‘He’s Jesus Christ’

People sometimes ask how I stay optimistic when I cover war, genocide and poverty. The answer is simple: Side by side with the worst of humanity, you encounter the best. I’ve made repeated trips to the rebel-held Nuba Mountains of Sudan, where the government dropped bombs and starved villagers, and there I met an extraordinary human being, Dr. Tom Catena, who has devoted his life to providing medical care as the bombs fall around him. A Muslim paramount chief told me that “Dr. Tom,” as he is known, heals the sick and lets the lame walk — and thus “He’s Jesus Christ.” On one trip to the Nuba Mountains, I was sickened to visit an extended family that had lost six children to a bomb but also moved that Dr. Tom had managed to save three others. So I return from a war zone like that scarred by the pain I’ve witnessed, but also uplifted by the goodness, strength and decency shown by people like Dr. Tom — and actually feeling better about humanity.

5 Minutes, $25 and a New Life

Another reason for optimism: I have seen immense progress in my 35 years of covering the world. On my first travels to poor countries, as a law student, I was pained by the number of blind people I saw led around by their children or grandchildren. Many were blind from cataracts, and in 2015 I met a remarkable Nepali doctor, Sanduk Ruit, who has pioneered a way to perform five-minute cataract surgery without electricity or advanced facilities for only $25 a patient. He has personally performed more than 120,000 cataract surgeries. You cannot watch Dr. Ruit’s patients take off their bandages and smile giddily as they see clearly for the first time in many years without feeling a rush of warmth about our world.

An Innocent Man Facing Death?

Beginning in 2010, I wrote a number of times about a black man named Kevin Cooper who I believe was framed for murder by the San Bernardino County sheriff’s office in California, where he is now on death row. The articles didn’t get much traction or readership, but the more I reported on the subject the more aware I became that there are many people on death row after dubious convictions. So last year, with the help of Times colleagues who are experts in visual journalism, I conducted a thorough investigation of the Cooper case and published the results. We called on the authorities to allow advanced DNA testing in the case (Kamala Harris and Jerry Brown had previously refused to allow the testing). It may have been the longest opinion column The Times ever published. The upshot is that advanced DNA testing is now finally underway, and I’m praying that after 36 years in prison Cooper may finally get justice — along with those who framed him. Here’s the investigation.

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