WC Archive

Médecins Sans Frontières is made up of doctors specializing in the care of people under extremely adverse conditions. Not surprisingly, many of the MSF members in North America -- who would be staffing the refugee camp exhibit -- are hard at work in the Gulf region, caring for victims of hurricane Katrina. Undoubtedly, many of these physicians and nurses are preparing to move west, to handle the victims of Rita, after it comes ashore tomorrow.

In the meantime, the website produced in coordination with the 2000 tour is still active, and the information it holds -- including an interactive virtual tour of a refugee facility -- remains useful, and powerful.

In the days following the collapse of the levees in New Orleans, one of the minor -- if strongly-felt -- debates taking place was whether to refer to the people left homeless and eventually evacuated from the city as "refugees." The word triggered powerful emotions in many, who reacted as if only people in other countries could ever be considered such -- "we're Americans, not refugees!" was a common refrain. Such a response captured both a feeling of defiance and a kind of bewilderment, as if "it can't happen here."

Whether they're called refugees, evacuees, or "displaced persons," we need to get much, much smarter about how to make their lives bearable in the aftermath of disaster. To do so, the first step is to educate ourselves about how far we need to go. Because, as Katrina made abundantly clear, none of us are immune from catastrophe.