Publisher’s note
The shape our life has taken over the years only becomes clear when we look back on our past. The young French migrant leaving Algeria, the land of his birth, in 1962 and landing up in a tough neighbourhood in Blois, France, knew nothing then of what the future would hold. What invisible hand would guide him to build a life for himself? What would be the influence on his journey through life of the belief his grandmother had in him, or the mysterious order from his father “Comb your hair, you look like an Indian! or his friends in the neighbourhood in which he grew up, or his teachers?
From young boy to the man he is today, Pierre Micheletti takes us with him on his path from family to the world. From country practitioner to humanitarian doctor, he makes a reality of his eagerness to see new places, meet new people. In so doing, he allows us to accompany him along the routes he followed. We feel as if we are actually rubbing shoulders with the peoples and the notable characters that marked his personal story and that of the world. From Danielle Mitterrand to Fidel Castro, from Tibet to Guiana, from the campesinos of Colombia to the Palestinians of Gaza, from his grandmother to his father, he tells the tale of a life as fascinating as a novel, with all its discoveries and questionings, and with a strong sense that globalisation’s only true value is a spirit of fraternity.
Pierre Micheletti joined Médecins du Monde in 1987, and was president of the organization from 2006 to 2009. He has taught in Grenoble at the Institute for Political Studies since 2009, where he co-directs the Masters course in “The policies and practices of international organisations”, and at the faculty of medicine where he leads the diploma course in “Health, solidarity and deprivation”. He has been vice-president of the charity Action against Hunger since 2015.
Translated from the French by Fay Guerry.
