Students at Carrboro High School join a movement for social justice in global health

	Students at Carrboro High School teleconference with PIH co-founders Paul Farmer and Ophelia Dahl.

“Personally, this talk has given me inspiration to do something,” says Ben Aronson, speaking of his class’s hour-long conversation with PIH cofounders Paul Farmer and Ophelia Dahl. “Prior to taking this Global Issues class, this line of work never really interested me. It wasn’t like I knew about the problems and I just didn’t care, but I really was blind to this work.”

“When I started to learn the epic history of Haiti and read Mountains Beyond Mountains, an entire new door opened for me,” says Ben, who hopes to be a physician one day. “This concept of applying human behavior to medicine is necessary to understand world medicine. One cannot simply apply medicine in developed countries to the entire world.”

On March 8 a classroom full of high school students enrolled in Matt Cone’s Global Issues class at Carrboro High teleconferenced with Paul and Ophelia. For a group of young people devoted to changing the world, the pair was a natural fit. To prepare for the talk, Mr. Cone’s class read Tracy Kidder’s award-winning book, Mountains Beyond Mountains.

“Talking with Paul Farmer was an inspiration,” says Scott Weathers. 

The conversation pushed a number of students to ask both critical and oftentimes difficult questions of Paul and Ophelia. 

“Seeing the tools Paul used, I have to say, I didn’t always agree with the work that he did,” argues Scott. “[Paul and Ophelia] occasionally gave certain patients treatment which could be deemed cost-ineffective, given that PIH was dealing with limited resources and abundant needs.”

After some reflection, Scott continues: “Hearing Paul say that addressing a variety of a community’s needs rather than just a few can provide a much greater impact gave me something to consider… It’s much easier to realize the great work that we as individuals can accomplish if we only use our capacity to care for others.”

“The talk widened my perspective of the world,” says a contemplative Kholiswa Tsotets. “I always thought that it was so hard to [grasp] complex world issues.”

“I feel like many people see it this way therefore, they don’t want anything to do with it [complex world issues],” speculates Kholiswa. Despite that, she notes: “The poor have been suffering for too long.”

“I keep returning what Ophelia told me,” says Kholiswa. “Always remember the small victories.”

At various points the conversation moved away from Mountains and to the topic of post-earthquake Haiti.

“We asked them about the troubles in Haiti and they responded with the harsh realities of everyday life, they didn’t sugarcoat their answers,” says Elliot Pahel-Short. “Paul spoke of the equality of the human race and Ophelia backed him up with the logistics of sustainability.”

Thinking globally, acting locally

“Our club has a goal to raise $20,000 to support PIH projects in Rwanda,” says an enthusiastic Vivian McElroy. “Dr. Farmer and Ms. Dahl’s genuine enthusiasm about our fundraiser excited the students in the room to take part in the movement…they applauded our fundraising.”

“The students are collecting money from now until April 17 for a fundraising walk for FACE AIDS,” says Mr. Cone. “The day after the talk they collected a shade over $2,400.”

“It was really cool that they were inspired by what we're doing with our FACE AIDS club, even though they've done so much more and have spent so much time on it when we've just started working to help the cause,” says Emily McDaniels. “They talked to us as equals, and acted like what we did is really important to them.”

“A morning fundraiser on March 21 raised another $4,023, which means that we are over $7,000 with just about a month to go until our big walk,” says Mr. Cone.

A lasting influence

“Most of the people in my class never wouldn’t have known how to take an initiative and help the world in their own, unique way,” says an insightful Lewis Randall. “After hearing Paul and Ophelia speak, we realized we were in full possession of our own limitations and flaws, but also our own ability to change the world.”

“What I came out of it realizing was that I have a place in the global community, no matter my profession,” says Elliot. “As a future computer scientist of the world, I can do my part to alleviate world suffering. It simply requires having a passion for work and a dedication to being realistic.”