Chasing Chaos

Responding to humanitarian catastrophes around the world took up a large portion of Jessica Alexander's ten-year career. She was a former Fulbright scholar and has worked for numerous NGOs and UN organizations. She graduated from Columbia with two master's degrees and is currently pursuing a PhD.

After the 1994 genocide, Jessica Alexander came to Rwanda as an enthusiastic intern hoping to help the efforts of the global humanitarian relief community. However, the world she encountered in the field was vastly apart from anything she had ever envisioned. Even though it was messy, hectic, and challenging, she was captivated.

She exposes readers to the reality of life as an aid worker in her open and humorous book. We observe her as she oversees a 24,000-person camp in Darfur, gathers information for the Charles Taylor trial in Sierra Leone, and takes part in the extensive relief effort to rebuild a devastated Haiti. But we also observe the drunken gatherings and short-lived relationships, the burnouts and self-doubt, and the struggle to do good in areas where suffering has long persisted.

Alexander transports readers to some of the most troubled regions of the world and traces her personal journey from a wide-eyed and naive newcomer to a hardened cynic and, ultimately, to a hopeful but critical realist. In Chasing Chaos, she not only shows us the challenges that seem insurmountable, but also the moments of resilience and recovery.

Author: Jessica Alexander

Link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/Chasing-Chaos-Decade-Out-Humanitarian/dp/0770436919/

Ratings: 4.5 out of 5 stars (from 273 reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #610,027 in Books

#312 in Disaster Relief (Books)
#571 in Human Rights (Books)
#19,693 in Memoirs (Books)