Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder - Book Report/Review Example

Written by Tracy Kidder, Mountains Beyond Mountains does not only reveal who Dr. Farmer is and what he has done for the world. It also opens our eyes to the unbalanced world where the poor cannot benefit from the cures and modern technology that our current healthcare system has. Kidder successfully presented the intricacies of the choices and the decisions made by Dr. Farmer when he undertook his mission to help out the Haitian people. He presented the story of Dr. Farmer without any biases, he showed who he was, without covering up for whatever weakness and failures he may have encountered through his journey. Dr. Farmer’s mission started when he visited Haiti after his graduation.

There, he discovered how inequality affected the people in terms of healthcare. It is a wonder how people can survive in such poverty-stricken lands. Just like any other person who saw the condition of the people living in Haiti, he was horrified by what he saw. The suffering of the people was in its highest forms that even the most caring and empathetic doctors cannot bear it and turn back home. But Dr. Farmer didn’t turn back, he could not. There was hunger, disease, malnutrition and death everywhere.

And he swore to change these things. Kidder emphasized in the novel how Dr. Farmer resolved to change the Haitian healthcare system and the people’s health conditions. He sought for solutions and he carried on his mission even as he went back to his university to finish his studies. He believed that he can change things, that any man can. If only people won’t give up too easily. If only people would not be scared to face the things unknown to him. Dr. Farmer took the Haitian condition very seriously and he believed in doing something to change their plight.

He wanted everyone else to understand that change does not mean proposing or planning rather it means really getting on the act of doing it. Dr. Farmer did not only use his clinical background to help the Haitian people, he also used his anthropological background, believing that it is the perfect marriage for improving the clinical and public health of the Haitian people. Mountains Beyond Mountains captured his vision and mission very clearly, how he started to build his connections with the people he would be helping and with the people who would help him in his cause.

Mountains Beyond Mountains, although not a spiritual book, makes us reflect on one’s own spirituality. As Dr. Farmer combined Harvard and Haiti, pursuing an M.D. and Ph.D. in medicine and anthropology while working on his mission to cure the world, he saw how the two environments saw spirituality. Kidder relates how Dr. Farmer realized that spirituality, something less valued in Harvard, is very important for the poor people, not just in Haiti but in other poverty-stricken countries. It was the guiding hope of the people, that even in their suffering there must be something good behind it.

He learned the meaning of the interconnections of people. How one’s suffering is connected with another’s joy. Although there was no joy in the situation, Dr. Farmer found peace and contentment while he was working to help the Haitian people. He knew he started something, and he knew that eventually, people would come to realize that the world needs a lot of Dr. Farmers in order to fix the healthcare systems of the different societies. He found faith and spirituality in his cause to alleviate