Mountains Beyond Mountains Chs 6-7 Reflection by Kinzie Schulz

           To understand a person I think you really have to look at how they grew up. Paul’s father was a man of ideas and constantly moved his family around to suit his new “business endeavors”. It was one idea after another, and although most of them seemed to blow up in their face, “no one ever got seriously injured”. One of the more disastrous plans came after Paul’s father up and bought a boat one day and decided they were all going to make their money living on the ocean while selling fish for a living (in retrospect, it might have been helpful if he knew a thing or two about navigation or really anything about fishing). The boat ended up being disposed of in the only manner appropriate, a “Viking funeral”. While things never really turned out as planned, I respect Paul’s father for trying, for never doing anything “half-ass”, and for not being afraid to take risks. In that way Paul is a lot like his father. He takes risks everyday in doing what he does and most people I think would say it isn’t worth it. He barely gets to see his family because he is traveling so much of the time and he is basically broke because any money he makes goes right into helping his cause.

His dedication to each patient is amazing and is shown in the way he acts, speaks, and how lives his life constantly making sacrifices for others. Seriously I wish I could be him. If one’s goal is to be a doctor they should aim to emulate the essence of Paul Farmer, honest dedication to each patient. If you’re going do your job, do it right. He cares so much that things are done right that he walked six hours in the heat to make sure his patient was coming in for his TB treatment. His response to how ridiculous that may have seemed was “…but you can never invest too much in making sure this stuff works”. I’m not surprised some of his patients think he is a god. After reading this book I almost agree!

The book doesn’t just challenge its reader just to help others, to risk more, or to be more dedicated in one’s endeavors, it also sheds light on the undeniable connection between the health and happiness of its citizens and the stability or corruption of its government. The dictators in Haiti have long been controlled by the interest of the US government who don’t always have the Haitian’s best interest in mind. Kidder tells us how Paul is very passionate about the dam that was built. The people were made to believe this dam was a gift when in reality it was made to help agriculture down stream and ruined the lives of many who lived up stream. The quality of life of many Haitians was diminished by this project, yet nothing was done about it. The rulers in Haiti are often dictators who use “donations” to help the wealthy stay wealthy and to make sure those in power stay in power. It seems outrageous but that’s the way the world is. Too some, these issues may be overwhelming and disheartening. How can we solve this big of a problem just one patient at a time? How can we effect change in the government? Helping one patient at a time may seem like an arduous process that won’t even make a dent in healing the amount of people suffering or in poverty. In this case thought we are dealing with people, people who have families and hopes and dreams and the effects of truly helping one person, no short cuts taken, cannot be measured.