"There Is No Us And Them...There Is Only We"

Journalist Lisa Armstrong of the Pulitzer Center recently blogged about a memorable service she attended at the Partners In Health/Zanmi Lasante medical facility in Cange. Read an excerpt below. 

What sets PIH apart from many other organizations is the sense of solidarity with the community, which was evident when [PIH Medical Director Dr. Joia Mukherjee] and [PIH co-founder] Dr. Paul Farmer spoke at a church in Cange, a village two hours outside of Port-au-Prince, where Paul and Ophelia Dahl founded Zanmi Lasante in 1985. The service was held in a clinic waiting room, because the church itself was being used as a ward for those with shattered bones and unsalvageable limbs. 

 

It seems odd to be so impressed by the fact that these doctors, and all the PIH staff we met, care so deeply for the people they serve because, after all, isn't that what doctors are supposed to do? But watching the PIH medical staff at the mobile clinics, at the general hospital, I was struck by their level of concern, by the fact that seeing patients was not simply about dispensing advice and medication. The doctors were engaged; they hugged, and laughed, and, most importantly, they listened. As Joia said to me one day, "This is not work, this is my life. It is not about us imparting our wisdom to the masses. If I am listening to you, and you are telling me something, you are teaching me something, there is an exchange. And that's where you have solidarity rather than charity.

There is often a distinction between doctor and patient, and that separation can only become more apparent when the doctor is American and privileged, and the patient is Haitian and poor. But for these doctors, there is no us and them. There is only we.