unreal
Adventures of a Family's Global Life
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
“One more thing the captain said. If the pirates get to us, don’t try to escape by jumping into the sea. The waters are full of sharks. Better to take your chances with the pirates.”
—Muhammad Akhtar, Bangladeshi Interpreter
A family’s journey in bringing worth and dignity.
Stalked by lions, charged by rhinos, and chased by pirates, Phil McDonald has lived a life of adventure working overseas. Typhoid, riots, and rebel soldiers were part of normal life. For his children, any day could be a grand field trip.
While unreal might read like a thriller, this memoir is more than an adventure story. The author recounts ninety events, highlights sixty lessons, from over thirty years of experience. The dirty little secret of humanitarian work in the developing world was a sobering discovery—centuries of handouts created enormous dependency that restricted personal growth and destroyed dignity. McDonald began as an overseas professor and now mentors social entrepreneurs.
If you are drawn to adventure, to travel, and what it’s like to raise a family in an amazing environment, enjoy this read. Discover how to navigate danger, manage fear, and cope with loss. Embrace the hope and revel in the extravagant diversity and courage of inspiring partners who will change you forever.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this straightforward debut memoir, McDonald recounts his more than 30 years spent developing overseas nonprofit projects. It all began with a chance invitation by his college basketball coach to spend the summer working in the Central African Republic in 1972, which set him on a path toward his current position as president of Leader Empowerment and Development, a U.S. nonprofit encouraging social entrepreneurship in developing countries. But this is no dry business or organizational story: McDonald describes "redirecting his life goals" from a planned career in law to following his passionate interest in overseas development. As he travels with his wife and their children, McDonald details the many moves he made and projects he took on working for nongovernmental organizations, such as Women at Risk International. He evenhandedly describes what it is like to raise a family overseas, dealing with living in segregated Muslim villages in Bangladesh and working as a teacher in a chaotic Philippines, where a colleague greeted him by saying "Welcome to Manila. We average six bank robberies a day." McDonald is an amiable, encouraging narrator as he sprinkles throughout lessons for working and living abroad (among them, "Be fascinated: Attending special events gives insight into what is important in a culture"). Readers looking to work overseas will find lots of useful tips in McDonald's earnest memoir. (Self-published.)