Out of Africa

There can be only one person with whom I'd like to start my stories. She is a french woman who lives in Mali.

In 1997, during a charity trip to Northern Mali in the war zone populated by the Touaregs in Saharian Desert, I had the most stunning encounter ever in my life. Never will I forget this woman, never will I forget the energy that was flowing in the air that day. She is the person that has made the strongest impression on me in my life. I have interviewed more than 2'800 people in the last 10 years, specialists, high executives, geniuses and ordinary professionals, but no one made such an impression.

This woman was vibrating with life, with enthusiasm, with passion for her job and she was caring for others. Her life made other lives possible.

Who is she? A French Doctor Lady in her late seventies (if she is still alive, she must be in her nineties today) who decided to abandon the comfort of our western society and help people in need in the most remote place on the planet. She lives in a small village about 280 kms from Gao, North of Mali. She takes care of a population of about 20'000 living souls spread across the desert. She is the only white person, the only european woman in a radius of at least 200 kms.

When I saw her for the first time, she walked out of a mud house holding her hands up. Her arms and shirt were soaked in blood and she was smiling at us. She just delivered a baby and she was so happy to see us. The most beautiful smile, the most spontaneous and genuine smile it was.

To explain why I was so impressed, I have to give a bit of context to this enlightening moment. We had just survived 2 days of traveling from Geneva to Paris by car, then loading our medical material onto a plane flying us down to Bamako, then driving a full night on dangerous roads sitting up on top of a fully loaded truck. The driver had an old truck, just one headlight, no lights in the abandoned african streets, the roads had holes the size of the craters on the moon and of course the driver enjoyed the speed.... and then suddenly the appearance of this woman walking out of a mud house surrounded by young kids, barely dressed, barefooted, their noses mostly running, flies sticking to their eyes, but smiling and laughing.

When she shared with us her life story, you could see how all of us Europeans were impressed by her courage and her risk taking, but also by her success and the joy that she brings to everyone.

She was a secretary to one golden boy educated at the Ecole des Mines, Paris, working her daily hours in this political and ambitious environment. She hated it, there was no purpose in her life. At 40, she decided to go back to studies. She entered the Medical School of Paris and became a doctor. She worked hours, night shifts at different hospitals in Paris, but still her frustration was there, still no purprose in her life. So she decided to move to Bamako, Mali. Still it was to civil, still a big city with business people. At 54, she moved up North and became the first and only doctor for the largest region in Northern Mali, in charge of 20'000 children, women and men. AND SHE IS FINALLY HAPPY!

Albert Einstein would certainly have thought of her when he said: "There are only two ways to live your life: one where you believe nothing is a miracle and one where you consider everything a miracle."