||boek: Mama Daktari|Mijn leven als 'vliegende dokter' in Kenia|the house of books

||door: Anne Spoerry

||taal: nl
||jaar: 2000
||druk: ?
||pag.: 223p
||opm.: paperback|zo goed als nieuw|vergeeld/rand

||isbn: 90-443-0029-6
||code: 1:000179

--- Over het boek (foto 1): Mama Daktari ---

Meer dan dertig jaar lang doorkruist zij Kenia in haar vliegtuigje. Anne Spoerry - Arts, pilote en avonturierster. vol toewijding en enthousiasme bezoekt Anne, door iedereen Mama Daktari genoemd, haar patiënten in de jungle. In deze fascinerende autobiografie vertelt de dappere, onvermoeibare Anne over haar strijd tegen malaria en aids, honger en dood, bijgeloof en onwetendheid.

Anne voelde al vroeg de behoefte om arts te worden. Nadat ze haar studie medicijnen had voltooid, vertrok ze naar Afrika, nam vliegles en sloot zich vervolgens aan bij de pas opgerichte organisatie van de 'vliegende dokters'. Onder de meest primitieve omstandigheden behandelde Anne infectieziekten en speer- en schotwonden, gaf ze voorlichting over hygiëne en gezinsplanning, en leidde ze assistenten op.

Mama Daktari, de eigenzinnige vrouw met een hart van goud, heeft tot haar tachtigste gevlogen. Zij overleed in februari 1999 en werd begraven in haar geliefde Kenia. Haar indrukwekkende en inspirerende levensverhaal is een pleidooi voor een nieuwe kijk op de leefwijze en cultuur van de Afrikaanse wereld.

[bron: https--www.hebban.nl]

One doesn't really learn a lot about Anne Spoerry from her book and it glosses over her wartime experiences. However, for those who have lived in East Africa it's an interesting account of the early days of African Medical and Research Foundation which continues to provide valuable medical services in East Africa to this day. Much of the way of ;life described in her book has now changed but it's a great read for anyone who loves this region. It's also worth reading 'Go an Extra Mile' By Michael Wood who, along with Dr Thomas Rees developed the idea of AMREF and its Flying Doctors Service.

Bob Evans [source: https--www.amazon.ca]

On m'appelle Mama Daktari [1994-08-11]

A l'âge de 76 ans, elle sillonne toujours le ciel de l'Afrique aux commandes de son Piper Alpha zoulou tango. L'intrépide connaît du Kenya les moindres recoins, les régions les plus déshéritées: Anne Spoerry est médecin volant. Vêtue de son bleu de chauffe, la casquette vissée sur la tête, elle est devenue une figure légendaire des «flying doctors» (les médecins volants) basés à Nairobi.

Mais sa réputation déborde largement le continent: partout on l'appelle, avec respect, «Mama Daktari», madame docteur, en swahili. Lasse de voir les journalistes raconter ses aventures, Anne Spoerry vient d'écrire sa propre biographie. On y suit la baroudeuse, fascinée par les récits d'Henri de Monfreid, dans la Corne de l'Afrique puis au Kenya, qui devient, en 1950, son pays d'adoption.

Anne Spoerry porte en elle une déchirure, un lourd secret qui explique son exil. Résistante de la première heure alors qu'elle était étudiante en médecine, la jeune fille est arrêtée et déportée à Ravensbrück. Sur cette effroyable expérience, elle reste pudique, se refusant à évoquer l'indicible. Anne devient donc médecin de campagne au temps de la colonie britannique, bravant la révolte des Mau-Mau. A l'indépendance, sans hésiter, elle choisit de rester, s'achète une ferme et prend des leçons de pilotage avec un ancien de la RAF. Désormais, Mama Daktari consacre toute son énergie et son talent à l'Amref, l'African Medical and Research Foundation, où travaillent les médecins volants. Elle a créé la branche française de cet organisme auquel iront les droits de son livre. Anne Spoerry demeure fidèle dans ses passions.

Kouchner Annie [source: https--www.lexpress.fr/informations/on-m-appelle-mama-daktari_599138.html]

--- Over (foto 2): Anne Spoerry ---

Anne Spoerry (13 May 1918 - 2 February 1999) was a French-born physician, based for most of her career in Kenya as a "flying doctor" affiliated with Amref Health Africa.

Anne Marie Spoerry was born in Cannes, France, the daughter of Henry Spoerry and Jeanne Schlumberger. Her brother was architect François Spoerry. As a girl she attended the Francis Holland School in London. While she was still in medical school in Paris, she joined the French resistance during World War II. She was arrested in 1943, and spent some time in the German Ravensbrück concentration camp for her activities.

Spoerry's actions at the camp have been controversial; known as "Dr. Claude," she became a friend and possibly a lover of her bloc's notorious kapo, Carmen Mory, and she has been accused of torturing the prisoners. After World War II, Spoerry finished her studies in tropical medicine at the University of Basel. However, she has also been charged by the Central Registry of War Criminals and Security Suspects, and subsequently she was tried in both a court in Switzerland and a military tribunal in Paris for complicity in crimes on prisoners including torture; she was found not guilty. A Free French Forces "Court of Honour" in Paris in 1946, however, "found Spoerry guilty of impersonating a doctor, being a traitor to the French and bringing shame on France through inhumane behaviour. She was disbarred from the Free French Forces and exiled from France for 25 years."

Spoerry departed France in 1948, first finding work as a doctor at a women's hospital in Yemen, and eventually settling in the Kenyan highlands, where she lived on a cooperative farm and practiced medicine. She also founded the first Girl Guides troop in the region. At Kenyan independence, she decided to stay and purchased a small farm. In her forties, Spoerry learned to pilot a small plane so that she could practice medicine over a wider rural area, and reach island populations. In 1963 she became the first female member of the AMREF "Flying Doctors," delivering babies and administering vaccines along with other medical care. In her work, she also carried mail and basic supplies to remote locations. Richard Leakey praised Spoerry's work, saying, "She probably saved more lives than any other individual in east Africa - if not the whole continent."

Spoerry's memoir, On m'appelle Mama Daktari, was published in French in 1994.

Spoerry died in 1999, age 80, after a stroke in Nairobi; she was buried on the island of Lamu. A team of seaborne doctors and veterinarians in the same archipelago named their project for Spoerry.

In 2018 author and researcher John Heminway published a biography of Spoerry, which examined in detail her wartime activities and then her work in Africa. His research also shed light on Spoerry's controversial World War II past.

[source: wikipedia]

Anne Spoerry - A Life of Atonement for a Dark Secret

Anne Spoerry, humanitarian and doctor to many in Kenya for over 40 years, died in 1999. Many thousands of people walked, drove, and flew in to attend her funeral. But her obituary in the Independent (U.K.) didn't mention the central event of her life, the one she refused to talk about and that would haunt her until her death.

This story about an adventurous woman is significant because Anne Spoerry's life and what happened to her was revealing and it made me think about my life and the choices I've made.

What would you do to survive ultimate evil and almost-certain death? Would you resist? Would you fight and probably die? Or would you do what you had to, no matter how awful?
I found John Heminway's book In Full Flight on a library shelf and I was intrigued. It's the book that started me on my journey to learn about Women Adventurers.

Heminway doesn't tell Anne's story in a chronological sequence. Instead he saves the details of what went on when she was in Ravensbrück concentration camp until the very end. I'm including these details in the story where they happened because it helps explain a lot of what she was going through and what she wouldn't talk about the rest of her life.

Who Was Anne Spoerry?

Anne Spoerry's life was lived in two distinct parts and places. The first part was in Europe until after the end of World War II. The second part of her life was in Kenya, where she lived from 1948 until her death.

Anne Spoerry was born in 1918 in Cannes, France, of wealthy parents. She was very attached to her older brother Francois who treated her like a brother. They had a close loving relationship throughout their lives. After attending school in London and medical school in Paris, she and Francoise joined the French resistance movement when World War II broke out (she would have been 22 at that time).

What happened at Ravensbrück Prison

Anne was captured and taken to a series of prisons, ending up in Ravensbrück women's prison. Anne had trained to be a doctor because she wanted to help people and when she first got there she was able to treat patients, giving them medicine and vaccines.

Then she fell under the spell of a woman named Carmen Mory. Mory was probably a sociopath. She cozied up to the guards and did terrible things to other inmates, including deliberately torturing them and murdering them. (Look at her eyes; scary.)

There is some question about exactly what Anne did under Mory's influence, but it seems she participated in torture and maybe murder.

Anne was called "Dr. Claude" by the other inmates, and Mory had some kind of control over her. After Mory left the camp in January 1945, Anne went back to being helpful and courageous. One inmate remembers that she hid other prisons and helped others escape the gas chamber. (Mory was tried and executed.)

After the war, Anne was tried for her activities at Ravsbruck. One French court found her guilty of impersonating a doctor (she hadn't finished her medical studies), being a traitor, and "bringing shame on France through inhumane behaviour." She was exiled from France for 25 years.

Anne's Life in Kenya

Anne quickly finished her medical studies and left for Africa, settling in Kenya. With some family money, she bought a small farm and started being a doctor and becoming involved in the life of the area, playing polo and hunting. The Kenyans called her Kali Daktari (ferocious doctor) or Mama Daktari.

During her time living in Kenya, Anne stayed by herself much of the time and never would talk about her past, telling everyone who asked, "I won't talk about that." She dressed as a man most of the time, only wearing a dress when she had to.

Anne played a small part in the Mau Mau rebellion in the 1950s, mostly in protecting her property and her workers. She refused to leave when other women were ordered to go to safety, and she went on patrols with the men. They felt she was a liability and in one encounter she almost got someone killed.

In the late 1950s, Anne became interested in flying and she saw it as a way to help Kenyans in more remote areas and east African coastal islands. She bought a plane and learned to fly it. The natives started calling her Zulu Tango after the call letters of her plane. In 1963 she was instrumental in forming AMREF "Flying Doctors," a non-profit that is still active today, providing air ambulance and medical services from East Africa to other locations.

She was deeply loved and many thousands of people walked and rode to her funerals (there were four!) in 1999, at 80. Her beloved brother Francoise had died only a few weeks before her.

Tributes to her work are many. Anthropologist Richard Leakey said,

"She probably saved more lives than any other individual in east Africa - if not the whole continent,"

And Dr. Tom Rees, a founder of the Flying Doctors, said,

"she personally eliminated polio from nearly 100 miles of the Kenyan coast."

Anne Spoerry: Culprit or Victim?

After Anne's death, John Heminway met her nephew Bernard Spoerry, who spoke of a strange document, dated 1946, in which Anne was "cited for crimes against humanity, including 'torture.'" (from an interview in Powell's book blog). Heminway started investigating and talking to survivors of Ravensbrück.

When Heminway published his findings (detailed in his book), he received hate mail from people who said that only Anne's life in Africa mattered. He also received the support and encouragement to publish his findings.

There seem to be varying accounts of what Anne did in Ravensbrück. The people he talked to were remembering events of that time, but most still had vivid memories. Some aid she participated in several cases of abuse, murder, and attempted murder and that she "became brutal and lived without conscience from the minute she fell under the influence of Carmen Mory."

Another survivor said of Anne:

"Sixty years ago if I had met [Spoerry] in the street, I would have turned my back on her, walked away, and never talked. ... [but] if I were to meet Anne now, taking her life into account, I would forgive her. I would embrace her. I would not have done this sixty years ago."

Heminway, in his Powells interview, says he wanted to complete the book about Anne:

"to document the complexity of human character, the lengths one individual took to survive, serving as her own private jury, handing down her own sentence."

In the last chapter of his book, Heminway says,

"Even a year after Anne's death, some of her desert patients continued to gather under thorn trees in hopes Zulu Tango would emerge from a cloud and alight nearby."

Most of the information for this article came from John Heminway's book In Full Flight.

Jean Murray [source: https--www.jeanwilsonmurray.com/anne-spoerry-a-life-of-atonement-for-a-dark-secret]