Lilli Petersen

ALT Excerpt: I was struck by the hollowed eyes and scooped-out belly of a four-year-old boy. ... He was so weak, he could not hold his head up when I examined him. We are doing our best to care for this child, but ...the nurse on the ward pulled me aside to whisper that we were down to our last 20 packets of ready-to-use therapeutic food. ... The sachet I held in my hand was emblazoned with the USAID logo. In large red, white, and blue letters, it proclaimed that this life-saving packet the size of a candy bar is “from the American people.” When we had enough to go around, I felt proud of my country and the pragmatic solidarity donations such as this revealed. The generosity of the U.S. was a palpable presence in a place in the world where no American diplomat or leader would ever come. But as I ripped open the envelope and divided its contents into thirds, I felt nothing but a sense of shame. To my patients and their mothers, I offered apologies from the American people.