Imagine working your entire life towards something that will never be finished; fighting the losing battle—could you handle that? While many would not take on the role of endless defeat, Paul Farmer chooses to continue to help the Haitian people, whilst knowing that for every one life he saves, five others are lost. Are Farmer’s acts simply those of kindness or out of sympathy, or rather, are they Christ-like in the way he provides for and loves those he helps? Through the biography about Paul Farmer written by Tracy Kidder, Farmer’s work becomes more than just kind acts and doing his job, and seems to show Farmer’s passion for the people he helps and cares for in Haiti. In the United States, healthcare is generally a widespread thing—most can be treated fairly easily and medication is readily available and affordable. Many times, the employer provides health insurance to employees, and very few die deaths that may have been easily avoided. In Haiti, it seems to be the exact opposite; there is a small amount of available doctors, many medications are expensive or unattainable, and thousands of people falling to easily treatable or easily prevented diseases and illnesses. Farmer’s key goals in helping others was to save the lives of those that would ordinarily be saved, “If people could be kept from dying unnecessarily, then one had to act.” (Kidder 102). Willing to help everyone, no matter who they are or their condition, Farmer explains “I can't sleep. There's always somebody not getting treatment.” (Kidder 24). To myself, an average person living in the United States, lack of sleep due to the deaths of thousands of people who live thousands of miles away is rarely, if ever, an issue. Farmer also commented why he strives to help those people that live in Haiti, “The problem is, if I don't work this hard, someone will die who doesn't have to. That sounds megalomaniacal. I wouldn't have said that to you before I'd taken you to Haiti and you had seen that it was manifestly true” (Kidder 191). 
The pure passion Farmer has for his line of work and those he helps is far more than others can imagine, bringing myself to believe that Paul Farmer is a genuine hero.
Time and time again, Farmer put his own needs and wants aside. Rarely would Farmer stop his mission of serving others in order to serve himself. In Mountains Beyond Mountains, Farmer’s self-sacrificing lifestyle of living in Haiti eventually got to Famer, and he became ill with Hepatitis C, in effect forcing Farmer to take a vacation. Farmer claims, “That's when I feel most alive, when I'm helping people.” (Kidder 295), bringing forward to the reader that Farmer genuinely cares more about the people he helps more so than himself. Farmer’s mission of helping as many people as possible is made slightly more realistic by Partners in Health (PIH). PIH is an organization founded by Farmer himself, along with several others, whose goal is to bring healthcare to the poor. In Haiti, Zanmi Lasante was set up by the Partners in Health and worked towards fighting diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis. In addition to treating patients, “Zanmi Lasante had built schools and houses and communal sanitation and water systems...vaccinated all the children...greatly reduced both local malnutrition and infant mortality...launched programs for women's literacy and for the prevention of AIDS.” (Kidder 22). The extremely low standard of living of the Haitian people opens the reader up to appreciate whatever they have in their own lives, such as clean water, schooling, food, and of course, health care. Growing up in a high-class suburban city, I have never been faced with wondering if I will have food to eat, or if I will be able to go to the doctor, or if the water I am drinking is clean—these are given to everyone, it seems. To be in Haiti among those who are less fortunate and who even live in houses as large as my bedroom, makes me feel guilty, “The world is full of miserable places. One way of living comfortably is not to think about them or, when you do, to send money.” (8). Yet, I haven’t even sent money. Inevitably, people discover what their passions are; what am I here to do? Ophelia Dahl, a past love interest of Paul Farmer, mentions, “I think there's a point where you realize the world has just been revealed to you...It's sort of, ‘Oh no, things will never be quite the same again.’” (Kidder 74). To Paul Farmer, helping people opened his eyes to what his purpose was. Patients became family and soon Farmer became the most celebrated man in Haiti. Though everything that Farmer does for the Haitians and the Partners in Health is very moving and important, it is nothing like the direction I plan on taking my life. To be in Farmer’s shoes and constantly fight a losing battle and never see the light at the end of the tunnel would be unbearable and would not be something that I would ever consider. Farmer’s life is that which only a very special person could live. Being able to give everything you have for others takes a lot, more than most people would give.

Works Cited
Kidder, Tracy. Mountains Beyond Mountains. New York: Random House, 2003.