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Humanitarians Paul Farmer and Ophelia Dahl Visit BB&N

Farmer made certain to speak with as many students as possible during his visit, such as senior Marina Keegan.

BB&N students were treated to an inspiring visit before winter break when humanitarians Paul Farmer and Ophelia Dahl stopped in to talk at the Middle and Upper Schools.  Farmer and Dahl are the respective founder and director of Partners in Health, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing health care for poverty stricken countries.

Starting in 1987 with a handful of volunteers and funding from a single donor, PIH launched a project in rural Haiti, with the aim of providing assistance to a community of refugees.  Since that time, its reach has extended to nine different countries, and has helped thousands of people with health care, and improving quality of life.

Dahl, the daughter of famed author Roald Dahl, was in Haiti at the age of 19 when she had an epiphany.  “I saw parents with sick children turned away from a hospital for lack of money, sums as little as 25 cents…I told Paul (Farmer), ‘This is what we’re going to do with our lives.’”

Setting out to help a ravaged third world community does not come with an instructional guide though.  Uncertain as to how to begin such an endeavor, Farmer and Dahl began canvassing the highland hills of Haiti, going door-to-door of the locals’ makeshift huts.  “We went from shack to shack, asking what people wanted if we could offer help,” says Farmer.  “They all said the same thing—a hospital.”

So they raised funds and built a hospital, and their organization has grown from there.

In addition to providing health care, PIH has focused on training locals in impoverished areas to serve as health care workers and teach sustainable methods of living, shelter, and community building. 

“We discovered that the secret ingredient to making this work was training native social and healthcare workers,” Farmer says.  “This helps to get people invested in their community and makes the aid we set up more self sufficient and maintainable down the line.”

Farmer presented a slide show depicting the issues he and his staff deal with on a daily basis as they bring medical care to those in need.  At the Upper School one slide in particular had a dramatic effect on all in attendance.  Farmer told the story of seeing a 26 year-old man named Joseph who had lost the will to live due to HIV.  After six months of treatment with Farmer, the results were miraculous.  The before and after photos encapsulated the possibilities of the work Farmer and Dahl are doing.

Throughout both the assemblies, Middle and Upper School students hung on the speakers’ words, resulting in productive dialogues during the question-and-answer sessions following. 

“Educate yourself about the world and the issues we as humans all face,” encouraged Farmer when asked what can be done on a local level to support their work.  “Think big, think about basic human rights.”

Middle School students and their parents took the advice to heart, organizing a clothing drive for Haitian families who had been brought to Boston for medical care. 

“It's been an amazing success…I've lost count of the bags of clothes, but we’ve filled two station wagons already and a third collection is growing,” says Middle School Director Mary Dolbear.  “Partners in Health has more families coming from Haiti as well as current Haitians living in Boston who will need more clothes—some of the clothes we donated ended up on the backs of families that same evening!”

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