What Mary Roach does for the alimentary canal in Gulp and Robin Nagle does for garbage collecting in Picking Up, Jessica Alexander does for global catastrophe in Chasing Chaos--entertainingly enlightening us with a hands-on look at something we'd really rather not see. Whether prowling refugee camps in sub-Saharan Africa, combing the tsunami ravaged ruins of South Asia or helping out in the post-earthquake shambles of Haiti, Alexander shares her own weaknesses as she provides humanitarian relief to victims of war and weather.
Chasing Chaos is the personal journey of a young single American--an Eat, Pray, Love without as much self-indulgence. A naïve do-gooder who "had spent more time in Cancun and Jamaica over spring break than anywhere else," Alexander studied at Penn and then drifted to New York City for PR work, grad school and a fiancé before she shucked them all to fly to Rwanda. As she works her way through aid organizations in Rwanda, Darfur, Sri Lanka and Haiti, she brings not only compassion but also an eye for the story behind the story and an ear for the humanitarian lingo. She observes aid groups fighting over the Indonesian tsunami's huge relief jackpot "like watching a dog pee to mark his territory" and participates in expat workers' frequent parties of moonshine janjaweed juice, bootleg hip-hop tapes and casual hook-ups.
Humanitarian work is no frat party, though. Reality is never far away, like the Darfur curfew "in place because 10 p.m. was when the militia, usually drunk and wielding heavy artillery, came out to patrol the streets." Alexander doesn't shy from the horrors she experiences: the starvation and disease, the mindless violence, the red tape and stolen supplies. In moments of frustration and discouragement, she wonders if her meager efforts matter at all. "Did the covers we put on the latrines to stop flies mean anything anymore?" she asks. "The country needed a government that didn't terrorize its own population."
Eyes opened, Alexander returns to New York intent on finding ways to deliver humanitarian aid more effectively. Such a process might include cash transfers directly to those in need. ("Give the money to women," she advises. "Women will spend it on the family.") She also returns with a new-found respect for the simple efficiency and ease she left behind... where "even the DMV seemed well organized." Chasing Chaos is a journey well worth the chase. --Bruce Jacobs
Shelf Talker: An entertaining memoir of life on the front lines of global catastrophe reveals as much about its author as the world of humanitarian aid.