Cuban doctors go to remote regions, where other doctors wont go. They offer a stirring example for developing countries.
- Dr. Paul Farmer, Harvard Medical school; founder, Partners in Health, Haiti
This was my dear friend Simone's facebook update today.
and how closely linked Haiti's fate and that of the Dominican republic have been.
I have another friend A to be thankful for, for introducing me to the Butterflies/Marisposas, the three sisters who took on the junta in the Dominican republic.
Today, it was wrenching to read about the events in Haiti and then I came across this initiative, in addition to the UNDP (http://www.undp.org) and Partners in Health website.
" Most of us may feel helpless in the face of a massive natural disaster such as the earthquake in Haiti, but here's one small thing we can do: Ask the US govt to temporarily stop deportations to Haiti and give the nearly 30,000 Haitian immigrants currently facing deportation "Temporary Protected Status"."
http://capwiz.com/fconl/issues/alert/?alertid=14551696
Partners in Health, working in Haiti for decades, of course has been an inspiration for a long time. The work of Harvard Medical school's Dr. Paul Farmer, beautifully chronicled in the bestselling 'Mountains beyond mountains' is the type of thing that drew me to public health in the first place. And its pretty amazing, that Cuba, with one of the best healthcare systems and doctors in the world, is the first place to dispatch doctors, whether its the earthquake in Kashmir or civil war in Africa.
Wish I could do even an ounce of it.
http://www.pih.org/where/Haiti/Haiti.html
Another great group working on Haiti and emergency medical relief across the world is Doctors withough Borders/Medicins sans Frontieres (http://www.msf.org), which epitomizes the essence of medicine and public health. I wish my country had the spirit of medicine, since we produce some of the largest numbers of doctors in the world, most of whom emigrate to the US and dont even pay back an ounce or any tax on the free and excellent state-funded education they receive, like the Cubans..in the spirit of another doctor, called Ernesto Guevara, known to the world as 'el Che'. And Fidel and the corruptions of power, couldnt take away his spirit, which inspired the Cuban medical system and groups across the world, especially at times like this.
2 comments:
Thank you, Leah! This is something truly worth talking about. I urge everyone to contribute whatever little they can to help feed the hungry and save lives in this devastated country.
On an entirely different note, I am a bit disappointed with the "hindu cow lovers" comment you made. I feel that this is disrespectful to many people's faiths.. and this does not sound like the secular person I've known you to be.
Thank you for the comment.
Indeed, it is an important issue which we should look at as global citizens.
Regarding the other piece, I see you point. Although that post was referring to "sunni" fanatics and the other self declared group, who do claim to be "cow lovers" in India, where it be immediately known, that we are talking of the RSS, but it maybe interpreted differently outside of India, where secular Indians often use it as a 'mullah' term. Will edit. Thanks!
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