Mountains Beyond Mountains Chapter 1-3 Reflection

Reading the book Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder, has really opened up my eyes to exactly how people help Haiti and the state that it is in today. For example, the whole first chapter seemed to be a setup and an introduction to our setting: Haiti. The setting seemed to be described as mostly dirty, and unorganized. Like what we talked about in class, it seemed to anger me when the Nerva Juste was released, even if everyone knew he was the culprit to the beheading of the Mayor. It seems somewhat frustrating and confusing when a country so poor is in need of help, yet it is keeping itself down.

In the third chapter, Kidder gets a taste of Farmer's work in Haiti. What really seemed interesting to me was when on page 27 when Kidder writes "Catholics, Protestants, and Voodooists believed in the reality of...sorcery. For many people...magic spells sent by enemies were the deep cause of many illnesses." It really speaks about how the belief of Haiti is shaped. Many of the people seem to be either in denial or naive about why they have diseases like AIDS and TB are common. As a follow up, Kidder says that "And many people around Cange believed that Farmer...knew how to contend with (magic)." This also seems to highlight Farmer's giving and helpful nature towards the people in Cange. It shows that the people obviously care about him as well.