Nurse Without Boundaries

About Mary Lightfine

Can one person make a difference in a world filled with chaos?  YES! After working sixteen years as a nurse in emergency rooms throughout the United States, Mary Lightfine joined an organization called Doctors Without Borders.  A decision that gave her the chance to feel what war, starvation and desperation was like from a different perspective that changed her life forever. Mary has lived and worked in more than a dozen countries, including some of the most violent spots on earth.  She was ambushed and shot at in Somalia, delivered babies in the jungles of Sri Lanka, traveled by jeep, foot and donkey in perilous Afghani Mountains. Mary brought food to remote villages by helicopter in Nicaragua, and Louisiana after the hurricanes and to starving refugees in South Sudan following the destruction of their villages by government alliances.  Mary is a seasoned veteran of the Nobel Prize winning organization, Doctors Without Borders and is now President of Volunteers Without Boundaries and recently returned from an animal rescue project in the West Indies.  Through her compelling stories YOU can learn how to make a difference in your life and in the world around you. 

NOMINATED FOR LECTURER OF THE YEAR AND BEST SPEAKER AWARD BY CAMPUS ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE

click here to open a PDF of Mary Lightfine's curriculum vitae

Click on photos to open a printable version, click to learn more about BOOK

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Mary Lightfine is a seasoned Emergency Room nurse, toughened by many years of saving lives in some of America's busiest ER's. But in 1992 she faces her greatest challenge. Mary uproots her life and plants herself in the middle of Mogadishu, Somalia during a time of violent anarchy and civil unrest. She naively believes her experience qualifies her to treat masses of starved, maimed, and dying patients while bombs and machine-gunfire rip through the air just outside the shattered windows of Digfer Hospital. In the end it is Somalia that gives Mary the education of a lifetime. BUY THIS BOOK

Thinking about a Nurse Without Boundaries lecture?

“Outstanding, she made us laugh and cry. Everyone needs her presentation.” – Concord, University
“Fantastic, well received.” – Mt. St Mary’s University, Emmitsburg, MD
“It was fabulous, a perfect fit.” – Denise Nelson, Utah Nurses Assoc.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the presentation. Mary was eloquent and entertaining. Her presentation was very motivational.” - Gus Peña, Asst. Dir., Multicultural Edu., Appalachian State University, NC
“Mary’s presentation was excellent & warmly embraced by the students, faculty & members of the community who attended… a great teacher.” – Charles Fishman – Distinguished Speakers, Farmingdale ST. College, NY
“Very informative, well received…outstanding.” Central N.Y. Chapter of the Assoc. of Nurses in AIDS Care, Lyn Stephens, ACRN, NP

PUBLICATIONS

Mary has appeared in countless news stories, The History Channel, LIFE magazine, professional journals, and books. Mary's book, Nurses, Nomads and Warlords was released in November of 06. Her published pieces include:

ADDITIONAL STORIES ABOUT MARY

After Hurricane Mitch struck Nicaragua in 1998 Mary Lightfine responded to the disaster as a volunteer for DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS.  She delivered emergency supplies and food to isolated villages by Helicopter.  Mary kept a diary which shared with ABC NEWS as their special correspondent.

"Refugees from Kosovo came to our Camp to offer their help.  They had recently lost everything they held dear yet were willing to donate their time.  They described a lifestyle similar to my own.  Every time they recanted their story I could picture their home, family and neighborhoods.  I could feel their pain." More about Mary in Macedonia:

LIFE magazine, June 1999, pg. 71, Nurse without Borders.

International Journal of Trauma Nursing. Tough as Nails, Heart of Gold, Nurses in the refuges Camps of Macedonia by Judith Stoner Halpern, RN, MS, CEN, Pg 84, Volume5, NO 3. July-September 1999

JAMA, August 4, 1999, Vol. 282, No 5 pages 413 - 423. Mary Lightfine's story is on pg. 420

American Journal of Nursing, August (AJN) 1999, Vol. 99, No 8. Mary Lightfine's story is on pg. 22

In December 2001 during the bombardment Mary crossed the border into Afghanistan where she traveled through perilous mountains laden with land mines.  She traveled into remote villages  by foot, donkey and jeep to bring hope to isolated inhabitants.  Learn more about Mary in Afghanistan:

EMERGENCY PHYSICIANS MONTHLY, After the attack, March 2002.  Cover story by Mary Lightfine

ADVANCE FOR NURSES, serving RN's in Florida, Crossing the border by Pamela Tarapchak, pg 23, March 4, 2002. Vol. 3. No. 5

PBS: THE JOURNAL, PBS / WBGU, Bowling Green State University, Ohio, 3/22/02.  A special 30 minute video interview with Mary, recorded live upon her return from Afghanistan.

FILMS

DOCUMENTARY: WITHOUT BORDERS, A 2002 mini documentary covering Mary's work in Kenya, Sudan, Afghanistan and Somalia, produced by Mary Lightfine and Christine Magee. A complimentary copy will be donated to your College library after each lecture.

HISTORY CHANNEL: MODERN MARVELS: BATTLEFIELD MEDICINE, Hearst Entertainment / Actuality Productions, for the History Channel.

PBS: THE JOURNAL, PBS / WBGU, Bowling Green State University, Ohio, 3/22/02.  A special 30 minute video interview with Mary upon her return from Afghanistan.