Life as a Nurse with MSF.

Ali Criado-Perez will describe what life was like during the 13 years she  worked with Medecins sans Frontieres, in many different countries from sub-Saharan Africa to South America to the Middle East, countries suffering natural disasters, epidemics, conflict.  Working for MSF assignments begin with nine month postings, so involves huge commitment and challenge

The Speaker: Alison Ciado-Perez

Ali Criado-Perez is a registered nurse, with a background in Accident and Emergency.  She  worked in the field with Medecins sans Frontieres for 13 years, since 2007, providing medical care for many months at a time,  in a range of emergency and conflict zones.  These varied from managing a hospital for war-wounded in the capital of the Central African Republic, to providing healthcare to communities cut off by guerrilla warfare in Colombia, to tackling the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone. In 2015 she was Medical Team Leader on one of the first search-and-rescue missions for refugees crossing the central Mediterranean between Libya and Italy. She also provided healthcare for Syrian refugees both on the Turkish/Syrian and Jordanian/Syrian borders, as well as supervising aid inside Syria by “remote control” from Turkey. 

She returned in March 2020 (just before lockdown) from five months in Yemen, setting up health care facilities for IDPs, who had fled from conflict zones to a more stable area.  By then in her 70s, she decided this would be her last field mission, and now has more time for her family. Ali lives in Rutland and is a Member of Rutland U3A.

Alison will not receive a fee for this presentation, but has requested that Members,  who wish to,  make a donation to Medecins sans Frontieres as they leave the Hall.    We stress that this is entirely voluntary.