Tracy Kidder. Mountains Beyond Mountains. United States: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2009.
Precis: Paul Farmer is a very dedicated to his work and he keeps a close relationship with all of his patients. When he discovers that one of his patients, Morne Michel has not shown up for his monthly appointment, he diligently goes to the country side to find him. This is in respect of one of Farmers rules which is to always go and find a patient when they don't appear. The trip there was long and difficult; the country side could be described as "mountains beyond mountains". On our journey there, we made detours and revisited the history of the sights we saw. Farmer explained to me how the history of this dam we visited was what lead to Haiti's downfall. The dam was built by the U.S army Corps of Engineers with the "intention" of improving irrigation and generating power but in reality it cost Haitians their homes and property.
Quotes:
"We can spend sixty-eight thousand dollars per TB patient in New York City, but if you start giving watches or radios to patients here suddenly the international health community jumps on you for creating nonsustainable projects."( Kidder pg. 42)
Americans seem to be consumed with the idea that only the rich should have the best there is to offer while those who aren't should have as little as possible . Being comfortable is important to ones healing process and if a watch or a radio provides this to patients, then they are indeed "sustainable".
My thoughts:
I really think its admirable how much Farmer cares about his patients and their well being. He definitely isn't in this field for money; he gets satisfaction in helping people in need and on top of everything, he is good at what he does. He proved his loyalty to patients when he went to find Monre Michel on the country side of Haiti. I don't know of any other doctor who would be concerned enough to go out of their way to find a patient after they missed a monthly check in. Missing a doctor's appointment is a normal occurrence for me and I'm pretty sure that my doctor has never thought twice about me when this happens. Then again I've never had a serious condition or illness so I can't say my doctor wouldn't care for certain. I was also impressed with his knowledge of Haiti's history because it shows how much he cares about the countries well being as well as its health.
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