A bipolar doctor returns to the West Coast after an extended period of practicing medicine in Africa. An unexpected hospital stay makes him remember an old promise he made to his sister.

A middle-aged, male photojournalist from the Midwest reports in Afghanistan alongside a journalist from England. The photojournalist ponders death and human conflict as his day spirals into disarray and the English journalist’s malaria becomes frighteningly serious.

In a mountainous Haitian village, a missionary has his work interrupted by an unexpected guest who is a stranger to the local culture and blends African spirituality with Christian religion.

A blind American biologist living in Kenya collects shells from which a malaria-curing venom can seemingly be extracted. People from all over the world begin to visit his isolated home in search of the miraculous remedy.

When his father runs away into the swamp, a man seeks connection with a struggling cyclist to help relieve his loneliness and find his father.