Beyond Borders

Beyond Borders

The film, Beyond Borders, opens with a powerful scene of Dr. Nick Callahan, Clive Owen, barging in on the Aid Relief International's ballroom celebration in London in 1984. With him, he brings a young boy from his camp named Jo-Jo and attempts to make an example out of the organization for indulging in fine dining while nearly forty people a day are dieing in his camp due to starvation and disease. Not amused, someone from the audience throws a banana on to the stage, inferring that the little black boy is a monkey. Rather than taking the joke personally, Callahan peels the banana for Jo-Jo and shows the crowd that he will imitate a monkey in exchange for the banana because the three hundred calories in it are more than he usually gets in one day. After experiencing Dr. Callahan's passionate plea for help, Sarah Jordan, Angelina Jolie, is struck emotionally by his passion for helping people and decides she wants to contribute to his cause.

She begins by escorting and funding a convoy of supply trucks to Callahan's camp in Ethiopia. This proves to be a shocking experience for her. The environment is harsh and primitive compared to her home in London, nothing that words alone could adequately describe. There is very little protection from the elements, the signs of poverty and malnutrition are abundant, and some people even lie dead or ill on the side of the roadway. Surgery, for those healthy enough to undergo it, is performed in a fly infested shed without the accompaniment of pain medication.

Upon returning to London, Jordan pursues a position with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, and loses contact with Callahan and his organization for some time; until Callahan's partner, Hauser, contacts her. It turns out they are transporting supplies through Cambodia, just north of the Thai border, and would like a United Nations stamp for their supplies. Jordan not only gives them the stamp but also volunteers to see it through. At this time the country is in a state of civil war and the Khmer Rouge are using Pailin as a hideout and victimizing its people. Because there are no doctors, it is important that Callahan and his supplies get to the camp to vaccinate the villagers.

Watching this film created a chain of epiphanies for me. As an American, we are born with so many opportunities and securities that the refugees in the film could only dream