Doctors Without Borders recruiting Arabic speakers at Dearborn event Sept 26
FOX 2 - Doctors Without Borders - an international humanitarian aid organization - works through wars, epidemics and natural disasters in more than 70 countries around the world.
The organization committed to saving lives is coming to metro Detroit to recruit more people for their mission.
"Doctors without borders - you may not know - but it's not just for doctors," said Doug Mercer.
Mercer says so many technical skills are needed in the field like logistics, administrative work, auto mechanics, electricians and construction workers.
And it's not just what you can do - but the languages you speak. Doctors Without Borders will be in Dearborn Thursday night at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center, looking for people to join their work in places like Iraq, Yemen, Jordan and others.
"One of the reasons we're going to Dearborn is the amount of Arabic speakers in an Arabic speaking community," Mercer said. "For people who both speak Arabic and English are huge assets to (us) and to work in some of our Middle Eastern projects as well."
Mercer says while the majority of their work is in Africa, more and more field work is done in the Middle East. He added that many people are understandably concerned about safety.
"We do work in conflict settings, we do work in unstable zones," Mercer said. "That can be a challenge for certain people. But MSF does very good job of taking care of its staff."
And Mercer says the rewards far outweigh the risks and they're hoping to see a lot of potential recruits Thursday night in Dearborn.
"It is super challenging but as you can imagine, it is incredibly rewarding as well," Mercer said. "The upside is the lives you get to save and the patients you get to work for, the quality of medicine you get to provide in places where they otherwise would not have access to that kind of care."
The recruiting event is at 7 p.m. Sept. 26 at Ford Community and Performing Arts Center for prospective medical and non-medical personnel. It is open to the public and is free to attend.
