Dedicated individuals fighting inequality around the world
As I read Mountains Beyond Mountains and Strength in What Remains, both written by Tracy Kidder, I couldn’t help but think how privileged we are here in the United States of America. These books made me think critically and analytically about the desperate situations of the unfortunate all over the world. These books were decisively written for those people around the world with the ability and aspiration to help others in difficult situations. Paul Farmer, a physician and medical anthropologist, is the main protagonist of the accredited novel Mountains Beyond Mountains. Deo, a young man who survived two civil wars and fought for success and a life dedicated to helping others through medicine, is the character on which Strength in What Remains is based. The three areas of focus are the inequality around the world in how these two doctors approach this concern in relation to medicine. Does everyone have the same access to health care, such as transportation, education, etc.? The use of witchcraft and how that might help or limit access to other westernized medicine, in communities dealing with certain diseases. Finally, knowing that we are connected on a global scale, what changes could we, the readers of these books, make and implement to improve the world?
Mountains beyond mountains Gained understanding of an important issue that is global interconnectedness and inequality. Although, thanks to the great growth of technology, the world is connected at almost every stage, but that does not translate into equality across borders as stated in Mountains Beyond Mountains “All suffering is not equal” (Kidder: 232) . In this statement, Farmer illustrates that someone living in the third world and someone living in an industrialized nation do not have the same concerns. The person of an industrialized country has more access to health, preventable medicine; Therefore, two people living in these different worlds cannot be the same when it comes to access to healthcare. For example, in a slide presented by Prof. Connie it was clear that a deprived place like sub-Saharan Africa accounted for half of the world’s under-five mortality. Most of the mortality of these children is not due to complications for which there is no cure, but the three main causes of death are diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria. These three diseases that are the main causes of infant mortality worldwide in the third world are diseases that can be easily cured if better access to medical care is provided and appropriate use of vaccines or other materials that would combat these diseases, like water, mosquito nets. and nutrition. This is the kind of thing these two individual doctors work so hard for. An interesting statistic used by Deo, in Strength in what Remains is that of “One in five deaths caused by waterborne diseases or lack of sanitation; severe malnutrition for 54 percent of children under five” (Kidderl :226) These are necessities of life that are taken for granted in the West.
In the movie Yesterday, it is evident that not everyone has access to medicine, finances, nor does everyone have the necessary background knowledge to understand the terms used in medicine. Even the fact that a person has to wait so long in line hoping to be seen and still not be seen that day is very different from a person living in an industrialized nation whose fears are having to wait a few hours. few hours in the worst case in a comfortable waiting room. Also, how Ayer’s husband, John, had to be forced by his employer to see a doctor because he couldn’t take time off himself to do so. This is a real dilemma for many people around the world, they must choose whether to go to work or see a doctor with any ailment that may be bothering them, due to job insecurity.
In Strength in What Remains Deo, the young man who goes through a lot of struggles comes to JFK with only two hundred dollars and knows no one, and then he goes to Columbia University and then to medical school. Although Deo is going through extraordinary times, surviving two genocides, one in Rwanda and one in Burundi, he manages to achieve great things in the United States and returns home to make a difference. On a business trip to the hospital built by Partners in Health in a district of Rwanda in the summer of 2005, Deo thought to himself “Burundi needs hospitals like this” (Kidder: 189). A young man with a lot of character and showing great courage, Deo had the idea of taking on a huge challenge to build a hospital and provide access to medical care for people in Burundi who desperately need it.
When Deo came to Rukomo, a town with ‘bumpy roads’ and hot springs, a town that had a nice clinic but was ‘lack of equipment’ also made people pay for its services and was ruled and controlled by a burundian shepherd. Deo wanted to make a concerted effort to improve the clinic, but the pastor refused, and Deo responded by making this statement. “If you don’t have large numbers of people coming to worship you tomorrow, don’t be surprised. They’ll be sitting at home, in these miserable hospitals, dying. Give them something. At least that way they can show Sunday at your church.” (Kidder: 232) Deo, like Farmer, went to great lengths in any way possible to help those who were disadvantaged. Deo’s goal was to make healthcare more accessible to people in these small towns so that they, too, could reap the benefits of living near a hospital that could at least help ease some of their pain. Even though Deo knew that Paul Famer, a consultant to him, wanted him to finish medical school first before trying to build a clinic on his own.
Deo had many dreams and aspirations in helping the underserved people in the city of Kayanza. At one point, Deo pointed to a sunflower blossom and said, “But the sunflower seed, as everyone will tell you, has the potential to grow into a huge flower that is bigger and taller than any of us here.” Deo was trying to point out that the clinic he was planning to develop here in Kayaza had great potential to serve his people. On November 7, 2007, Deo was finally able to see his dreams of opening a clinic come true with the opening of not just one clinic, but three, plus a pharmacy (Kidder: 256).
Farmer, on the other hand, tries to take his skills gained at a world-class Harvard University to places like Haiti and other Caribbean countries, to fight inequality around the world and bring access to Western healthcare to these areas. , while incorporating his knowledge with any witchcraft or beliefs the natives might have about medicine. Farmer takes on tasks in Haiti such as curing tuberculosis (TB) patients and fighting HIV in Haiti. In the book Mountains Beyond Mountains, Farmer addresses the social injustices Haiti was fighting for. There are many good examples of Farmer’s understanding of different cultures and there is the same importance of playing a role in medicine, for example. In Strength in What Remains in the book Farmer and Deo have a ‘detailed’ conversation about the rough ship Deo went through, but Farmer said, “I was worried about him, but I never recommended that he see a psychiatrist. It was hard. imagine an American psychiatrist medicating him for surviving genocide in two countries” (Kidder: 157). Farmer understands that modern medicine might not have as big an impact as witch medicine when it comes to things like mental health. Sorcery plays an important role in many communities, such as in the movie Yesterday when he goes to see Sangoma, the traditional healer of his village, and Sangoma tells him that the cause of his illness is the anger that he carries on his shoulders. it is important and often essential to treat someone with the advice or treatment recommended by a natural healer, but this can also make people like Ayer decide that maybe that is the cause of my illness. In return, this may prevent someone like Yesterday from going to the clinic and seeing a doctor to get what could be the correct diagnosis. With access to healthcare being as bad as it is in these communities as it was yesterday, this could be an alternative that could discourage them from waiting in line with a high chance that they won’t even get seen that same day.
A great example of how we are interconnected on a global scale and the sacrifices that people like Farmer and Deo, as well as the schoolteacher in Yesterday and Yesterday, make is that of an African-American doctor named Dziwe Ntaba who left his job in New Jersey. and he went to work for the clinic in Kayanza, Burundi without pay. This is a lesson that everyone who reads the book can take in and see that there are tremendously generous people who are willing to make sacrifices so that others can have better access to health care. In addition, Farmer contributed to the clinic built by Deo by asking a non-profit organization called the Solar Electric Light Fund to help Kayanza (Kidder: 257).
An illustration of global interconnectedness I think would be that of HIV. When the disease broke out, he did not discriminate and made everyone look beyond the borders of what and why this disease is happening, not only in South Africa but also in the backyards of the richest nations. Since we are all interconnected on a larger scale in this world. It is up to us to act to make changes and be guided by characters like Deo and Farmer “We have to think about health in the broadest possible sense,” according to Farmer (Kidder, 2003: 91). The characters displayed great courage, moral aspiration, and devotion to others in their most difficult situations. As a reader, one can take lessons from these individuals and try to follow a similar path. Helping those less fortunate and realizing that there is a world outside the bounds of our daily lives, and that people die because they do not receive adequate or necessary medical needs due to lack of access to healthcare.
References:
Strength in What Remains: Tracy Kidder (2009)
Mountains Beyond Mountains: Tracy Kidder (2003)