In the News
Dr. Ian G. Rawson delivers commencement address
On May 17, 2008, Ian G. Rawson, PhD, delivered the commencement address for the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine graduating class:
Thank you very much for that kind introduction, Dean Buekens; it is a real honor to be here at Tulane, where my stepfather went to medical school, and which was the starting point for our venture in Haiti . I also want to say how pleased we are at Hôpital Albert Schweitzer to be able to call on the expertise of the faculty here to assist us in dealing with the health problems which we confront every day, such as malaria, malnutrition, and domestic abuse. This is a very important relationship for Hopital Albert Schweitzer, and we are pleased to be able to return some benefit to the school, its faculty and its students through this collaboration.
And now, to all of you in the robes in the front rows, this is your day, and we come to celebrate it with you.
But first, I will give you your final quiz question:
Why did you come here?
Why did you come here?
Why did you come to a school of public health?
And why did you come to Tulane, and to New Orleans ?
Process your thoughts a while – we will return to this question later.
I came to New Orleans the first time, because, at ten years of age, my parents brought me. My stepfather. A 38-year old rancher from Arizona , was accepted at the medical school, inspired by the example of Albert Schweitzer and his hospital in central Africa .
At that time, I had little understanding of who Albert Schweitzer was, and how an Alsatian musician, theologian and physician might eventually influence my own life and career.
As I grew up, and came to understand a bit more about Albert Schweitzer, I encountered, as so many have, his core philosophical concept of Reverence for Life, which inspired him and so many others.
In one of his autobiographical books, Dr. Schweitzer described how this idea came to him. He had gone up the Ogoouwe River to care for the wife of a fellow missionary:
“We advanced slowly upstream. Near the village of Igendja , on a sandbank to our left, a family of hippopotamuses plodded along in the same direction. Just then, in my tiredness and discouragement, the phrase “Reverence for Life” struck me like a flash. I realized that a system of values which concerns itself only with our relationship with other people is incomplete and lacking in power for good. Only by means of reverence for life can we establish a spiritual and humane relationship with people and with all living creatures. Only in this fashion can we avoid harming others, and go to their aid when they need us.”
What Dr. Schweitzer was doing that day was asking “Why did I come here?”
Why am I here on this muddy, sluggish, hot river, going to the aid of a sick colleague? And the answer is that we are all connected, and thus we must respond to the needs of others. And further, the We to which we are connected is more than humans, but all life.
Reverence is a spiritual and an intellectual insight, the best translation of which is Awe-Inspiring. We don't have to understand it, we just have to appreciate it.
John Muir, the great American naturalist, came close when he said
“Go out to the forest. Pick up a stick. Throw it into the trees, and understand the connectedness of all things”.
Schweitzer reports that this idea came to him as an epiphany on the Ogoouwe River , but where did this concept of reverence for all living things come from?
Schweitzer tells us about when he was a child, his mother would come to pray with him each evening. She would encourage him to pray for the poor and deserving citizens of the world, but he thought that this was too limited – why should he not also pray for the well-being of animals as well as humans? And so he would always add a silent prayer for the animals of the world.
So what we see here is a free-thinker; a young man who has no intention of doing what his mother tells him to do, and also a sensitive person who extended his concern for his fellow humans to the a concern for all living beings.
Later, Schweitzer translated his prayer into a more fully-developed concept of the need to nurture the development of all living beings, to allow them to fulfill their potential, which he expressed as the The Will To Live. He says:
“I do not say: 'I am life' for life continues to be a mystery too great to understand. I only know of life that I cling to it. I fear its cessation – death. I dread its diminution – pain. I seek its enlargement – joy”
When Schweitzer talks about the Will to Live, he means that it is not enough to merely live, but that we must seek fulfillment of our potential.
I went to a school which had over its main door a carving which said “That they may have life, and have it more abundantly” . The school would help us to a more abundant life through greater knowledge. They knew that at some point, we would ask why we had come there, and they provided the answer for us every morning.
All of this may be too abstract; let me offer a clear and tangible example of the concept of the Will to Live.
Come to our hospital in central Haiti , named for Albert Schweitzer, Hopital Albert Schweitzer. Come down the ward to the room where we care for newborns, born prematurely and struggling for life with underdeveloped lungs. We have limited technology, so our neonatal intensive care services are limited to a bassinet with a light to keep the infant warm, and IV sets to keep him hydrated. And loving nurses, with concerned mothers.
Miraculously, many of these children survive. Not because of technology or medicines, but because of their own powerful will to live, which overcomes the challenges of a premature birth. When we see these infants going home, we understand a bit more what Schweitzer felt about the awe-inspiring element of life. We also see not just the child who survived the first great test of his life, but we also see the person who he will become – a farmer, a businessman, perhaps a doctor.
Once Dr. Schweitzer was receiving praise for his achievements as a physician and humanitarian, and he said that “Now I can let you in on a secret – the work of the physician is to release the doctor within” . All of the medicines and technology which we have as resources are nothing compared with the innate will to live, which our calling is to nurture and to strengthen where possible.
So, how are you doing with the answer to the question about why did you come here?
Is there a chance, that without knowing it, you also have discovered an awareness, a sense of awe, of the miracle of life, and of the meaning of life as being not just living, but of fulfillment of one's potential? And have you also uncovered an awareness that our work, as public health specialists, is not to give health, but to serve as a catalyst for better health to happen?
After my stepfather passed away, a visitor to the hospital told my mother “Mrs. Mellon, you have done so much for the people here…” She stopped him there, and said: “We haven't done anything for the people here – we have done a lot with them.”
Albert Schweitzer's words resonate with us all. He wrote many books and articles, and many works were written about him. But, ultimately, he found that words were less relevant than actions. He often said that “My life is my argument. ” Or more accurately ,“my statement” .
What we say is less important than what we do; our actions are a more evocative statement of what we believe than what we may say. Schweitzer knew that words may embellish what we do, or describe what we do, but great actions need no explanation.
When my parents went to visit Dr. Schweitzer, as they began their pilgrimage of service, they volunteered to come back to Lambarene to work with Schweitzer. He said, in effect, “Find your own Lambarene” Don't join me here – I am here for historical reasons having to do with Europe, Africa and colonialism. So that is how, when we left New Orleans , it was to go to Haiti – to find our own Lambarene, with its own challenges and fulfillments.
Is this yet another answer to the question “Why did you come here?”
Perhaps without knowing it, you have come here to start to find your own Lambarene? To find your own way of expressing your values and skills, and finding fulfillment in your professional life?
So, as I prepare to release you to pick up your treasured diplomas, let me share with you something Albert Schweitzer said to a graduating class many years ago:
“I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know; the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found out how to serve.”
But you knew that already – that is why you came here – to gain new skills, to learn how to serve, how to fulfill your personal and professional potential, and how to find your own Lambarene, and in turn, to help others to fulfill their own potential.
We are proud of you – you have distinguished yourselves here at Tulane; we are also proud of what you will accomplish when you leave here, and as faculty and friends, we are honored to have been part of the catalyst which has supported you as you explore your own pathway to fulfillment.
We recognize that today is but one step in your lives and careers;
The next steps are yours.
Thank you and good luck.
To learn more about theTulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, visit www.sph.tulane.edu.