N4L 176: "One by One by One" by Aaron Berkowitz

Nonfiction4Life

SUMMARY

In his memoir ONE BY ONE BY ONE, Dr. Aaron Berkowitz traces his journey as a young doctor grappling to bridge the gap between one of the world’s richest countries and one of the world’s poorest. On assignment in Haiti with Partners in Health, he meets Janel, a 23-year-old man with the largest brain tumor he or any of his colleagues at Harvard Medical School have ever seen. Trying to make the first big save of his medical career as a neurosurgeon, and determined to “to bring the benefits of modern medical science to those most in need” and work toward “solidarity rather than charity alone,” Dr. Berkowitz aims to save Janel’s life by bringing him back to Boston for a 12-hour brain surgery.

With heart-wrenching twists and turns, the story of Janel’s uncertain medical future parallels Dr. Berkowitz’s own uncertainties as a doctor. Berkowitz brings the reader to the front lines of global humanitarian work as he struggles to overcome the challenges that arise when well-meaning intentions give rise to unintended consequences, when cultures and belief systems clash, and when it’s not clear what the right thing to do is, let alone the right way to do it.

KEY FACTS

• About 4 billion people lack access to basic healthcare.
• Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
• More than 10,000 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) work in Haiti (one for every 1,000 people), yet Haiti remains one of the poorest countries, with some of the worst health, education, and sanitation statistics in the world.

QUOTES FROM BERKOWITZ

• "I learned how a few individuals working together might just be able to make a small difference in those big billions, one by one by one.”
• “From illiteracy to entitlement and corruption, from going to the bathroom with the door open to refusing to sit near the bathroom, Haiti’s inequities and their juxtaposition are in plain view before even arriving there.”
• “PIH [Partners in Health] describes its work as being based on solidarity rather than charity alone. Charity is necessary, of course: those who have more should help those who have less. But charity means us giving to them, to some abstract all. Solidarity redefines this relationship. It invites all of us to share with each other because we are each part of the same all.”
• “PIH recognized early on that health is not only about medicine but also about combating poverty.”
• “If we frame problems in terms of their constraints rather than their possibilities, prioritizing risk avoidance above all else, we are less motivated to find solutions.”

BUY One by One by One: Making a Small Difference Amid a Billion Problems

RECOMMENDATION

Learn more about Partners in Health and their mission by visiting their website.

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Special thanks…

• Music Credit
• Sound Editing Credit