RETURN HOME
HOME   ABOUT MARY   CULTURAL DIVERSITY   CALENDAR   SHORT STORIES  
CULTURAL DIVERSITY / LEADERSHIP LECTURES
Looking for more information or international relief opportunities, try these sites:

Volunteers For Peace is a non-profit organization present in 80 countries worldwide providing consultations and placement services for work camp hosts and volunteers.  No qualifications needed for placement. <www.vfp.org/workcamp.htm>

Interaction provides a list of organizations involved in international relief. <www.interaction.org>

International Employment Opportunities is a regular publication which advertises many international opportunities world wide. <www.internationaljobs.org/hotjobs.html>

Doctors without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres recruits over 2,000 medical (Nurses, Doctors, Physician assistants, Midwives, Laboratory technicians, Nutritionist, Mental health technicians, including others) and non medical volunteers to assist in disasters and development in more than 80 countries world wide for six month assignments. <www.doctorswithoutborders.org>

International Medical Corps recruits medical and non medical volunteers to assist in disasters and training in over 17 international countries. A stipend is often paid to qualified staff. Student volunteer opportunities are also occasionally available.<www.imc-la.com>

Relief Web serves information needs for the humanitarian community. <www.reliefweb.int>

Students, want to volunteer abroad but haven't yet graduated and don't have much time? Try this web site with tons of possibilities: <www.volunteerinternational.org>

Anyone wishing to donate used medical equipment, books and supplies or in need of these items for use in the developing world check out this site : <www.medicalbridges.org> or write: Patricia Brock MD, President, Medical Bridges inc. P.O. box 300245, Houston, TX 77230-0245

Are you a Pilot, Doctor, or just a student and want to volunteer your time in Mexico for very brief periods?  Try these links: Los Medicos Voladores (LVM) otherwise known as "The Flying Doctors" <www.flyingdocs.org>

If you are particularly interested in the aviation side of volunteering there are more links on the home page on this site <www.bajabushpilots.com>


To book a lecture:
CLICK HERE

Download Photo:
CLICK HERE

Download a printable Poster:
CLICK HERE

SUGGESTED READING FOR STUDENTS

NURSES, NOMADS, AND WARLORDS, by Mary Lightfine with Kathy Craven, ISBN 1-877633-79-8. In 1993 Mary Lightfine uproots her life and plants herself in the middle of Mogadishu, Somalia during a time of violent anarchy and civil unrest. She naively believes her experience qualifies her to treat masses of starved, maimed, and dying patients while bombs and machine gunfire rip through the air just outside the shattered windows of Digfer Hospital. In the end it is Somalia that gives Mary the education of a lifetime.
www.nursesnomadsandwarlords.com
"It is AMAZING, the BEST book of the year, and definitely should have a film made about it..."
Catman Cohen, musician, singer, songwriter.

PALESTINE, PEACE, NOT APARTHEID, by Jimmy Carter, ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-8502-5. President Carter has been involved in peace negotiations in the Middle East since he left the White house. He has the experience and knowledge to guide us towards permanent peaceful solutions which he outlines for us in his latest book.

FIELDINGS'S THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS PLACES, Robert Young Pelton, ISBN 1-56952-140-9. A very informative reference for everything related to travel.

OUT OF AMERICA, A Black Man Confronts, Harcourt Brace & CO: By Keith B. Richburg, ISBN 0-15 600583-2. A black American journalist experiences the horrors of war on the continent of his ancestors.

MALARIA CAPERS, Tales Of Parasites And People, Robert S. Desowitz, Norton books, ISBN 03933 10086. Reads like a fast moving novel.

THE ROAD TO HELL, By Michael Maren. The ravaging effects of foreign aid and international charity in Somalia

SEWING THE MUSTARD SEED, By Yoweri K. Museveni, Macmillan Books, London & Basingstoke, ISBN 0-333-64234-1. Autobiography of Uganda's President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. How independence from oppression was won and a close look at Uganda's people.

LOST ON EARTH, nomads of the new world, Mark Fritz, Brown, ISBN 0-316-294780. Personal accounts of several individuals ,affected by war and disaster, including Mary Lightfine.

KING LEOPOLD'S GHOST, a story of greed, terror & heroism in colonial Africa, by Adam Hochschild, ISBN 0-618-00190-5

TALIBAN, By Ahmed Rashid, ISBN 0-300-08902-3. An excellent, fast moving, account of Taliban, politics and US involvement.

DO NO HARM, How AID can support Peace - or War, By Mary B. Anderson, ISBN 1-55587-834-2

MY FORBIDDEN FACE, A young Woman's story, Latifa, ISBN 0-965-043147. A young woman shares her experiences under the Taliban

THE CREATION OF PATRIARCHY, by Gerda Lerner, ISBN 0-19-505185-8. Ever wonder where the Burka or practice of veiling originated and why? You'll find the answer to this question and learn more about the history of women here.

THE DINKA OF SUDAN, by Francis Mading Deng, ISBN 0-88133-082-5. Everything from flirting and courtship to spiritual causes of death in a fascinating people who live a richly different life than we do in America.

WHO GAVE PINTA TO THE SANTA MARIA, Tracking the Devastating Spread of Lethal Tropical Diseases into America by Robert S. Desowitz, ISBN 0-15-600585-9. Fast moving, easy to understand and a fun way to learn more about disease.

REFUGEE HEALTH, An approach to emergency situations by Medecins Sans Frontieres, ISBN 0-333-72210-8

FROM BEIRUT TO JERUSALEM, by Thomas Friedman, ISBN 0-385-41372-6. An illuminating, fast moving read on the complicated topic of the Middle East.

TERRORISM AND THE WAR IN IRAQ, a  Christian word from Latin America,  by C. Rene Padilla and Lindy Scott.  ISBN # 987-9403-68-1. This book is printed  by KAIROS ediciones in Brazil and gives a very good history of war, deception and dirty politics in Latin America, North American policies world wide and answers several questions regarding the possibility of world peace in the future.  Good reading for all religions as well as the non religious.

CULTURAL DIVERSITY / LEADERSHIP LECTURES
PERFECT FOR CULTURAL DIVERSITY, WOMEN'S HISTORY,
BLACK HISTORY, ALLIED HEALTH STUDENTS, LEADERSHIP,
POLITICAL SCIENCE AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN

Through Mary's inspiring multimedia presentation you will see the humor, feel the tragedy and discover how one person can make a difference in the world.

Toughened by sixteen years of saving lives in some of America's busiest emergency rooms, Mary Lightfine, a nurse, pilot and author, decided to join an organization called Doctors without Borders. This decision gave her a chance to feel what war, starvation and desperation was like from another completely different perspective that changed her life forever. During the past twelve years she has lived and worked among some of the most fascinating cultures in over a dozen war torn countries. Mary was ambushed and shot at in Somalia, delivered babies in the jungles of Sri Lanka, and traveled by jeep, foot and donkey in perilous Afghani Mountains full of land mines, to help isolated inhabitants. Mary brought food to remote villages by helicopter in Nicaragua, and Louisiana after the hurricanes and to starving refugees in South Sudan following the destruction of their villages by government alliances. She was one of the first to provide medical aid to Kosovar refugees who had experienced unthinkable horrors. -- Mary is a seasoned veteran of International Medical Corps and the Nobel Prize winning organization Medecins Sans Frontieres / Doctors Without Borders. She is also founder and President of Nurse Without Boundaries and Volunteers Without Boundaries. Mary has been the subject of countless international news articles, appeared on The History Channel, was written up in LIFE magazine, professional journals and books, and is a published author. Today she has become a pilot and lives in Florida with her husband, Paul Rooy and their two dogs. Mary travels extensively performing international charity work and sharing her experiences with organizations and Colleges throughout the United States. Through her compelling stories, Mary Lightfine will show you how you can make a difference in your life and in the world around you.