My good friend Dr. Janice Smith just returned from an investigational trip to Haiti, the first step in leading a medical mission to that beleaguered country, and what she discovered was startling. Haiti leads the world in maternal and infant deaths during and incident to childbirth, and most of those deaths can be traced directly to the practice of cutting the umbilical cord with an unsterilized machete. Vaccination against tetanus and other common infectious diseases is almost nonexistent there, and infection sets in very quickly. By simply providing caregivers with two pieces of string and a sterile razor blade, these senseless deaths can be cut in half, if not more. It reminds me of the 1973 book Small is Beautiful, a collection of essays by E.F. Schumacher, which explored how very small improvements can have a tremendous and lasting impact on third world economies. A great lesson for all of us to remember, the impact of even the smallest courtesy on the lives of those around us…

More on this as we move forward on the mission trip.