Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder

His father was a salesman, and moved the family to Florida when Farmer was young. Farmer was born in Massachusetts to a lower-class family. Kidder then flashes back to discuss Farmer’s early life. Farmer also has strong opinions about American foreign policy: he claims that America has sponsored military dictatorships in Haiti for hundreds of years, ensuring that the country remains impoverished. Farmer, however, showed that many Haitians believe in both Voodoo and the efficacy of Western medicine.

Farmer, who studied anthropology in college, changed American thinking on Voodoo: before Farmer, it was believed that the Haitian belief in Voodoo precluded Haitians’ acceptance of antibiotics and vaccines. Farmer is a gifted doctor who spends an unusually large amount of time consulting with individual patients and researching the Voodoo practices of the Haitians. Using the nonprofit he founded, Partners in Health, Farmer has established a medical facility called Zanmi Lasante, which treats hundreds of thousands of patients every year, almost free of charge.

Impressed with Farmer, Kidder flies back to Haiti in 2000 to observe Farmer’s work in the country. Several of Farmer’s patients call him a “saint” for the care and kindness he shows them. Five years later, Kidder sees Farmer again at Harvard Medical School, where Farmer is a renowned doctor. with Farmer, and is struck by Farmer’s calmness and selflessness. Shortly afterwards, Kidder flies back to the U.S. There, Kidder sees Paul Farmer, a highly respected doctor and humanitarian worker, negotiate with the American military on behalf of his Haitian patients. In 1994, the journalist Tracy Kidder travels to Haiti to report on the country’s military coup.

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder