Throughout this book we see three characters go through their development within the humanitarian sector. They each has distinct stories and changes throughout the book but the one that was the most interesting to me was that of Heidi. She, in my opinion had one of the most fascinating developments throughout the course of this book. Compared to seeing the stories of two men, her gender and how that played a role in the book was captivating.
Heidi was so lost in the beginning of the book that going abroad to do something bigger than herself was what she needed at the time. The chance to recreate herself was her draw to essentially fleeing the country (Postlewait, 1991: p 30). She seems to find herself almost immediately once she leaves the United States. We this even more on page 95 when Heidi, in a tourist location, feels out of place even though visibly that is where she belongs within the country. She grapples with her gender about 1/3 of the way through her journey as she is figuring out relationships and things of that nature (Postlewait, 199: p 104). It is interesting to note that for Heidi the relationship aspect of her journey is a large part of the story but cannot be said for the men of this book. Gender roles for men typicall stay the same around the world with varying degrees. But, it is typically that men can do whatever they want without judgment but women have to navigate being sexually liberal and vocally assertive. This is not always accepted in other countries. It is interesting to note that the main Heidi was with in Mombasa had this emotional tie to her but in the end was only interested in money and that Heidi felt guilty for pondering prostitution. This is just something that men in the aid sector do not have to worry about while for Heidi it is something that carries out throughout the book. Further, in America, though she is a straight, white female she was not living this incredibly lavish life after left her husband. But, when she went abroad with stipends and things like that she suddenly was living a lifestyle she thought she wouldn’t really experience again. She didn’t notice her privilege until she went abroad which is quite fascinating. By the end of the novel, Heidi is back in New York and starts to slip into her mundane lifestyle from before. She finds that being around other people from ‘the field’ is what keeps her going (Postlewait, 1991: 284). She found herself while overseas and needs a connection to that former life to keep her getting out of bed each day.
I agree wholeheartedly with my classmates in the assertion that Heidi is in her misfit stage not at the end but right from the beginning of her journey. She does not seem to follow the typical path of the MMMM and I think that has a lot to do with her journey in the states before she goes overseas. We see her living a mundane life trying to fit the model of a good wife. She is just going through the motions of life trying her best to please her husband by doing things like going out with his friends (Postlewait, 1991: p 3). As she goes on I think she goes to the mercenary portion next; she needs to make money because she is severely lacking in funds but still wants to make a difference. Next would be the missionary stage because once she is more into making that difference in the world wherever she has ended up. This is when her work really begins and you see the emotional toll that the work she does has. Last, is the mystic phase when Heidi is fully immersed in her life abroad. She is fully invested to the cause of humanitarian work and that shows in her writing.
It is so important to understand the jouney of humanitarian worker in the MMMM model because it gives us insight into how aid workers may navigate their experiences (Murphy, 2013). For Heidi, she was living behind a mask while in the states but once she left she could finally present a side of herself that felt the most right. As Goffman suggests, it is the context of our situation that explains our behaviors and for Heidi the context was not being in America (Goffman, 1959).
If I were to meet Heidi I would have many questions for her as there are times, since being back from South Africa, that the only time I feel home again is when I am talking to people that have also lived in Cape Town or gone to a shockingly different country. I would definitely ask her in more detail how her gender impacted her experiences in different countries for the reasons mentioned earlier. Last, I would ask her how the long term transition back to the states was. It is something that isn’t talked about really. We always talk about the beginning of the transition but never the long term effects of coming home. Overall, it would be amazing to pick her brain a little bit but for now all we have are her words.
Cain, K., Postlewait, H., & Thomson, A. (2006). Emergency sex: (and other desperate
measures): True stories from a war zone. London: Ebury.
Goffman, E. (1959). Retrieved from http://www.studymore.org.uk/xgof.htm
Murphy, T. (2013, June 12). Book Review: Missionary, Mercenary, Mystic, Misfit. Retrieved from http://www.humanosphere.org/basics/2013/06/book-review-missionary-mercenary-mystic-misfit-2/