True stories of a young woman doctor working in Africa. A collection of true stories based on the field notes of a young woman physician working among isolated tribes in east Africa in the early 1960s. Each of the stories introduces the reader to a different aspect of the African scene yet all belong together, unfolding a vivid image of a people's struggle for survival and security in a threatening world, and a young doctor's efforts to help the. We see the author, fresh from medical school, starting out on her African adventure as an awkward, inexperienced newcomer. She takes us on her safaris through the bush to meet the sick and frightened villagers, mothers and children, witch doctors and missionaries. She makes house calls into remote areas of the jungle delivering babies, caring for victims of measles or meningitis and treating mentally disturbed as well as physically ill patients. As a trusted physician and as a woman the author was in a unique position to gain access to secret traditions connected with the intimate sphere of family life, procreation, sickness and death. Thus she came upon the hidden victims of epilepsy and organized a clinic and shelter for these outcasts. As an outcome of her work in Africa, Dr. Jilek-Aall--with her husband, Dr. Wolfgang Jilek--hopes to mobilize international interest for the realization of an epilepsy treatment project in Tanzania.

Louise (.M.D.). Jilek-Aall's profile page