Mountains Beyond Mountains Final Reflections by Wyn Sullivan

Something I struggled with a lot this summer was the enormous magnitude and amount of problem that exist in our world. Not only in global health, but relating to poverty and inequality as well. I had finished Mountains Beyond Mountains at the very beginning of summer before I left for South Africa. Today I picked it back up for the first time since to glance through the pages and review what I had highlighted. I was amazed at how much I could relate the problems in Haiti to those I had seen in South Africa. It reminded me that issues with global health are truly universal; as Jenna mentioned in her post we sometimes forget that similar problems exist even in the United States. I feel that a lot of people choose to ignore these problems because its easier not to recognize and deny them rather than confront.

As I said, I was overwhelmed with the problems I saw in South Africa. Their government is a corrupt mess, the school system a joke, and the healthcare disfunctional. For example, we took two HIV positive children to the clinic to get their blood drawn. Despite appointments, we waited outside in the windy rain for 3 hours. When the nurse practitioner (one doctor comes once a week on Thursdays) took the childrens' blood, not only was she gloveless, but she also simply wiped up spurted blood with a kleenex off the ground. And this is in the most "developed" country in Africa. How do you fix problems like these in countries that we are so unfamiliar with? Especially in areas where cultural myths tell HIV positive men that if they rape a virgin they will no longer be positive? Or where people won't be tested for HIV because of the social stigma?

But there's hope. Lou Nanni told me once to focus on people rather than the big issues. Paul Farmer is a great example of this being done. He did not go into Haiti wanting establish an entire hospital, but started going from person to person. By looking at individuals, listening, and aiding with their problems, progress can be made. I think that we can all agree Paul Farmer is wonderful and has done great work in Haiti. There are obviously still a lot of areas in the world with inadequate healthcare. We need more Paul Farmers. Organizations such as Globemed give me hope that more Paul Farmers are on their way. As Globemed focuses on grassroots work, the different partnerships really listen and work with the individuals solving problems on a situational basis. I believe that this approach will work, and the example that people such as Paul Farmer set keeps me from getting caught up in the pessimism that will otherwise take over when looking at some of these global issues.