The Gift

Extraordinary photographic portraits, in concert with the words of medical volunteers and children they treat in Peru and Vietnam, tell a very special story of giving -- offering a compelling and moving look at the sometimes surprising and unexpected ways that giving of ourselves to help others can touch and transform our own lives.

by Phil Borges; prologue by Joan Baez, foreword by Diane Ackerman

For over 25 years, Seattle-based photographer PHIL BORGES has been visiting and documenting indigenous and tribal cultures around the world. His images tap deeply into the human spirit of his subjects, whose warm and honest faces peer out from colorless and spectacular landscapes.

Phil’s exhibit and award-winning book, TIBETAN PORTRAIT: The Power of Compassion, focused on the endangered people of Tibet. In 1998 he joined Amnesty International to present ENDURING SPIRIT, an exhibit and book celebrating the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

JOAN BAEZ began her folksinging career as a teenager in the coffeehouses of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and has now been performing for over 40 years. She is also widely known and respected for her nonviolent activism and humanitarian work on a variety of issues. She continues to regularly tour worldwide and record albums (most recent is 1997's GONE FROM DANGER).

DIANE ACKERMAN is a poet, essayist, and naturalist. Her dozen works of nonfiction include, most recently, DEEP PLAY, and her bestseller, A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SENSES. I PRAISE MY DESTROYER is her most recent collection of poetry.