Anne Watts grew up in a small village in north Wales in the 1940s. Her early life is very interesting. After training as a nurse and midwife she joined the Save the Children Fund and in 1967 was posted to Vietnam where she was faced with a vision of hell that her training at Manchester's Royal Infirmary could not have prepared her for.
Thrown in at the deep end, she witnessed the random cruelty of warfare. Nursing injured and orphaned children and caring for wounded and dying servicemen, she cared for victims of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, in Lebanon during the Israeli occupation, and Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm. For over forty-five years Anne gave care and compassion to those most in need of help.
Always The Children is a humbling and shocking story of one woman's selfless courage, devotion and determination to alleviate the suffering of children. It is also an uplifting story of the human spirit to overcome the horrors of war.
I’m not sure I’d ever be in a mental state to read a book like this, but God bless that woman.
ReplyDeleteSome of it was a harrowing read. I so admire medical workers in war zones.
DeleteThere is so little compassion and love for children during war. But I guess if there were, there would be no war.
ReplyDeleteI will never understand how some people can be so evil and cruel.
DeleteSuch life-long dedication to a cause is always impressive. She must have put her own life at risk numerous times in order to help others.
ReplyDeleteThere were times when she wondered "Is this it?"
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