Why I Am an Impatient Optimist
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A special guest post from Melinda Gates:
This week, I’m in Washington with Bill to do something that might seem unusual: say ‘thank you.’ We’re saying thanks to those who have been a part of the U.S. government’s tremendous leadership in improving global health. Our trip will include the launch of a new effort called “Living Proof Project: U.S. Investments in Global Health are Working,” a campaign aimed at conveying to Americans the tremendous progress we are making on multiple fronts in the effort to improve health around the world. Our hope is that if more people see this impact they will be moved to share these compelling stories and support America’s continued leadership in global health.
I know that for Bill and for me, these stories have had a profound impact on the way we look at the opportunities in the years ahead. At our foundation, we have come to believe that sharing stories of success is one of the most important things we can do to motivate and inspire others. Through our work, especially our visits to the field, we have been deeply touched by personal stories of lives changed for the better.
When I visited Ethiopia earlier this year, I met Tsion, a hard-working young Health Extension Worker stationed at the Wuye Gosee community health post in North West Shewa, Oromiya Region – about 3 hours drive north of Addis Ababa. She lives at the health post, in one of the rooms where she sees patients. When she’s not working at the health post, Tsion is visiting other outreach clinics and homes in the area. She and another Health Extension Worker cover a massive caseload of about 1,500 households. They walk more than two hours to reach some of the homes.
One of their most important responsibilities is tending to pregnant mothers and newborns. In Ethiopia, most families choose to deliver their babies at home with the help of traditional birth attendants. These traditional attendants lack important skills like stopping internal bleeding after delivery or resuscitating newborns if they’ve stopped breathing. Now the Ethiopian government has started a Health Extension Program that is rapidly improving access to health care in rural areas. In the past five years, more than 30,000 Health Extension Workers have been trained — and the health of children and women is improving.
The Health Extension Program is a great starting point: an opportunity to deliver safe, effective care for many more women and their newborns. Now we need to build on this success—expanding it to even more women in Ethiopia, and helping families in other countries benefit from what Ethiopia has learned. For millions of women in poor countries, the birth of a child isn’t the pure joy that it should be. It is joy mixed with terror, because there’s a real possibility that the mother or her child will not survive.
That’s why, when it comes to global health, Bill and I are optimists – but we’re impatient optimists.
We’re optimistic because, when we travel around the world, we constantly meet people like Tsion and her patients whose lives have been transformed through smart, generous investments in global health. We have seen living proof that U.S. investments in global health are working. Millions of lives are being saved. Tremendous progress is being made. But there’s still so much more we’re impatient to see done.
When you only hear about the problems in global health, they can seem very daunting. But if you see the amazing progress that’s being made — in part due to the generosity of the U.S. government and other donor nations – I know you’ll be as hopeful as I am. And you’ll want to do more.
Look at what U.S. support has helped accomplish:
- The number of children under 5 who die each year has plunged from more than 20 million in 1960 to fewer than 9 million in 2008
- Vaccines are a great investment with a huge pay-off: since 1980, vaccines have brought down the number of diphtheria cases by 93 percent; tetanus by 85 percent; and measles by nearly 93 percent
- 32 million people received life-saving malaria prevention and treatment services in 2008
The United States and its partners around the world have the potential to save and empower millions more people. Bill and I hope to share these stories of success on October 27, through a live presentation titled “Living Proof: Why we are Impatient Optimists,” which will show how U.S. investments in global health are changing the world.
-Melinda French Gates
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October 26, 2009 at 1:13 pm
This is a credible, not incredible, tale, a truth, a powerful moment in time, where you, and your husband, two phenomenal people, two immensely powerful souls, have changed, and are changing the world. Anyone with such courage must be read, and your wisdom from experience, appreciated, thank you for being willing to move to the front of what is the primary issue facing the future of humankind.
October 26, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Thank you so much for the great work you do. I salute yours and the American government’s efforts to implement sustainable and effective health systems; for your people and our people too. I BELIEVE IN AID because I know what difference it makes. I would like to encourage awareness and human rights campaigns that educate people about their govts responsibilities towards them, to enable communities in Africa, Asia and others hold their leaders accountable for fund misuse.
Bless you.
October 26, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Dear Melinda,
Thanks for sharing the moving story and focusing neglected diseases and causes of Africa. However, I would like to bring to your attention (1) Disparity and funding-concentrations in certain regions, countries and ethnic groups of Africa (specially East Africa), where certain countries or ethnic groups become aid-darlings and (2)- How the neglect of certain countries and politics in region are undermining the Entire socio-economic development of Horn of Africa.
You might enjoy this op-ed article of mine. http://scidev.net/en/opinions/africa-should-look-east-for-lessons-in-development.html
Definitely, your foundation has changed the thoughts and direction of economic development and charitable world outlook. Keep the good work.
October 26, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Thank you for sharing your experiences and these amazing stories. You and Bill are an inspiration both to those that hear this story but also those that you are willing to listen to. As someone born in Africa I think the work you do helps make the everyday lives of these amazing people more of a realiy for those who have not travelled and had th eopportunity to see the disparity in the world.
October 26, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Melinda – Thank you to you and Bill for the many ways that you not only get these initiatives moving, but for the ways that you are inspiring the whole world to step up and know that if every single one of us pitches in in some small way that our collective efforts can make such a compassionate difference in the lives of others who are suffering.
October 26, 2009 at 3:31 pm
This is important work that you are doing. Ethiopia also suffers from enormous overpopulation. Families of 7-10 children are typical. I hope that the Health Extension Workers are also educating the women they serve as to the importance and benefits of limiting the size of their families.
October 26, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Dear Melinda,
I like to thank you for all the work you do, helping people around the world to make their lives easier. I am particularly touched by your visit to Ethiopia and the story that you share with us about the health care situation. Sharing stories is a very powerful thing, it moves you, and makes you to think beyond the unimaginable. Your story grabbed my attention because I am working day and night to help the people in Ethiopia through my non-profit organization called Clinic at a Time Inc. My organization collects medical supplies and funds to help clinics in Ethiopia to minimize child birth trauma, disease transmission, and also to educate the health care workers and the community on disease prevention methods. More information and my own personal stories can be found at http://www.clinicatatime.org
God bless you and your family for all the good work you do for others!
October 26, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Melinda
Thank you for your work and love in Africa. We are working hard on the very same things in West Africa in the country of Sierra Leone. We would love you to consider expanding your program to reach the women and children in this forgotten country. The UN has ranked Sierra Leone the worst country to be 0-5 years old. The needs for women and children are so great at this time. Any information or help you can give our programs would go directly to people that are suffering the most. Thank you for your compassion and love for the ones that need it the most. Peace with Love
October 26, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Thank you very much Melinda and Bill. You are wonderfull people that makes the world safe and make me happy, because there are loving and passionate people like you, we feel safe. I am an Ethiopian, and I feel ashame sometimes, because I have not done anything to my Country and my people. But, when I see people like you it makes me forget my Shame,sadness and sorrow about my Ehiopia, which/because, ( I think )the luck of leadership, why the country sufferes. But, now I am optmistic and happy that there are people like you and Bill who are dedicate to such a belssing and wonderful deeds. God be with you all the time and God bless you for what you are doing. I hope all people will realize we live in one interdependent world and contribute somehow. Thank you. Thank you and Thank again and again.
October 26, 2009 at 3:57 pm
As a mother who has lived in Africa, I am inspired by your efforts. I have seen the heartbreak of parents whose children have not survived the harsh conditions, inadequate medical care, and poverty. But I think an equal emphasis needs to be placed on birth control; otherwise, the human population is going to continue to grow beyond what the planet can support.
October 26, 2009 at 4:15 pm
I realize there may indeed be barriers to including Tsion’s surname in this dispatch, but I would be grateful and think it would useful to the cause to indicate that that is the case. Otherwise I find the use of the first name only relegates people to a status of somehow not quite a full participant or of not quite being part of a larger international public.
If I were to use Melinda in this context, it might sound a little overly familiar. But in this context, there is no question about who I am referring to because the piece was written by Melinda Gates. Her status as a contributor to her world and in taking an active role in making her world a better place is apparent.
If Tsion is to truly get the recognition she richly deserves, should I not know her as a full contributing member of society? And if knowing her full name puts her in jeopardy, then I need to know that. Because if she does not get to enjoy the recognition of her outstanding contributions to this world, then that compounds her burden twofold. Surely that too is an injustice that needs to be righted.
October 26, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Your work is so inspirational. Thanks for sharing Tsion’s story with us.
http://ethiopianorphanrelief.wordpress.org
October 26, 2009 at 5:37 pm
Thank you both for your work around the world.
I agree with Shelagh Bocoum and hope that you just did not mention help given to women with birth control,
I also hope that Tsion and her colleagues are part of the movement to end female genital mutilation, for the women and girls and also for the babies born under duress when the mother has been mutilated and stitched as a young girl or later in life.
October 26, 2009 at 6:01 pm
I too, share optimism. There are many people holding hands to make the world a place to give to our children and our children’s children. Having just returned from training over 800 teachers in Monrovia, Liberia, I only wish that we would all do as much pro-active training as fixing things that are broken. The people in Monrovia as well as the United States, must learn about self-empowerment and accountability as well as to address the most extreme emergencies. While there, we shared the same philosophies that work in our schools: individualized training, ethics, character, gardening, technology, music and art http://www.starshineacademy.org I had a conversation with a strategist from the World Health Org. about helping them to clean up their trash–a huge problem with hygiene, flies and mosquitos. People can only rise to the level that they understand. We all must stop living in such a re-active way and begin health and well-being as a way to live. Thank you for this format and work.
October 26, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Having been involved in East Africa for 11 years (Uganda and Kenya) and providing leadership for micro-credit, health matters, sanitation, and education, we can say thank you for people like Melinda and Bill and all the many fine religious, civic, and international service organizations who have stepped up to assist other humans who reside in East Africa.
The message here is we all can assist. You don’t have to be millionaires to make a modest donation of time and treasure, just be careful and assist creditable individuals / organizations. Support for ONE has shown positive results.
October 26, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Love the fact that your working, as are so many others, with ONE to make this world a better place !!!
Hate to see though that vaccine distributions are a part of of the health care program you are promoting as they are anything but healthy or beneficial, although I’m sure that your intentions are good.
Vaccines are responsible for so much extreme suffering, especially among children, & are the cause of
Autism & many deaths as well. Even worse than the deaths they cause are the hundreds of thousands of
people who have been maimed, crippled & who’ve had there health (& their entire lives ruined) all because big pharmaceutical companies have gone to great lengths to cover up just how dangerous & lethal these vaccines are, all so they can make huge profits at the expense of the horrific suffering of others, & the cop out of saying, “oh well, it’s just collateral damage” is unacceptable & heartless !!!
Very few people have the ability & the funding to over ride these big pharma. companies & start a whole new type of vaccines that are safe, effective, & most importantly, free of all toxic substances like mercury
aluminum & all the other horrible ingredients that are put in vaccines today ! Also, most of todays vaccines have not even been proven to effectively protect a person as they are suppose to, & when you weigh in the humongous risk factors of taking these vaccines & or giving them to your loved ones, it becomes very apparent that it is crucial to have new research done to develop vaccines that are safe,
effective & affordable, and the Gates family would be the ideal people to take on this project being that you are already involved in getting medical health care to people all over the world so you obviously have a sincere desire to help people in this way, & you probably have the funding for it as well, as very few people do, as well as the connections needed to solicit more funding. Therefore, I hope & pray you will
take up this project because if you don’t, who will ? Certainly not the current vaccine manufacturers as they have shown that they are more than willing to fight very hard to keep their poisonious, lethal vaccines in use irregardless of the very serious injuries & the tragic consequences of using their vaccines.
Thank you for reading this & if you want to contact me regarding this issue, please feel free to do so through the email address I have submitted with this comment.
October 27, 2009 at 10:42 am
I echo others in thanking you, Melinda, for your work improving health around the globe.
Carey- I’m sorry you have lost your trust in vaccination and the medical professional who dedicate their lives keeping children healthy and free from preventable diseases. For others who have read this post and have questions about the safety and effectiveness of vaccination, please visit the nonprofit (does not accept pharma $) website listed above, visit the CDC, or ask your doctor for some time to discuss the topic at your next visit. Vaccines do not cause autism- they are the one thing that has been researched exhaustively and we have overwhelming data that there is no link. My heart goes out to parents who are frustrated that we do not know the cause of autism- it is a scary situation. But we are misplacing our fear- Vaccines prevent the world’s children from deadly and debilitating diseases that once were commonplace in the US and still are in many other parts of the world. Groups like ONE understand the difference between the science and the myth, and that’s why they have made vaccination a priority. Thank you, Melinda and ONE, for preventing millions of people from suffering with these diseases!
October 27, 2009 at 10:43 am
Melinda – Your foundation is changing the world. I was
a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia. There are thousands of us.
I’m sure the administration would provide an email list. Another good
source for you. JD
October 27, 2009 at 11:27 am
I would like to thank all that are inspired enough to read the rest of Mrs. Gates letter. It is so important to fight for life everywhere in this world. My wife Linda and I recently celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary with our two Son’s Angelo 18 and Davidde 13 and in Spirit with our daughter Sydney who would be age 21. Sydney was called home with in days after her 19th birthday due to a 35 mph black ice accident while going to visit my sister. Sydney was and continues to be a joy in our life do to the advance medical technologies and access to it in our Great country of America. If it wasn’t for the brilliant men and women of this country we would not have our sons Angelo or Davidde (David) either.
Sydney was born Breech when we lived on Catalina Island and Linda and I had to be flown off the Island to Long beach Hospital where Sydney was delivered after much worry but with the best care in the world just minutes away Sydney lived to fulfill her life . With out this level of care we would not be as happy and fulfilled in our own life, nor would others if Sydney had not ever lived.
Sydney had a secrete….. When the initial shock and horror of seeing our daughters body on the table in the hospital looking as if she was just sleeping. I ask the Doctors if they could Please help others with Sydneys body and the Doctor said ” Mr. Giannola you do not have to make that decision , Sydney made it for herself” At that moment Sydney went from Our little girl to a responsible young adult. Sydney had changed her drivers license just two days before she died to be a full Organ and Tissue donor . In her short life she touched many with her quirky ways and helped 50 people with her gift of herself when she gave her beautiful HEALTHY body to save and improve the lives of others. Please join my family , the Gates family and your Family help save life wherever it is needed. Our son David is also a miracle of medical technologies and Gods Will, but only when we fought for his life. After six heart surgeries at The University of Michigan’s Motts Children’s Hospital under the worlds best Pediatrics heart surgeon
Doctor Edward L. Bove and his very talented team of brilliant men and women (
http://www2.med.umich.edu/healthcenters/provider_profile.cfm?individual_id=11615 ) all this with in Davids first 30 days of Life. Today David is and exceptional Person and student, his brother Angelo, is also a gift to all of us and was accepted with a scholarship to attend case western reserve university at age 17 to study pre- med. Angelo also had medical needs at birth to save his life. Thanks again to America ,it’s people, resources and generosity.
Saving the lives and improving the basic needs in life of mankind are so important to us all. You ever know when the life you save might just save the world. May God bless us all with a chance at this wonderful life he has offered us. We must be our brothers keeper with out exception !!!.
Love from Our family to yours. Salvador, Linda,
(+ Sydney+), Angelo and Davidde Giannola
October 27, 2009 at 11:53 am
Dear Melinda.
Saying “Thank You” is not unusual as you can see from the deluge of thank you you have so far received from those who have read this story of yours. God says to include all things and all people in your gratitude to Him and you shall be blessed abundantly. God’s blessing is never enough and I pray that you will continue to impart positively on the lives of all those you are presently touching and those that you will still touch.
Permit me to also join everybody to thank you and your husband for all you are doing to and for mankind.
Highest Regards
October 27, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Great continuing generous and good work. You enable angels in the midst of need.
October 27, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Generosity of the US government? Seriously?
You’ve read
1. This on reverse foreign aid
http://select.nytimes.com/preview/2007/03/25/magazine/1154669701201.html?8tpw=&emc=tpw&pagewanted=all
about the massive transfer of resources from the poor to the rich
2. The real foreign aid numbers
http://www.poverty.com/internationalaid.html
the US is by far the least generous developed country on earth. Of course you have.
It is terrific that you are optimists; the world has enough cynicism. It’s great that you are proud of the good things that the US and US philanthropy has achieved — for a pittance when compared to the expenditure on arms. But all this talk of “billions in foreign aid” inspires complacency and even resentment in America, where people have VASTLY exaggerated ideas of American generosity.
I appreciate that now is a difficult time to point this out too bluntly. Thank you anyway for your inspiring and TOWERING moral example — for all people of all nations.
October 27, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Thanks! It would be great to build awareness campaigns that educate people about their responsibilities towards the people in Asia. By the way, I took this presentation skills workshop and I was able to gain my confidence presenting to small groups. Importantly, I was able to build more effective relationships. You should check this one out!
October 27, 2009 at 11:36 pm
Dear Melinda,
You are an inspiration for most of us, who wants to do something about the problem we have in this world from child birth trauma to birth defects. I am encouraged by your work and will make myself available to do my part to alleviate the problems we have in Ethiopia and everywhere else in the world.
May God Bless you
October 28, 2009 at 7:03 am
Dear Melinda,
While I greatly respect the foundation for the work it does, without a doubt, I also think it’s important to emphasize the daily acts of kindness done by people for their neighbors, to help them get through a difficult time, overcome a tragedy, or just make ends meet.
When I was working in Erbil, Iraq, I built a soccer field and got some donated gear (shoes, shin guards, etc.) in addition to a lot of money from my own bank account that allowed us to sow the field with grass, get goals welded together, and put the boys in a decent uniform. (Girls were invited but they never came to play, only watch…..culture…..)
I gave them shoes, balls, uniforms, etc. Some from my own money and some from donations from people in the States, and got a lot of support from local Iraqis to keep the field in good shape.
When I was packing up at the end of my contract, the thing the boys wanted most of all was a ONE wristband. Luckily, I had ordered 20 prior to my last home-leave and had them with me.
The small things we do really make a difference. I am sure you appreciate that, and I salute you for what you do.
October 28, 2009 at 7:29 am
Bill and Melinda Gates have donated billions to the torture of animals in research laboratories. Any work they boast about is shadowed by the cries for mercy from the millions of imprisoned animals for whom they have condemned to an existence of torment, terror and elongated, painful deaths at the hands of White Coats – who are absolutely nothing but legalized animal abusers. If your neighbor committed such crimes against helpless animals, they would be arrested. Shame on Bill and Melinda Gates –they have betrayed all creatures of our planet.
October 28, 2009 at 9:16 pm
To inspire is to revel in the fact that you have accomplished the most important thing in life.
Thank you for all of the things that you do, like tell me about what you see, since I have not been out of the states and only know of the poor in the US.
It is heartwarming to know that such successful people have been so gracious with their time and talents for the greater good. The ONE that we all wish to accomplish helping everyone who needs help.
I presented an idea to IdeaBounce at Washington University in St. Louis today. The business idea has blossomed into this regal thought process of not only etextbooks on laptops with many features that not only teachers, students and the schools will love; it is founded by the notion that I can give the etextbooks away free to the people who need them as well.
As President of the company I can do what I want once I have it up and running.
Some told me, go the brass ring and make lots of money, some said that giving things away is not good for business you have make money. I say I’ll find a way to do both.
I’m searching for a contact on this site to address the issue of who to give it to free of charge once it’s in action and up and running. If you can direct me in that venue that would be wonderful.
I’m far from the point of giving anything away, but while I’ve got the attention of the right people – and I have learned as a non profit person to address that as well – Oh yes I’m not afraid to say I ask people for something anytime I feel it’s prudent.
I too am impatient about getting the idea to market so children can relish in the spoils of my labor not only here but across the nation and giving it away to poverty stricken areas and areas where I live where people don’t even have updated textbooks is my object to achieve.
Thanks again for all you do Bill and Melinda Gates; you are so impatient that you have inspired impatience in me as well. I think it’s a good thing.
May we all achieve what we set out to do, may our dreams of a peaceful, loving world come to reach it’s goals and moreover may God Bless us with an overabundant happy healthful life today.
Thanks so much and have a wonderful day.
Angela M. Covington in St. Louis, President of EZBooks which has no money just great ideas.
October 29, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Bill and Melinda, I idolize you both – you’ve worked hard for your money and you love the community. During these hard times the last thing anyone wants to hear about is helping other people, but the truth is – it’s motivating to help people. Apparently the Gates foundation is helping without any added agenda except to help. I love that.
Monica
p.s. I’m an impatient optimist too.
October 29, 2009 at 5:21 pm
To Angela Covington,
I like your ideas, and as a veteran of 16 years’ service overseas in the developing world, I may have some thoughts to share with you.
I am an ‘if-it’s-good-give-it-away’ person myself and I know the stresses and challenges that attitude creates. On the other hand, you CAN do well by doing good! It’s a matter of approach and respect for the cultures and people you will encounter. No one, not even Bill Gates, can do it all.
That’s why we are ONE!
October 29, 2009 at 8:46 pm
The USA is in great need of a wake up call to be a Country that cares for people and the quality of life of all. If we forget why we even live in a Nation with opportunity and do not give to those that can greatly benefit and be affected in the best way, then what is it all about, anyway. I am happy when i hear that you both care and are making great effort out of your hearts. It’s such a good thing for all of us.
God Bless
Michele
October 29, 2009 at 11:24 pm
The sad fact that 9 million children under the age of 5 die each year is staggering. Such tragedy in the world today. Thank you and Bill for doing all that you are doing to not only bring awareness to all of us, but to spend all of your time, energy and money to help give the less fortunate a better life.
November 21, 2009 at 8:52 am
Hope is the primary motivation for effort and you are imbeding hope in others. I am sorry to have missed the connection. I use this type of information in my work to encourage effort also. If we beleive we can help make a difference the change has already begun. Many heartfelt thanks to you and Bill for your amazing contributions. Not just the financing but the infusion of hope.