Friday, August 3, 2012

Mountains Beyond Mountains Chs 17-20 Reflection by Morgan Benson


Purpose. Young people especially have been attracted to Mountains Beyond Mountains because of the genuine and intense sense of purpose Paul Farmer displays for his work.

Our generation is more socially, environmentally, and politically conscious than ever. We want to know where our food comes from. We want to use recycled products. We find artists that produce independent music. It’s a little simplistic, but I believe all of these little choices are rooted in our desire for authenticity in our lives in a largely profit-driven culture. Many in our generation instead show a motivation to dedicate their lives to work that is purpose-driven.

Paul Farmer and his colleagues have built an organization with a uniquely purpose-driven character. In this section of the book, we see some of the sacrifices Paul Farmer has made for his work. We see him living a hectic life of constant travel and work to build up their MDR-TB program in Peru. We see him in the hospital because of his refusal to address his own health symptoms before they became too severe. We see him struggling with living a life of continually seeing sickness and death. Referring to the health conditions in Haiti, he once says, “Sometimes I get so f*ing sick of it, babies dying….” But amidst all of these trials, we learn more about his spirit.

Ophelia Dahl tells us how Paul has never been depressed. I think the man just has too much faith in what his work can accomplish. He sees what PIH can do amidst all of the challenges and becoming depressed just doesn’t make sense in some way to him.

We also learn more about Jim Kim and his path to PIH. After taking on a few different causes and becoming somewhat disillusioned, he meets Paul Farmer and finds a real passion for health and social justice, eventually co-founding PIH. Among others, his skills in making drugs affordable to treat the poor become extremely valuable. He has since become the President of the World Bank, and judging by this portrait and Farmer’s belief that “you won’t betray the poor” working in policy, he will continue to use his skills well there.

Just like Jim Kim long ago, many people have been inspired by the PIH’s mission of social justice and a preferential option for the poor. This section of the book takes us further into how Farmer and Kim use their sense of purpose to work incredibly hard with their individual skills to expand PIH’s care. GlobeMed was similarly founded with the goal to work for the health of the poor around the world, and I am proud to see this passion and sense of purpose in my fellow GlobeMed’ers at Notre Dame.

By learning from these two men and the founding of Partners in Health, we further our own understanding of global health and social justice and prepare better for our next year of GlobeMed. Does anyone agree? How does a sense of purpose relate to your desire to become involved in GlobeMed? Do you see this in yourself or our generation?

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