This essay by Dr. Paul Farmer made me cry.
Dr. Farmer is an infectious disease specialist who travels the world trying to get health care to the poor. He has firsthand experience seeing people die of completely preventable causes, of watching human people, no better or worse than us in the eyes of the Lord, die of things that people with money, health insurance, and a trained doctor at a staffed and supplied hospital would never have to worry about.
Listening to his essay made me want to do something, as I often want to do, but when faced with such huge problems, I am often at a loss of even where to begin. Nothing reminds me of my many blessings more than considering people who cannot even conceive of having things I take for granted every moment- clean water, a shelter, the knowledge that if something goes wrong, I could probably get at least a little bit of help from somewhere. I give to charity and volunteer and do all those good things, but when I really think about it, I feel like the Dutch boy with his finger in the dam.
On the other hand, sometimes I think that problems are dismissed as unsolvable because they seem so big. I see this in many areas of my life- personal finance being a huge one. I've met people who feel they are so far in over their heads that nothing can change it. I've had students who are so overwhelmed by the idea of writing a ten page paper that they want to give up before they've even started. I think a lot of people do view something like general health care as a basic human right, but even in America the problem can be so huge we're not even sure where to take the first step. If we are having a hard time in our country, imagine the issues in areas rife with war, with poor infrastructures, no refrigeration, no transportation, no education, no clean water.
Dr. Farmer finds health care a basic human right, and I agree with him. To make a completely bizarre analogy, lack of health care can be compared to our current economic situation. Now that everything is tanking, we can see how connected we really are. For health care, seemingly small things are extremely connected. When you don't have clean water or very basic things, a whole village can be wiped out. When vaccines cannot or will not be delivered to areas of the world, to an area where food and clean water are scarce, one case of measles can devastate an entire community.
As Dr. Farmer says:
. I saw early on, still just a medical student, the panicky dead-end faced by so many of the destitute sick: a young woman dying in childbirth; a child writhing in the spasms of a terrible disease for which a vaccine has existed—for more than a century; a friend whose guts were irreparably shredded by bacteria from impure water; an eight-year old caught in cross-fire. Li mouri bet—what a stupid death, goes one Haitian response.
Listening to the essay reminded me that I might just be the Dutch boy with his finger in the dam, but if others are helping to, good will come out of it. I'm sure you've seen this video on other blogs. I've been meaning to post it for awhile.
Small things to us can make a world of difference to people we may never meet. You may not be able to travel constantly as a in infectious disease doctor, but you can help make that doctor's job easier by helping providing basics. Help prevent a stupid death- here's one of the many ways.
What do you do to help? Share in the comments-be sure to post links if you have them!
3 comments:
Some countries will not allow formal organizations to provide care - for reasons that range from political to religious concerns. A friend of mine is an eye surgeon who makes annuals trips to her native country to provide free cataract surgery. She is able to do so because she is not a part of a formal team. Many health professionals do individual missions, and helping them is word-of-mouth. Women like my friend usually need money for travel, medicine, and tools.
A colleague supports the Darfur Stoves Project. They provide stoves for women who would face violence and rape if they left the camps to find firewood.
http://www.darfurstoves.org/
Closer to home, I prepare toiletry kits for the homeless. To see how I do this cheaply, see http://itrytobegood.blogspot.com/2008/12/charity-cheaply-part-iv-toiletry-kits.html.
Allison
I'm late on this one, having been away for Christmas, but I'm glad you posted it. I have seen it before, but reminders are always good.
We set aside money for giving before everything else. We give to a lot of church related charities (we are Catholic and there are many humanitarian charities within the Church, as well as giving to our local parish) - usually these charities use nearly all the money they receive on their mission, rather than advertising. Much of the staff is cheap (religious) and advertising happens through the church. I also love Heifer, because they focus on teaching people to be more self sufficient. I like the teach a man to fish, rather than give a man a fish attitude.
Now that we are debt free, I've been paying even more attention to the sourcing of what we buy. Some items (like toys from China) aren't as safe as I'd like, and some don't support things I'd like to see. For example, I'm going even further to buy local agricultural products, or at least American. I figure each dollar spent is a vote cast - and it should ideally be for something I believe in.
Jennifer
Catherine,
You would enjoy "Mountains Beyond Mountains." It is the story of Paul Farmer and how he became the person he is today. It's very inspiring. The author is the excellent writer, Tracy Kidder.
Enjoy your blog.
Bobby
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