Wednesday, October 16, 2013
"Be the change that you wish to see in the world."
The inspiration for this blog posting came from Dr. Einterz's lecture last night in class. "Be the change you wish to see in the world" has been dear to me since my Junior year of high school when I received a silver bracelet with this saying engraved into it. Dr. Einterz was inspirational, refreshing, and in my opinion, what we need more of in this world, especially working in the health and public health field. We have discussed many aspects of health, global health, and public health so far this semester. We have learned about approaches and interventions that have succeeded, and those that have failed. Don't get me wrong, I believe that the majority of people that invest their life into this field do so to make the world a better place, but I do believe that sometimes a very important "something" is missing. This something, is "care". In my opinion, it was totally, and completely evident that Dr. Einterz didn't feel that need to be superior, or a "know it all" when he began his work with AMPATH, but that he cared. I can understand how it would be easy to go into a country where things are falling apart before your eyes and to take control, take the lead, and do things the "Western" way, without much regard to the culture of those who you are working with. I sat amazed as he talked about the impact that AMPATH has had, as he admitted to being "ignorant and stupid", and as he referred to "we" as the partnership between IU health and those who are the head of the program in sub-Saharan Africa. His presentation got me thinking about another saying that I hold dear to my heart, "Never think that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, thats all who ever have."- Margaret Mead. I believe that care is what makes AMPATH as successful as it has been, and as it will continue to be. I am thankful for those people who have the better interest of others in mind, and for those that can admit to not knowing everything and take the back seat and learn from others, even if they may not be as "educated" as we are. It really is true that we can change the world, but, it all starts with us, the individual.
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I think we all were inspired by Dr. Einterz. He shows compassion, determination, knowledge and thirst for changing the world. I believe that caring is an integral part when creating a change in the world. However, no change will ever happen if there is a lack of funding, support and a solid infrastructure to fall back on if elements go awry. We have discussed in class about how funding is crucial in order to get things done e.g. In order to have a health care system to care for the people of Kenya, the IU doctors had to write letters to get grants and prove to the president of IU that this "change" would make an income. Yes, caring is extremely important and we need more people like Dr. Einterz in the world, but we also need money and funding to get things done. Just like what our government is experiencing right now in our own country.
ReplyDeleteVery true. We need to Care. We need to care and at the same time not let our actions appear as charity - the classic white man's burden. As Dr.Einterz kept on saying "we", "we" and clarifying that we is actually the community. The first change is that, we need to surrender our privileges, our expertise, our superiority; we need to establish a position of solidarity...(easier said than done!!). And we need re-evaluate our words; what do we mean by "North-south", by "first world - Third world"...As for money, yes money is needed and the AMPATH model is based on funding. But there are many other initiatives where money is secondary. Read more. as per our government, well thats a totally different ball game; not to be compared with the global health problems as we discussed. We suffer from market economy, from corporatization of health care, from unreal and high costs which vary in extremes....
ReplyDeleteDr. Einterz's presentation was excellently prepared, eloquent, and charismatic. I really believe he cares about AMPATH, the people he works with, and the people that benefit from the program. However, since I have been trying to think more critically about information that is presented to me, I couldn't help but feel that it was a little one-sided. I almost felt like he was presenting to possible donors, and not necessarily to public health students. While he definitely presented the different structural barriers in Kenya that affected these people and the program, it also seemed that all adversities that were faced were overcome, which I am sure isn't necessarily the case. I can't help but wonder how many locals weren't able to take advantage of AMPATH's resources. When reading information on HIV/AIDS, I have come across the notion that while provisions of anti-retorviral drugs are deemed as "free", there are so many hidden costs and barriers that still prevent the poor from taking advantage of these treatments.
ReplyDeleteI think that Dr. Eintersz is obviously a caring individual who has spent his life's work addressing health inequalities in developing nations and I don't seek to take away from his presentation and philosophy, I just thought I would add a different, critical view of the information he presented.
I enjoyed Dr. Einterz’s presentation as well. I thought that he made an excellent point when he talked about the Riley Mother and Baby Hospital. While it was a gorgeous facility, I couldn’t help but wonder if they put more effort and money into designing it than they did staffing it and making sure that it was sustainable and accessible. Sometimes when I hear about organizations that donate extravagant buildings in lower income countries, I feel like they are just throwing money at the problem instead of creating sustainable solutions. Someone, I think it was Onias, mentioned in class how you can go into a school in a lower income country and see six different toilets all sponsored by different organizations, yet none of them work. I think it is incredibly important that they recognized a problem and tried to create a solution and help out, but as Dr. Einterz said, if what goes on in the hospital doesn’t reach outside into the community, then the intervention is no good.
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