Mountains Beyond Mountains Study Guide

Mountains beyond Mountains opens in Haiti in 1994. At that time the author, Tracy Kidder, was in Haiti visiting a Haitian army outpost protected by American soldiers. The American soldiers were present to support the democratically elected government and to suppress the military junta who had previously ruled and continued to threaten violence. The junta were suspected of beheading the assistant mayor of the town of Mirebalais. He had been well liked, respected, and elected by the people. Kidder was a journalist and was there on assignment investigating the situation. While visiting the barracks, Kidder encountered another American, Paul Farmer. Paul Farmer was more closely aligned with the Haitian people. He had founded a clinic he called Zanmi Lasante and treated the medical needs of th... (read more)