Skip to main content

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.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Savior

This wasteland cold and dark runs free Its fearful creatures speak to me One fateful day one nudged my hand To set my eyes upon a tree He knew I could not understand For I was in his native land His signs became our common speech To lead me through the deadly sand Now stuck I saw him me beseech He could not lift me out to reach The firm foundation of a cave Outside the boundaries of this beach Withal, the beast became more brave To risk his own my life to save To carry me, its life it gave To carry me, its life it gave. This poem was inspired by Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." That poem, like this one, has four four-line stanzas of eight syllables per stanza. Its rhyme scheme is AABA BBCB CCDC DDDD.
Post a Comment
Read more

Evil, According to Republicans and Democrats

Please note that the following thoughts are only my observations. Please consider the evidence you see in the behavior of both parties for yourself. In our politically polarized climate, I was thinking about how Democrats and Republicans are different, and where those differences come from. Democrats seem to place more hope in institutions, and seek to reform those institutions when there is something wrong in society. Hence, there is more willingness to levy taxes to offer more social services as a support to those with less than others. They see the state as a way to equalize society. Thus, evil, to Democrats, seems to be a social issue: if there is a problem in society--poverty, racism, climate change, etc.--it is a problem with the structure of society and must be addressed as such: repair the system, and you will solve the problem. They are generally accepting of a larger state bureaucracy because they believe that increased accountability within a state structure will prevent evi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ghosts

Exercising at a gym seems to be pretty important in our culture, but it's kind of weird to see the social dynamics when you're there. Usually, if you're running an errand, you see others doing the same thing, going about their days and focusing on what's in front of them. The same thing happens at the gym, only everyone is relatively stationary. They don't really go anywhere, except from one machine or area to another. One might think this lends itself to lots of interaction between members, especially since they're all there for the same purpose, but it isn't true. Not only do people generally avoid talking to one another, but they also avoid even looking at one another. It is as though there is no one else there, even though there are dozens on any given day. Most people follow this unwritten rule, unless something in the environment-- say, two people wanting to use the same set of weights-- gives them common ground to interact, or unless they've alr...
2 comments
Read more