What began as a little assignment–tracking down MacArthur “genius” award winners to see how they had fared after receiving their recognition–led reporter Colleen Mastony to Sudan, Ghana and this week’s cover story, “Doctor without borders.”Her reporting began in Donald Hopkins’ book-filled home office in Lincoln Park, where the conversation ranged from Hopkins’ Jim Crow childhood to his work as a public-health pioneer and his commitment to eradicating the dangerous Guinea worm. By traveling to Africa with Hopkins, Colleen realized both the depth of Hopkins’ ambition and the conditions conspiring to thwart him. She learned of health-care workers being beaten by soldiers in Sudan. In Ghana, she saw water for the health clinic transported by donkey cart.”Seeing all of this firsthand has been a life-changing experience. You can’t help but be touched when you see people who don’t even have enough clean water to drink,” reflects Colleen. “You can’t help but think of the inequities of life when you come back from mud-hut African villages and find yourself a few days later walking down Michigan Avenue. The vast imbalance in wealth seemed overwhelming to me.”Still, Colleen learned to see the world through Donald Hopkins’ eyes. “He believes that if you take one burden off people, they are stronger to face other challenges. For me, Hopkins is an antidote to despair.”
CHANGING THE WORLD
We recently sought your suggestions for ways to improve our world, one day at a time and for little or no money. We received a great response and would like to hear about even more people and ideas. We plan to feature some of them in an issue to come out later this summer. Entries must be received no later than May 18. For details and a little inspiration, please visit chicagotribune.com/betterworld.
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etaylor@tribune.com
