Paul Farmer, a physician and medical anthropologist committed his life to extend medical assistance to the parts of the world suffering from the most severe of all conditions of poverty. In effect, he became instrumental in improving the standards of health care particularly in the underdeveloped nations across the globe. He founded the international charity organization called Partners in Health (Kidder. 2004). It offers prompt medical services and carries out research and support programs for the benefit of the sick and those who cannot avail for themselves proper medical assistance to address their health problems.
The doctor together with his group has successfully disputed the lawmakers and detractors who maintain that it is not feasible to provide quality health care in poverty stricken areas where resources are scarce. Dr. Farmer has written at length about subjects ranging from civil liberties to wellbeing as well as on the role of social discrimination concerning the allocation and results of readily curable illnesses. He learned through the missions he had in Haiti that the poor quality of life, political turmoil, and inequality unavoidably result in poor physical conditions among the unaided.
This conviction triggers his medical, generous, scholarly, and sponsorship efforts. A Haitian proverb, mountains beyond mountains is a rhetorical expression which signifies the struggles one confronts in life. It can be better translated as past mountains, there are other mountains. For Tracy Kidder, the author of the book, Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World, the words articulates something essential with regards to the essence and the degree of complexity his chosen mission in life entails (Kidder, 2004).
The moment one has went past a mountain it leads to a point where one realizes that there are other mountains to cross as it is a cycle which goes on and on. As for Dr. Farmer, whose ambitious determination is the focus of Kidder’s book, his mountain refers to his efforts to deliver health assistance to all of those who unfortunately falls under greatly impoverished portion of the population. Dr. Farmer seems to personify a secular saint. He feels the real essence of living when he cares for the sick that majority of the population has already dismissed to be possibly accessible for assistance of any kind.
For the period of his life chronicled by Kidder, the doctor journeys to different places around the world at several occasions originating from South America to fulfilling the academic requirements at Harvard medical school. More importantly his concentration at this point lies on his interest on the ones who struggle the most. These people in particular are the slum inhabitants of Lima in Peru, the prison detainees in Russia and above all, the underprivileged citizens of Haiti, who occupy an exceptionally huge portion of his compassionate heart.
Kidder narrates the doctor’s extraordinary life but not as much for its own sake as it is to figure out what made Dr. Farmer devote his whole life in finding ways to address the medical problems which the rest of the world chooses to tolerate. While the author delivers an informative account of the doctor’s life, it poses a challenge that “It is possible to attend to the needs of the afflicted and impoverished people. If Dr. Farmer is living that life, what makes it impossible to be imitated by others? ”
The doctor’s pursuit of advancing concepts and systems of public health, his kind interactions with underprivileged people of Haiti, his establishment of a private charitable organization, and his efforts to alter the internationally recognized medical guidelines will continuously reverberate in the minds of the audience. The life of Dr. Farmer is a testament that when one is determined to test the limits of possibilities, one does not always emerges empty handed, sometimes the success that may be gained serves to defy what seems to be an indisputable truth. The kind of childhood Dr.
Farmer has can be characterized as one that is filled with family adventures and misfortunes and utterly out of the ordinary. He himself would rather not generate too much connection linking his experiences to the life he has chosen to live (Kidder, 2004). At any rate, nonetheless, that childhood had been a good training ground in preparing him to survive a life of tiring and demanding trips around the world as well as to endure a medical practice in difficult areas such as Haiti. He survived inhabiting a boat on a bayou with what he referred to as quite in compliance to the GI system.
He never made a big deal out of being served with only hotdog bean soup for dinner. He endured years of overcrowded lodgings but was still managed to concentrate on more important matters whenever the need arises (Kidder, 2004). The doctor insisted that other advantages presented themselves throughout his early life. For him, his was a kind of childhood that not matter how unconventional was in no way deprived. It was kind of childhood that allowed him to look beyond material needs in order to identify what really matters. He learned early on in his life that more pressing concerns needs to be addressed.
He recognized that life is a gift in itself and one must be grateful to have it. Life is a treasure that must be safeguarded at all costs, at all times, in all possible ways. For no matter how hard it can get, having bestowed life as a gift is already a blessing. To say that Dr. Farmers’s work is admirable is an understatement. The doctor as well as his exceptional charitable organization has been a significant influence in causing the world to deal with the health care needs of those who in the past has on no account been granted an opportunity to be provided with proper medical attention.
It was through his compassionate heart and unwavering commitment that essential services in health care are presently carried out the world over particularly to those who were once remained unaided. It is not necessary for each and everyone to be as driven as Dr. Farmer. There is no one gauge to humanitarian work. People are unique in their own way and the manner they employ to extend help as well as the impact of change they cause their neighbors is relative. The best thing to do is to draw inspiration from people like Dr.
Farmer who has gone to great lengths to challenge and triumph over what seems to be an impossible endeavor. It can be done in one’s one way, at one’s own time in even a relatively small scope. The important thing is to respond to the call of the less fortunate in ways that one can possibly offer. Honestly, the devotion to the needs of other people by Dr. Farmer is great in comparison to mine. Justification to support my end may be endless but would not serve to deny the fact that the doctor is doing a seemingly impossible task.
Living a life not for my own but for the welfare of other people is perhaps the reason that keeps me from emulating the kind of service and commitment exhibited by Dr. Farmer. Imitating his life entails a lot of passion, faith, determination, hard work and so much more in between. The way he practices his profession is utterly humanitarian. It is something beyond work; it is a way of life. Imparting to a child the lesson that it is possible to be who he or she wanted to be is in itself a sound advice.
It implies that the world would inevitable post the greatest challenges which would compel one to test his or her limits. At the same time, it echoes the determination one must have in order to secure a position in the greater scheme of things. This advice forms the kind of heart that is compassionate yet determined, an intellect that is wise yet impartial, and a kind of soul which has a soft spot for those who are usually neglected.
Reference
Kidder, T. (2004). Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World. New York: Random House, Inc.