Suzanne M Elliott

Letters from Yemen Suzanne M Elliott

No matter our age, we are all heroes of our own lives. Travel along with Jean Mondon, a 62-year-young English Midwife as she recounts her two-year adventure of living and working for an NGO in the Arab Republic of Yemen in the 1980s. In excerpts from her letters and journal entries, Jean recounts stark choices involving life and death, as well as the challenges and joys of living in a small Arab desert village, learning to speak rudimentary Arabic, surviving isolation and being part of a team that opened a Women's Health Clinic in the remote outpost of Abs close to the Saudi Arabian border. She starts her journey feeling like an alien and ends it feeling a real affection and warmth towards the people of Yemen. She describes the austere beauty of Yemen, its culture and people with eloquence and humor. In light of the current tragic events unfolding in Yemen, this book covers a period of time of relative stability in the turbulent history of the region.