Hand in Hand with Haiti
Awareness, Support & Celebration
New Albany Schools and Community
November 2012
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“Hand in Hand with Haiti” in the comment section
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Why Haiti?
Dr. Paul Farmer will present a guest lecture on the New Albany campus on November 29, 2012. Dr. Farmer will speak to students from New Albany Schools and students from some surrounding central Ohio school districts at the Jeanne B. McCoy Center for the Arts.
Dr. Farmer’s visit to New Albany is made possible through the generosity of New Albany Community Foundation donors, Greif, Inc. and KeyBank. His appearance is in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of A Remarkable Evening, the signature fundraiser for the foundation on November 29 that features keynote speaker, President Bill Clinton. A Remarkable Evening is underwritten entirely by the Wexner family so that all proceeds benefit the foundation and its grant making activities.
The New Albany-Plain Local School District, supported by a dedicated group of parent and faculty volunteers have planned events and activities related to the humanitarian work of Dr. Farmer, his dedication to the people of Haiti and efforts to build a sustainable community for Haitians as well as provide for appropriate medical care. Events focus on building student and community awareness of Dr. Farmer and his non-profit organization Partners in Health which works with Operation Blessings to operate the Zanmi Beni Orphanage in Haiti. Several events will focus on fundraising goals to support the orphanage’s fish farming program. Fish farming provides nourishment as well as sustainable business opportunities.
Additional connections for students include the opportunities to look at the issues in the global spectrum and how we can develop awareness and support while focusing on similar problems at a local level.
A quick segment that appeared on CBS – 60 Minutes provides a great introduction to Dr. Farmer and the impact of his work.
This video clip produced by the Columbus Council on World Affairs highlights the central Ohio finalists and spotlights NAPLS as the award winner. The clip provides a great overview of the work of our students, parents, teachers and administrators that were a vital part of making this happen for our district!
Events and Activities Schedule
Save the Date
(Additional events are in development, please check back for updates in the next few weeks)
Community Book Read & Discussion
Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
Wednesday – November 28, 2012
7:00 p.m.
New Albany High School Library
CLICK HERE TO RSVP FOR BOOK READ
The Community Book Read for the New Albany Community will feature:
- Traditional Haitian performances by the New Albany High School A Cappella Choir,
- Dramatic interpretations of excerpts from the Mountains Beyond Mountains by the New Albany High School Drama Department, and
- Community discussion led by New Albany faculty, Dr. Bucci Professor at The Ohio State University and community members.
Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
Overview – Tracy Kidder is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the author of the bestsellers The Soul of a New Machine, House, Among Schoolchildren, and Home Town. He has been described by the Baltimore Sun as the “master of the non-fiction narrative.” This powerful and inspiring new book shows how one person can make a difference, as Kidder tells the true story of a gifted man who is in love with the world and has set out to do all he can to cure it.
At the center of Mountains Beyond Mountains stands Paul Farmer. Doctor, Harvard professor, renowned infectious-disease specialist, anthropologist, the recipient of a MacArthur “genius” grant, world-class Robin Hood, Farmer was brought up in a bus and on a boat, and in medical school found his life’s calling: to diagnose and cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. This magnificent book shows how radical change can be fostered in situations that seem insurmountable, and it also shows how a meaningful life can be created, as Farmer—brilliant, charismatic, charming, both a leader in international health and a doctor who finds time to make house calls in Boston and the mountains of Haiti—blasts through convention to get results.
Mountains Beyond Mountains takes us from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia as Farmer changes minds and practices through his dedication to the philosophy that “the only real nation is humanity” – a philosophy that is embodied in the small public charity he founded, Partners In Health. He enlists the help of the Gates Foundation, George Soros, the U.N.’s World Health Organization, and others in his quest to cure the world. At the heart of this book is the example of a life based on hope, and on an understanding of the truth of the Haitian proverb “Beyond mountains there are mountains”: as you solve one problem, another problem presents itself, and so you go on and try to solve that one too.
Dr. Paul Farmer Lecture
Thursday – November 29, 2012
12:15 p.m.
Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts
(New Albany High School and invited school students only, to be determined by school officials)
New Albany High School Gymnasium (Student Overflow)
*The Community is invited as we simulcast the lecture in the New Albany High School mini-theater. Doors open at 11:45 a.m. (Parking will be available at the Church of the Resurrection)
Paul Farmer, MD, PhD
Medical anthropologist and physician Paul Farmer is the founding director of Partners In Health (PIH), an international non-profit organization that provides direct health care services and conducts research and advocacy activities on behalf of those who are sick and living in poverty. Dr. Farmer is the Kolokotrones University Professor and Chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School; Chief of the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital; and the United Nations Deputy Special Envoy for Haiti, under Special Envoy President Bill Clinton.
Dr. Farmer and his colleagues in the U.S. and in Haiti, Peru, Russia, Rwanda, Lesotho, and Malawi have pioneered novel community-based treatment strategies that demonstrate the delivery of high-quality health care in resource-poor settings. Dr. Farmer has written extensively on health, human rights, and the consequences of social inequality. His most recent book is Haiti After the Earthquake. Other titles include Partner to the Poor: A Paul Farmer Reader, Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor, The Uses of Haiti, Infections and Inequalities: The Modern Plagues, and AIDS and Accusation: Haiti and the Geography of Blame. Dr. Farmer is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Margaret Mead Award from the American Anthropological Association, the Outstanding International Physician (Nathan Davis) Award from the American Medical Association, a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, and, with his PIH colleagues, the Hilton Humanitarian Prize. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.