Analysis Of The Book Mountains Beyond Mountains By Dr. Paul Farmer

Dr. Paul Farmer has been referred to as a saint for most of his professional career as a physician, not just at Harvard University, where he attended medical school and taught, at Boston Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he worked as a physician, but also in Russia, Lima, Peru and even Haiti where he worked to eradicate tuberculosis. Dr. Farmer wanted to help those people who couldn’t help themselves. He wished to “give a voice, to the voiceless.” This wish was a major part of the book Mountains Beyond Mountains, written by Tracy Kidder. Dr. Farmer had a unique style of administering care to the people of Haiti. He often looked at each patient as an individual with their own story, learned about them, got down to their level,

Farmer’s vocation to administer top-notch medical treatment to the poorest of the poor in Haiti was not the only thing that made him inspiring. He also advocated for his patients, often giving them a voice that helped them see their truest potential. Dr. Farmer was more than just a doctor to the people of Haiti, he was a gift from God. I believe Dr. Farmer has changed many people’s lives, not just in Haiti but also in the small town of Eureka, Illinois. I know this because he has changed my life. Reading the book Mountains Beyond Mountains has helped me see my truest potential and my vocation. There are many instances in the book when he advocates for the people of Haiti and helps give a voice to the voiceless. First, Dr. Farmer helps give a voice to the voiceless when he travels to Haiti for one of the first times. Farmer told Kidder that “He found his life work not in books or in theories but mainly through experiencing Haiti” (Kidder, 78). He spent a great deal of this early trip getting a feel for the environment. He traveled to the grubbiest of hospitals, walked among the sickest of people, and saw the worst types of poverty, but it didn’t stop him. He literally walked a mile in a Haitian’s shoes. He traveled the same roads and sat in the same tap-taps among the peasants and their animals. The amazing thing about Farmer was that he saw life through the Haitians’