared to others?”

“Small, actually. We expect that it will get larger as time goes on, but we’re not nearly the size as those in the more arid regions like the Ogaden in the east or the Welo district north of here. We do the same work, but they do more of it.”

“How long have you been here?” Kristen asked.

“In Ethiopia? About two years. I started with a group called Doctors Without Borders, but later joined Barringston Relief. I wanted to do this work full time, and A.J. welcomed me.”

“How long do you plan to stay?” David inquired.

Goodwin paused before answering. He looked around at the pitiful city of tents and its emaciated populace. “Until there is no more work to do. I’ll probably die here. This is my home now. My work is here, my research is here, my heart is here.”

“Research?”

“Oh yes,” Goodwin said proudly. “One of the reasons I joined Barringston is to research the effects of hunger and hunger-related diseases. Some of what we learn here is used in other lands, and not only among the hungry but among those with diseases that affect the body like hunger.”

“Don’t you ever despair?” Kristen asked directly. “Don’t you ever feel like giving up?”

Goodwin laughed, “Daily. Some look at me with pity saying, ‘What a shame he has to give up so much.’ But what have I given up? Traffic? High malpractice insurance? These people have given me more than I could ever hope for. They are a proud and noble people. They know how to stand strong, and they also know how to love.” As if on cue, a small group of children ranging in age from five to ten rushed toward Goodwin shouting, “Doctari, Doctari.” They surrounded him and hugged him, the smallest clinging to his legs. He spoke to them in Amharic and reached into his pants pocket to extract small round candies.

“How many people are in this camp?” David asked.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.