When Good People Die

There were surely many good people among the 104 on the Kam Air flight that crashed outside Kabul in a snow storm yesterday. (here) Among them were three good Americans, who worked for the non-profit agency Management Sciences for Health in Cambridge. From the MSH Web site:

MSH is deeply saddened today to announce that three of its employees – Cristin (Cristi) Gadue, Amy Lynn Niebling, and Carmen Urdaneta - have died after their plane crashed 35 miles outside of Kabul, Afghanistan. On February 3, the three boarded a flight from Herat, in the west of Afghanistan, bound for Kabul. Due to severe weather conditions, the plane was not permitted to land in Kabul and was diverted to Pakistan. The plane crashed 35 miles outside of Kabul. All indications are that weather was the cause of the crash, and there appear to be no survivors.

Comments Dr. Jonathan Quick, President and CEO of Management Sciences for Health: “Cristi, Amy, and Carmen were vibrant, committed young women, each doing great work. They each stood out as professionals who worked with exceptional energy and enthusiasm. They each had made a tremendous commitment to helping people who were less fortunate. In the last call to Kabul before they left Herat, Cristi expressed for the three a great sense of satisfaction with what they had achieved. In this time of grief, we can be thankful that Cristi, Amy, and Carmen were able to devote themselves to work that they loved and truly believed in doing.”

Here's the sort of work Cristi, Amy and Carmen were doing when they died:

For more than three decades, MSH has worked in over 140 countries to help solve pressing health problems. MSH works collaboratively with health care policymakers, managers, providers, and consumers to help close the gap between what is known about public health problems and what is done to solve them. MSH seeks to increase the effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability of health services by improving management systems, promoting access to services, and influencing public policy. The result is higher-quality health care for the people who need it the most.

Because of MSH's work, more children have survived infancy, fewer mothers have died in childbirth, more lifesaving drugs have been made available, and more families have been given a choice about the number of children they will have and when they will have them.

Please say a prayer thanking Christi, Amy and Carmen for their lives and for their strength in putting their convictions to work; for their families; for their co-workers at MSH; and for the souls and families of the others on the flight. MSH does not appear to be a Christian charity -- Planned Parenthood is among its underwriters -- but sickness is one of the five Great Giants of sin (spiritual ignorance, corrupt leadership, poverty, disease, ignorance), and their efforts to lift people up to health are to be commended.