Thank you for coming on here to discuss your book. I only recently got a copy so I am a little embarrassed to say I have not completed it yet. So far I am “enjoying it” as much as you can enjoy reading about such matters, I guess a better term would be im “appreciating it.” I appreciate your insight and your honesty and willingness to share. I am especially grateful of your ability to articulate these complexities in simpler terms for people to better understand.
I am not so good at articulating my observations from working in Haiti for 6 months after the quake.. or maybe I just haven’t given it much thought. I travel light so all of notes from around that time I no longer have and my memorory for specific dates, names, and places is starting to fade.. but is relight by reading your words.
I feel often that aid can be detrimental. I was asked to work for a religious organization that wanted to help in Haiti. To me it seemed that they more wanted to help there own agenda, and there priorities against birth control, std education, and tradition seemed counter intuitive. But I guess this is many places. I remember picking up a child from one mission that claimed they provided health care services, only to find the child had been seizing for hours and the only treatment they had received from this organization was prayer. Contrary I saw patients kept alive by extravagant medical interventions that in the states would barely stand a chance.
It was a very US driven view of health care that was not culturally competent or appropriate. (the health care system is also at times poorly understood by people not in the health care system, just recently I had a patient tell me ‘we can send people to the moon! I have a hard time believing there is no easier fix for me’ in regards to her acute health condition. Often I think people think it should be able to be fixed and they get side tracted by one specific case instead of thinking how future planning could better benefit the situation) it was further more complicated by NGO with cowboy mentalities, and people who wanted adventure, recognition, and had their own motives. Cultural incompetence at its finest, were everyone is suddenly an expert…
Well I will stop my rant/ input and get back to reading your book.
lsattely4 karma
Thank you for coming on here to discuss your book. I only recently got a copy so I am a little embarrassed to say I have not completed it yet. So far I am “enjoying it” as much as you can enjoy reading about such matters, I guess a better term would be im “appreciating it.” I appreciate your insight and your honesty and willingness to share. I am especially grateful of your ability to articulate these complexities in simpler terms for people to better understand.
I am not so good at articulating my observations from working in Haiti for 6 months after the quake.. or maybe I just haven’t given it much thought. I travel light so all of notes from around that time I no longer have and my memorory for specific dates, names, and places is starting to fade.. but is relight by reading your words.
I feel often that aid can be detrimental. I was asked to work for a religious organization that wanted to help in Haiti. To me it seemed that they more wanted to help there own agenda, and there priorities against birth control, std education, and tradition seemed counter intuitive. But I guess this is many places. I remember picking up a child from one mission that claimed they provided health care services, only to find the child had been seizing for hours and the only treatment they had received from this organization was prayer. Contrary I saw patients kept alive by extravagant medical interventions that in the states would barely stand a chance.
It was a very US driven view of health care that was not culturally competent or appropriate. (the health care system is also at times poorly understood by people not in the health care system, just recently I had a patient tell me ‘we can send people to the moon! I have a hard time believing there is no easier fix for me’ in regards to her acute health condition. Often I think people think it should be able to be fixed and they get side tracted by one specific case instead of thinking how future planning could better benefit the situation) it was further more complicated by NGO with cowboy mentalities, and people who wanted adventure, recognition, and had their own motives. Cultural incompetence at its finest, were everyone is suddenly an expert…
Well I will stop my rant/ input and get back to reading your book.
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