Hyla Doc in Africa, 1950-1961

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This 88-page account continues the life of Dr. Hyla S. Watters by presenting the story of her work at the Ganta Mission in the interior of Liberia. The earlier, larger Hyla Doc: Surgeon in China through War and Revolution, 1924-1949 (1991) related Watters' experiences in both peaceful and war-riven China. The two books should be read in sequence to provide a fuller picture of this remarkable woman. Hyla Doc (this family nickname distinguished her from the other physicians in the family) did not live only in the medical world. She traveled as widely as possible in the two countries of her books as well as others and became acquainted with their peoples, customs, and languages. She always felt that she and other foreigners owed a substantial debt to native inhabitants--a reversal of the usual outsider's attitude, which says much for her innate humanity. A map helps the reader follow her trail, and photographs augment the text. Editor Landstrom deserves considerable credit for bringing Hyla Doc's life and work to a much larger audience than would otherwise know her. William Beatty


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An interesting account of a missionary in the Liberian bush...Liberian 'country people' and their beliefs are tastefully portrayed. Hyla Doc would probably agree that the civil war in Liberia, though horrible, didn't much change the lives of these people. They will struggle on. — Paul McDermott


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