4. Given Farmer's extreme empathy, can a normal individual replicate what he did? 


I believe that a "normal" individual posses the ability to replicate what he did, however very few people are willing to sacrifice in the way that Paul did. Paul sacrifices time with his friends and family in the States to travel to some of the worlds poorest areas to give free medical care. As a Duke and Harvard grad Paul could have made a lot of money working as a doctor in the States however he felt as if his talents were much needed elsewhere. On page 23 of "Mountains Beyond Mountains" Paul's bookkeeper says  "Honey, you are the hardest workin' broke man I know." All of Paul's colleagues and co-workers realize that his dedication to helping the poor goes above and beyond what is required. Farmer's experiences growing up and at Duke shaped his desire to help the poor in third world countries, especially Haiti. Is it possible for another person to feel the exact same way that Farmer felt about helping the poor? Yes it is possible, but the difficulties lie in how much one is willing to sacrifice to help others while reaping basically no luxuries or monetary benefits. I think a passage on pg 244 answers this question very appropriately, it states,


"Paul is a model of what should be done. He's not a model for how it has to be done. Let's celebrate him. Let's make sure people are inspired by him. But we cant say anybody should or could be just like him. Because if the poor have to wait for a lot of people like Paul to come along before they get good health care, they are totally fucked." 


Like Tracy Kidder stated in his talk Farmer was a family man, a regular joe even. Its just that his desire to help others surpassed his selfishness. So in my opinion, I believe everyone, if they can dig deep enough, possess the ability to do what he did.