Albert Schweitzer by Norman Wymer- Summary

Albert Schweitzer

Norman Wymer

The prose piece “Albert Schweitzer” is an extract from the book The hospital in the Forest by Norman Wymer. As the title indicates the prose piece is about the life of Schweitzer. He is a 30 year old French citizen working as a principal of theological college at Strasbourg University. In the autumn of 1905, Schweitzer came across an article in the Journal of a French Missionary Society. It described the miserable condition of Africans in West Africa due to diseases and poverty. The article invited volunteers for the medical missionary to help people in West Africa. Due to poverty people hardly had something to eat; sometimes they stayed without eating for two or three days. Most of them suffered with leprosy and dysentery.  So there was an urgent need to help them.

          Schweitzer was affected by the news and decided to do something for the poor Africans. As he studied in a village school where many poor students studied, he understood the pain of poverty. He already had a desire to do something for the needy people. When he got this opportunity he decided to render his service to the Africans. Thus he decided to join the medical missionary. He shared his decision to Helen Breslau, a nurse, with whom he was in love. He expressed his desire to go to West Africa and to build a hospital with his own expenditure at Lambarene in Congo. Shocked Helen replied that a qualified doctor only could join medical missionary. Though Schweitzer already had three degrees, in Philosophy, theology and music he energetically replied that he was planning to do medicine. Helen explained about the difficulty of studying at that age, but he was ready to face everything. By understanding his interest Helen supported him by stating that she too would accompany him to West Africa.

          Soon Schweitzer started his medical training. Mean while he faced depression and pain but due to his hard work he got his medical degree in six years. Then he planned for expenditure for the construction of the hospital. His friends and relatives after knowing his plan tried to stop him but later understood his desire in it. They too helped him with gifts of money. When everything was ready he married Helen in 1913.

          After marriage, they both sailed to West Africa with medical supplies and gold. They reached Port Gentil after travelling for two months. From there they travelled towards Lambarene in streamer in the dirty yellow river around the tangled forest for two hundred miles. The missionaries welcomed them and arranged them to stay in a broken bungalow. Schweitzer and Helen cleaned the bungalow and converted a part of it as dispensary. They changed the boat house as a sick bay and chicken house as consulting room. Due to space constrain operations were done in the open space. The news about the arrival of the doctor reached the Africans. They called him as Oganga- African name for witch doctor. Many people with hope of getting cured with various diesess visited him.

The problem of place for treatment was sorted out. Later he had problem with the language. As he did not know the African dialect he could not talk to the patients. The ignorant people without understanding the treatment brought complications to him. Often they drank the ointments which were meant to apply and applied the powders which were to swallow. That problem also was sorted out by Joseph, an African who spoke both French and the African dialect. He joined as an interpreter. The doctor used to write the complaints of the patients on a cardboard and hung around the patient’s neck. Joseph explained the instruction to the patients. Joseph’s efficiency enabled him to learn elementary training in first aid and medicine and later worked as a male nurse. Later he acted as an assistant at operations.

 The Africans were ignorant about anesthesia and they thought it as a miracle. Once an African girl amazed about anesthesia and considered Schweitzer as a magician or a god. She explained the process of using anesthesia and operation as first the patients were killed and cured them and later gave life to them. As he became very famous people started coming from faraway places. He used to treat several hundred patients every day. Due to it he worked from early morning till midnight. Meanwhile he was working on the construction of hospital. He did not receive anything as fee from the sick people. Regarding fees he said that when they get cured, they could help him later.

Schweitzer and Joseph toiled hard with treating patients and with the construction of hospital. Later the cured patients helped him with the construction of the hospital. By the end of his first year in Lambarene, the hospital was ready with ward for in-patients, a dispensary, surgery, waiting-room, a room for Joseph and an operation theatre. He trained many Africans and employed them as his assistants. As the hospital space was huge, more number of patients started coming. He continued his service for the poor. After his stay in Africa for three years, he received an order from the French Government to serve in the First World War in 1917. Though he decided to return soon, his stay was prolonged due to various reasons. Finally he reached Africa after five years to find his hospital in a ruined condition. The Africans recognised him and shouted happily about his return. Soon all the sick people came in search of him. Once again he restored the damaged buildings and soon he constructed a larger hospital in a different place. Schweitzer received noble prize for peace for his service to people in 1952. He continued to serve the people till his death that was till 1965. The prose projects the humanitarian concern of a person named Schweitzer, who dedicated his life for the welfare of the people.