The chapter in Samantha Power’s recent book “The Education of an Idealist” (William Collins, 2019) on the impressive response to the 2015 Ebola outbreak by the Obama administration – with so many lessons not taken to tackle the present Covid crisis under a maniacs regime….. Power finishes her writing with the following lines:

“Looking back, I now see all that the scoreboard could not capture: The relief of a father who has been reunited with his son, newly free of a deadly disease. The look on a government minister’s face as he traverses a rainbow crosswalk. The insistence of diplomats to go on serving their country, even when being ignored and insulted, because they know that our nation is bigger than any one leader. And the persistent attempts – after unforgivable acts – to find the humanity in one’s foe.

Sometimes, no matter what we did, events unfolded in the wrong direction.

Sometimes, we moved the needle positively.

Sometimes, we believed we had no effect whatsoever, and only months or years later learned that our actions offered encouragement to those deciding whether their struggles were worth enduring.

Sometimes, we saved lives.

People who care, act, and refuse to give up may not change the world, but they can change many individual worlds.”

June 14th, 2019, Concord, Massachusetts