Jeff Sachs Suchs

Not really, but I thought the title was too good to pass up. Jeff Sachs' talk was pretty interesting, and focused mostly on how few Developed World resources it would take to solve some of the most major health issues in the Developing World (and Africa in particular). He hypothesizes that the current operating budget of the the US Pentagon for a single day - almost $1.5 billion - would be enough to virtually eliminate malaria in Africa. Pretty crazy, right? What was most awe-inspiring for me was how he had an equally firm grasp on both the scientific and economic issues at play.

Also, moving is maybe the most terrible thing of all time. I'm mired in a bad mood for the duration of the moving process, and I am perpetually asking myself, "How could I have possibly collect all of this crap in the past 12 months?!"

I think I'm going to try and post an audio entry up here in the next few days. With this fancy MacBook Pro technology, it should be possible, but I'd love to prove it to myself before I leave. Hmmm, maybe I can even do a video posting. This could get interesting. A'ight, I'm out.

The fourth graders who insist, "second is the best" are wrong.

Tonight, I am taking time out of my busy packing schedule to go hear Jeffrey Sachs (isn't that portrait of him on the left the most amazing thing you've ever seen?!) speak at the NYU Medical Center. And no, I’m not already packing for SA – the lease on my apartment comes up December 1st and my roommate and I are moving out of the East Village. Jeff Sachs is one of those people who I only know because my friends and family have on several occasions recommended, “You should read his stuff, it’s really interesting.” In doing a little cursory research on the interwebs, it looks like his work centers around themes of economic development, poverty alleviation, and enlightened globalization – all tremendously interesting topics, all relevant to the experiences I’ll be having in Durban. I’m hoping that he is as compelling a speaker as the publicist who updates his Columbia Earth Institute website would have us believe he is.


When I wrote that first post, I’m don’t think I highlighted how preoccupied I have been with figuring out all of the things that I have to do before I depart. Just so we’re clear: it is taking over my brain, neuron by neurotic neuron. I think it makes sense on some level (I mean, one has to finish compiling a To Do list before ticking things off) but I wish it didn’t totally sidetrack me from the other, often more pressing, things on my plate. I recently saved a Things to Do for SA e-mail in Gmail. Now, every time my subconscious stumbles across another chore, I can just add it to my running list. This, it turns out, is quite convenient because it means that I have access to this list anywhere I have internet connection. Enough with the practical tips – I’ve got to keep plugging away at the documents I’m preparing for my eventual replacement at New York Cares. Hopefully I’ll have some interesting insights to share about Jeff Sachs later tonight.

b

Get ready 'cause here I come.

Hey all. My guess is that very few people will be reading this first post, but this is where I'm planning on keeping everyone up-to-date about what's going on while I'm in South Africa. For those of you who might not know (or maybe you've *gasp* never even met me), I have been invited to be a part of a research team at an HIV/TB clinic at the McCord Hospital in Durban, South Africa right on the Indian Ocean. My departure is about eight weeks away, and I'm still figuring out all of the things I have to get in order. Dr. Bruce Walker, the director of the Partners AIDS Research Centera and a Harvard Medical School faculty member, has graciously offered me a grant to pay for my travel, and I placed the request for my departing flight this afternoon.

With the pressure of this first post out of the way, I hope I can begin to share some of the things I'm thinking about before I leave. The tenor of this blog will change dramatically, I think, once I get to Durban; I imagine that there will be many stories about my new life to share. But, until then, you'll have to put up with a much more theoretical treatment of things.

I hope you find something interesting to read/watch/listen to here - I'll do my best to keep it entertaining. It feels like I am on the doorstep of quite an adventure.

b