Through an article entitled, “Our History: How Americares was founded”, I have discovered that the benefits of saving lives outweigh the costs of saving them.
In April of 1975, a plane full of Vietnamese orphans crashed into a jungle near Tan Son Nhut. This crisis left American officials questioning the right thing to do. Do they wait for a more affordable solution? Or do they act now and spend the money and effort necessary to save innocent lives.
Robert C. Macauley, future founder of an organization called Americares, knew just what to do. He risked the potential cost of flying in jets in order to save the orphans. However, he gave up most of his belongings- including his house- to do so because he needed the money. Some may find this absurd, but according to him, “You act now and worry about the red tape later.” He was a man who truly had faith in his moral compass, so-to-speak. With much determination and further work involving medical aid to other countries for those in need, Macauley was successful in developing one of the best health organizations in the world known as Americares.
Today, Americares is successful in providing healthcare to other countries including emergency relief, prevention of noncommunicable diseases, and establishment of functional hospitals. This all happened because one man decided to stand up for a group of defenseless people. As a result, this organization has greatly influenced the rest of the world. Of course, I fully support his decision to help the orphans. Not only did he save lives, but he also made an impact on many other people in the long run. Even though it may have been difficult for him to imagine a beneficial outcome, he still went for it because deep down he knew that it was the right thing to do.
Some people may believe that doing the “morally correct” thing may not always be the best option. For example, some may argue that by losing his house, he himself ended up on the losing side. Although from a material standpoint this may be true, when it comes to helping others- and even saving lives- doing the morally correct thing is always the best option. What is the point of healthcare if we won’t risk the cost to use it? After all, saving lives is what it’s all about. It’s the reason healthcare even exists.
FUTURE RESEARCH: For my next blog post, I will research just how Americares and other health organizations provide this health care. I also would like to know the effectiveness of the healthcare received.
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