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Partners in Health

I started a book today called Mountains Beyond Mountains. It details the life of Paul Farmer, a doctor who spends much of his life and energy treating the sick in central Haiti. His complex, called Zanmi Lasante-- "Partners in Health"-- rests in a desolate, remote village called Cange, its seven doctors serving about 100,000 people from the surrounding area.

One way that Haitians have explained sickness has been through the idea of maji, or sorcery. While not all Haitians practice Voodoo, even many Catholics and Protestants believe in maji, which many believe is used by enemies to cause illnesses. I suppose this means that there are pidgin religions, just as much as there are pidgin languages. Cultures meet and mix, and you get blended ideas. Geographers call it "acculturation."

I don't know yet why the book is called Mountains Beyond Mountains. Maybe it has to do with the challenges that Farmer faced as a doctor here. Anyway, this man lived a unique life, and his character is as compelling as his stories. If you're interested in learning more, visit http://www.pih.org/pages/haiti. The video on the main page shows the building of a new hospital in Mirebalais, part of which will be devoted to medical education. The second story of one of the buildings will allow medical students to access medical training through high-speed Internet, and the facility itself will provide services not available anywhere else on the island.

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