February 2007 - Austin College

A PARTNER IN HOPEDr. Paul Farmer has won the Duke University HumanitarianAward, the Margaret Mead Award from the AmericanAnthropological Association, the American Medical Association’sOutstanding International Physician Award, the HeinzHumanitarian Award, the MacArthur Foundation’s “GeniusAward,” and no doubt many other honors and citations. He is thesubject of the New York Times bestseller Mountains BeyondMountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Curethe World, which tells how Farmer co-founded Partners In Healthin Haiti and became a champion of the destitute poor.Some have compared Farmer to Albert Schweitzer, theAlsatian minister, organist, doctor, author, and missionary whowon the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952. It is an impressivecomparison for a man who is 47 years old, yet Farmer is quick topoint out that all his accomplishments had a simple beginning.“Everything I am doing now,” Farmer said, “began when Iwas a student.”Farmer first visited Haiti in 1983 after graduating fromDuke University. The summer before he started medical school,Farmer worked in New York at Kings County Hospital, “but feltdrawn back to Haiti,” he said. He managed to work in Haitiwhile attending medical school at Harvard University, anddespite constant travel across the globe, Farmer still works inHaiti. It is the capital of his life’s work.More than 100 leaders were nominated for the AustinCollege Leadership Award, which honors an outstandingindividual who has demonstrated the principles of servantleadership. The ideal recipient takes a courageous stand on apublic policy issue that advances a humanitarian or educationalpurpose; serves the youth of a state, nation, or internationalcommunity to improve the quality of health, educational, orcommunity services; or creates opportunities for young peoplethat help them enhance their educational experience and move toa new level of service to society.The recipient also must reflect integrity, values-basedleadership, vision, and a personal and professional life thatexhibits responsibility, respect, caring, and gratitude.Farmer likes the concept of servant leadership, “as long aswe’re clear about who we are serving,” he said. “If you are aprivileged person, what could be better than being a servant tothe poor or the destitute sick?”LEADERSHIP, TO FARMER,IS GROUNDED IN PARTNERSHIP“Being a good leader is creating a space where other people canlead,” Farmer said. “That’s a hard lesson for Americans becausewe’ve grown up with the idea that personal achievements are justthat — personal. That’s not the way to start a movement. It’s gotto be about the collective.”Partners In Health, organized and started by students, nowoperates on four continents, with clinics in Haiti, Peru,Guatemala, Mexico, Russia, Rwanda, and Lesotho. Farmer saidmore than 4,000 people work with Partners In Health. “It’s notabout struggling alone.”Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world, with thehighest HIV rate in the Western Hemisphere. Despite all theawards and honors, and the success of the Partners In Healthcommunity-based treatment program pioneered in Haiti and nowcopied throughout the world, Farmer said he still feels inadequateon a regular basis.“When you work in Haiti, you have ample reason to feelinadequate,” Farmer said. “Despite developing new treatments forfighting tuberculosis and AIDS, we have not eradicated poverty.18 FEBRUARY 2007