Immersed in darkness, I rock and bob in the back of an MRAP (mine resistant ambush protected) tactical vehicle. The smell of smoke, burning tires, and sewage fills the rear compartment as we drive over the Trash City portion of Baghdad.
Nowhere are nurses more valued and needed than in war zones. From Dorothea Dix to Clara Barton to Florence Nightingale, these women bravely entered the most intense arenas of tragedy and human suffering armed with courage, compassion, and medical skill sets that resulted in patients and witnesses describing them as “ministering angels.” Their noble souls fought for an end to unhygienic conditions that killed more soldiers by disease than combat. They demanded dignity for their patients, and they struggled to ease the suffering of those affected by the jaws of war. Their legacy continues today. Building on the foundation of hundreds of years of medical advancement, nurses are contributing to saving more lives on and around the battlefield than ever recorded in history. They are masters of trauma treatment and preventative medicine.
I'm standing in sand. The sun is blazing over Fort Bliss, Texas. Ten miles south, just beyond the US border with Mexico, drug cartels are murdering people by the hundreds. Open source reports put the number of dead at more than 1000 since January. The sand is so hot that I can feel the heat through the soles of my boots.
Book your flight to London now. The 2009 Barclaycard World Freerun Championship is scheduled for August 15. Trafalgar Square is where you can tell your cabbie to take you. Joining you will be 25 of the world's best freerunners, 7500 spectators, and people from more than 15 nations who want to see urban movement artists 360 wallrun, reverse vault, and front flip their way through an urban obstacle course using only their bodies and momentum.