Can one person make a significant and positive difference in the world? Philosophers and leaders have asked and answered that question over the centuries with a resounding “yes.” We on this page don’t have to cast our gaze that far to answer it for ourselves. All around us, our fellow Marbleheaders are doing so with their extraordinary actions. We highlight four here:
Robert McNulty
The founder and executive director of Applied Ethics, Inc. recently talked to the Current about his courageous and critical effort to continue education for girls in Afghanistan, where the Taliban banned their studies after sixth grade upon retaking power in 2021.
For a decade, McNulty and his organization’s Pax Populi Academy offered one-on-one online education in partnership with Bentley University. After being forced to close after coalition forces withdrew from the country, the Academy regrouped and launched a virtual “underground” school, offering language classes to prepare students for college outside Afghanistan, at first serving 10 students with a goal of growing to 50.
McNulty is hopeful the Taliban might change their minds and believes a legacy of U.S. involvement is the willingness of parents and students to take risks to get an education.
“Each of these families is taking a very significant bet: that this is worth it for them that they do not want to see their daughters languish away, losing all their hope and their intellectual development, and becoming essentially household servants,” he says.
We are awed by his courage and commitment to young women a half a world away.
Dr. Patricia Sullivan
With the publication this month of her memoir, “Boston, Bangkok, Bombay & Beyond: The Journeys of a Physical Therapist,” Trish Sullivan’s healing work around the world will become known to a broader audience.
Those who have long thrived in her care, whether through her leadership at Rotary, rehabilitation practice or teaching are cheered by this prospect.
“Dr. Sullivan takes readers on a precarious motorcycle ride up a steep mountain path in Nepal, on an elephant ride in the jungle of Thailand, and makes stops at the majestic Taj Mahal and Hagia Sophia. Amidst these adventures, Dr. Sullivan sheds light on the challenges of providing care in unfamiliar environments, cultures and languages,” according to the book’s summary.
From our vantage point, taking this ride with Sullivan and her emphasis on respecting diverse cultures is a much-needed tonic in these divisive times.
Lisa Sugarman
We are overjoyed that Sugarman’s wise and penetrating prose will be a regular feature in the Current. And we are awed and inspired by her new mission to shed light on the remaining stigmas around mental health and in particular the ongoing epidemic of suicide.
She recently spoke to us about learning later in life that her father had taken his own life when she was a child — not perishing from a heart attack, as she had been told — and the resulting impact of the discovery.
“It has permeated all the areas of my life,” Sugarman told the Current. “It revealed itself as my purpose, what I am meant to do in this world. I need to talk about mental illness and dilute the stigma of suicide to that point where it isn’t happening at the rate it’s happening now.”
In a country where, according to the Centers for Disease Control, more people died by suicide in the United States last year than any other year on record, we can’t think of a better person to take this challenge head on.
Heather Walker
Her family, friends and community still mourn her loss daily, but Walker’s positive impact on the world continues to inspire.
Most recently, it was the Marblehead High girls and boys’ basketball teams who illustrated Walker’s enduring legacy by presenting a $5,000 donation to the Heather Walker/Dana Farber fund, at a post-game reception in TD Garden.
We hope and believe the opportunity to contribute to Walker’s legacy of funding brain cancer research will glow inside these young Marbleheaders, along with the thrill of playing in that famed arena, for years to come.
It was Nelson Mandela who said, “It is in your hands to make a better world for all who live in it.” Send a note to info@marbleheadnews.org about others in our community doing just that. This space, and our hearts, will continue to show them our gratitude.
