I want to share something with you.
Bending the Arc is the story of three people—Paul Farmer, Jim Yong Kim, and Ophelia Dahl—who met in Haiti when they were barely in their twenties, saw human beings suffering needlessly, and decided to do something about it. The impact of that encounter continues to be felt, and has saved millions of lives.
Poor people in Haiti were dying of curable diseases, so these young kids built a clinic, skipped medical school classes, “borrowed” supplies from the hospital in Boston, and brought treatment to Haiti that had been commonplace in America for decades. When this wasn’t enough, they developed a new model of community health that had extraordinary results.
People took notice, and their work expanded to South America and Africa, where they stood at the threshold of the fight against HIV/AIDS and Ebola.
Paul, Jim, and Ophelia—and the organization they started—refused to accept different treatment for people because they were poor, and in the process, their journey transformed from three idealistic, rebel kids helping people in rural Haiti to a fight in the highest halls of power for the right to health for all.
This story reaches far beyond the issue of health care, showing how compassion, generosity, moral imagination, strategy, and sheer determination together can change the trajectory of the world, bending the arc of the moral universe closer to justice.
Share our story and help us remind people that big change isn’t magical — it just takes the will and compassion to see it through.
Thank you, and more soon!
The Bending the Arc team