Shame (book review & discussion with author Jillian Reilly)
One of my personal highlights of our recent trip to South Africa was the discussion I had with (former) aid worker and author Jillian Reilly . We took her biography as the starting to discuss aid work as a career, entering the industry before it really was one, becoming a reflective practitioner, leaving the industry and writing a very interesting book about it all. I will start with my review before introducing our discussion. Shame – Confessions of an aid worker in Africa Books on aid work and aid workers are an important genre for my book reviews . What intrigued me with Jillian Reilly’s book right from the start was that it avoids the crisis-hopping Bosnia-to-Rwanda-to-Afghanistan-to-Haiti routine that often goes hand in hand with the humanitarian theatre of parties, adrenaline, coordination meetings and some sort of unkempt romantic entanglement. Jillian focuses on more mundane development work and her personal journey from an eager volunteer in the first South African election