Germany 1946, Hungary 1946, Biafra 1967, Uganda 1971, Chile 1973, Portugal/Angola 1975, Lebanon 1976, Guam in the 1970s, Cuba in the 1980s...These are just some of the hot spots that Chris works at to rescue refugees as an ICEM employee; during his more than 40 years in active service the ICEM and earlier organisations actually help about seven million people get a new life in a new country. "Relief" is the story of a man and his burning desire to help people worldwide whose life has been put in chains - literally or metaphorically - by wars, political unrest or ethnic narrow-mindedness. All along the reader is introduced to a world not often described from within: the world of the big relief organizations (the UNHCR, the IRO, the ICM, etc.). We witness the way these giant bodies both co-operate and compete while their employees are struggling with myriads of down-to-earth obstacles on a daily basis such as heat and cold, hurricanes and rats, lack of electricity, lack of beds, lack of money; mostly they overcome the difficulties thanks to their own creativity and energy.