This year's freshman " common reading" at Catawba College is Mountains Beyond Mountains by journalist Tracy Kidder. Kidder subtitled his book "The quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a man who would cure the world." In it, Kidder tells the extraordinary story of Farmer's creation of Partners In Health, an organization dedicated to providing modern health care to the impoverished masses of the entire world. The organization's mission statement reads in part: "...Partners in Health strives to achieve two overarching goals: to bring the benefits of modern medical science to those most in need of them and to serve as an antidote to despair. We draw on the resources of the world's elite medical and academic institutions and on the lived experience of the world's poorest and sickest communities... When our patients are ill and have no access to care, our team of health professionals, scholars, and activists will do whatever it takes to make them well — just as we would do if a member of our own families — or we ourselves — were ill."
Speaking for Partners in Health at the next Catawba College Community Forum will be Mr. Edward M. Cardoza, Vice-president for Development at PIH. Mr. Cardoza holds a Master of Arts in Ministry from Saint John's Seminary School of Theology and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Saint John's Seminary College of Liberal Arts. While in the seminary, Mr. Cardoza served in the Office of AIDS Ministry and the chaplaincy office at Massachusetts General Hospital. During this time, he also attended the University of Lisbon in Lisbon, Portugal where he studied Portuguese and worked with refugees from East Timor.
After graduating from seminary, Mr. Cardoza worked as a development researcher at Tufts University. In 1998, Mr. Cardoza became a development researcher at the Harvard Medical School, and later the director of development research at the Appalachian Mountain Club. In the spring of 2002, Mr. Cardoza completed a practicum in spiritual direction at the Center for Religious Development through the Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, MA. In December 2002, he was recruited by Partners in Health to become director of development. He is currently fundraising for Partners in Health's programs in Boston, Haiti, Russia, Peru, Rwanda, Mexico and Guatemala.
Come to the next Catawba College Community Forum to hear the truly remarkable story of Partners in Health and Dr. Farmer's quest to "cure the world." The presentation will take place on Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. in Tom Smith Auditorium in Ralph W. Ketner Hall on the campus of Catawba College. Admission is FREE.
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