A Deluge Of Doctors

My final few hours in Guyana. The sleep, codeine, N-acetylcysteine and massage have all managed to drive away the toxic aftereffects of Mashramani, so much so that I just broke all of my dietary needs and gorged myself on fried chicken and fries. Ewww.

Speaking of massage, one of my masseuses here is also an allopathic doctor, trained in Cuba, and a naturopathic doctor, trained in Malaysia. Cuban doctors –the non-masseuse ones– abound throughout the developing world, especially Latin America. See, the Cuban model of international aid is a brilliant one: every year they take in thousands of students from friendly Third World countries and train them in medicine for free. They essentially flood the market with doctors.

Most development initiatives, especially American ones, benefit the donor nation more than the target nation. Bush’s PEPFAR money is a classic example. To accept PEPFAR funds, you must agree to so many riders that you’ve essentially sold your economy to the Americans before a single penny arrives… and the bulk of the funds remain in Washington, anyway.

Perhaps I’ll explain in further detail when I’m not tied to a sticky, clunky computer.

Gotta get to bed now. Bye bye.