Raise money for AIDS by going out on a limb – Winnipeg Free Press

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I have no horse in this race, but these doctors from the US inspire me greatly:

Mad As Hell Doctors

This request letter was sent to President Obama’s office on 8.21.09

Dear Mr. President:

This September, as the healthcare debate rages in Congress, our core group of six doctors from Oregon will be embarking on an historic road trip across America. We will be conducting town halls in twenty-six cities as we make our way to Washington, D.C. Our mission is to educate our fellow citizens as to why a single payer health care system is the only means to lasting, substantive health care reform for this country.

All told, our group has 191 years of combined, real-world medical experience, much of it spent working in a system that serves neither patients nor their doctors. As physicians who have sworn an oath to behave in accord with the highest possible ethical, medical standards, we have all reached the same conclusion: it is our professional obligation to speak out against a for-profit system of health care that is fatally compromising the health and well being of our patients, their families and our nation.

We will be in Washington D.C. on the morning of Oct. 1 and it would be a distinct honor if you would meet with our modest delegation to discuss the future of health care as well as the moral, social and fiscal imperative of a enacting a single-payer system for America at this moment in our history.

Dr. Paul Hochfeld Emergency Room Physician -Corvallis, OR

Dr. Eugene Uphoff FamilyPhysician-Portland, Oregon

Dr. Samuel Metz Anesthesiologist-Portland,Oregon

Dr. Michael Huntington RadiationOncologist-Corvallis,Oregon

Dr. Joseph Eusterman Internal Medicine-Portland, Oregon – Retired

Dr. Robert Seward InternalMedicine-Portland, Oregon

These doctors are organising a cross-country “tour” through the US to speak out, share information, and gather support(ers) — they do not see it as a campaign, but as a “movement”.

Created and operated by fellow artists, and making a difference in the lives of critically ill children, is Beads of Courage:

Love…

Kiva is one of my favourite organisations.  Kieran Ball created this video to explain what happens to a Lender’s $25 loan from start, to disbursement, to repayment.

PBS has also done a news spot about Kiva which is well worth watching:

Here’s some press about Kiva!

The blogs written by MSF/Doctors Without Borders volunteers are heartwrenching and inspiring!  One could get lost for days in reading the accounts of these dedicated individuals; their backgrounds range from psychiatry to engineering to nursing but one thing that they all seem to have in common is a love and respect for the people that they are caring for.   These blogs are not only inspiring, they are incredibly educational.

Can we each be a hero or a saint, even in some small way, however briefly, however “small scale”?   I believe that we can.   No matter what scale they occur at, our efforts are important.

“The hero is the one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by. The saint is the man who walks through the dark paths of the world, himself a light.”
~ Felix Adler

I am currently reading James Orbinski’s “An Imperfect Offering: Humanitarian Action in the Twenty-first Century” and am having trouble putting it down. Orbinski is one of the founders of the Canadian branch of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders/MSF); in 1994 he served as Chef de Mission for MSF in Kigali, Rwanda during the horrific civil war and genocide.   As president of MSF, the doctor and humanitarian accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on their behalf in 1999; his remarkable Nobel Lecture is available here.

George Stroumboulopoulos interviewed Dr. Orbinski on CBC’s “The Hour”; watch it here.

CBC’s “Sunday” interviewed Dr. Orbinski about his new book; watch it here.

This link will take you to a radio interview with James Orbinski on CBC’s “Sounds Like Canada”.

CBC’s documentary, “Evil Revisited”, was awarded the 2005 Canadian Radio Television News Directors Association Award. Dr. Orbinski returns to Rwanda with CBC journalist Sasa Petricic in this incredibly moving piece.

Dr Orbinski is one of the founders of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative, a not-for-profit pharmaceutical research and development entity focused on the diseases of the South. He recently co-founded Dignitas, an organization focused on community based treatment, care and prevention of HIV in the developing world.

This book, and this man speak to me on a very deep level. Each of us is responsible for each other, and each of us needs to act. As Vikram Seth so eloquently puts it in his book, “Two Lives: a Memoir”:

“May we see that we could have been born as each other.”

The documentary film “The Imam & the Pastor” from FLT Films is well worth watching.  A trailer of the film, as well as information is available here.

Here’s part of an excellent review from the web site Initiatives of Change:

“At a time when many in the world are wondering whether friendly relations are possible between those of Muslim and Christian background, the Nigerian protagonists of this film emphatically assert that they are.

In recent years, Nigeria has been rocked by ethnic and religious conflicts, with tens of thousands killed and whole communities devastated.

In the 1990s, Pastor James Wuye and Imam Muhammad Ashafa led opposing, armed militias, dedicated to defending their respective communities as violence broke out in Kaduna, northern Nigeria. In pitched battles, Pastor James lost his hand and Imam Ashafa’s spiritual mentor and two close relatives were killed.

Now the two men are co-directors of the Muslim-Christian Interfaith Mediation Centre in their city, leading task-forces to resolve conflicts across Nigeria.

The Imam and the Pastor tells how they made this remarkable transition. It is both a moving story of forgiveness and a case-study of a successful grass-roots initiative to rebuild communities torn apart by conflict.”