I had planned to write about something else tonight, but everything seemed to pale in comparison to the need to simply encourage your support for earthquake relief in Haiti.

Partners in Health is the organization where I chose to send my support for relief work in Haiti.  Why?  I have seldom been as moved by a book as I was two years ago when I read Tracy Kidder’s Mountains Beyond Mountains:  The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World. Farmer – one of the founders of Partners in Health – has dedicated his life to curing infectious diseases and to bringing modern medical care to the world’s poorest citizens.  As the book jacket notes,

Tracy Kidder’s magnificent account shows how one person can make a difference in solving global health problems through a clear-eyed understanding of the interaction of politics, wealth, social systems, and disease….Farmer changes people’s minds through his dedication to the philosophy that “the only real nation is humanity.”

Today, you can do something quickly to help ease the immediate pain in Haiti: donate to PIH or any of the major disaster relief organizations that are reacting quickly to this human tragedy.  But do yourself a favor and read  Mountains Beyond Mountains.  You’ll be glad you did.

More to come…

DJB