Dr. Kinari Webb runs an environmentally friendly health clinic on the Southeast Asian island of Borneo that offers patients living in extreme poverty access to affordable health care.
Health in Harmony allows patients to pay for treatment in everything from baskets to seeds to manure. The clinic uses these payments to treat, not just patients, but the rapidly receding rainforest.
Dr. Webb hopes that the clinic's green practices - like teaching villagers to farm organically - will help stop the deforestation that brings disease and famine to the villages of Borneo.
Quotes
"It's not only about our physical health, which is incredibly important, and the physical health of the planet, but it's about our soul health. These -- these rain forests and this biodiversity is exquisitely beautiful." - Dr. Kinari Webb, Founder, Health in Harmony
"Our old people, our honored elders, they are ones who cut down the forests, and they are seeing the bad effects on their grandchildren. That's why were so pleased with this training, that we are learning to do something about it." - Srikandi Ase, Village leader
Warm Up Questions
1. What do you do when you get sick? How do you pay for your care? 2. Where does your food come from?
3. Do you eat organic food? What does organic mean?
Discussion Questions
1. Do you think that environmentally friendly policies of the Health in Harmony clinic would work in this country? Do you think they should be implemented? Why or why not?
2. Do you think it is important to teach the villagers of Borneo to farm organically? Why might that be difficult for them?
3. What problems do we have with the health care system in our own country?
4. How is health care in developing countries like Borneo different from the U.S.? What lessons can we learn from Dr. Webb's clinic?
Additional Resources
