Hell and Hope in a Wounded Land:
A Personal Account


Friday, February 20th 7:30pm
rm555, 5th floor, Alfred Lerner Hall

Deogratias ('01 GS) will discuss the healthcare and reconciliation challenges he faced establishing a clinic in post-genocide Burundi. In 2006, with support from Dr. Paul Farmer's organization, Partners in Health, Deo worked with community members to build and begin operating a model health center in the rural village of Kigutu.

Tracy Kidder, who'll introduce Deo, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author who recently completed a new book about Deo's life and work, Strength in What Remains.

This event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP. Non-CUID holders must RSVP to gain entry to the building. Seating will be on a first come, first served basis.

RSVP Here

Deogratias Biography:

An émigré from Burundi, an East African nation which has the unfortunate distinction of being ranked consistently as one of the world's poorest countries, Deo came to the United States during the civil wars in both Rwanda and Burundi in 1994. He brought with him to this country an interest in medicine and public health, and public service, which propelled him through his undergraduate studies at Columbia University and to the School of Public Health at Harvard University. After graduating from Harvard, Deo worked closely with Dr. Paul Farmer and his organization, Partners in Health, in Boston, Haiti, and Rwanda.

Deo, now a US citizen, is the Founder and Chairperson, Village Health Works, a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization based in the US and operating in Burundi. Village Health Works has modeled itself on Partners in Health, which has served as its incubator and sponsor. Village Health Works acts together with the local community and government to initiate and strengthen health care facilities and services, access to clean water and safe food, and basic education and economic opportunity.

www.villagehealthworks.org

Journal Club's First Meeting of the Semester

First Year Postbacc Danny Ash will present "Project VIVA: A Multilevel Community-Based Intervention to Increase Influenza Vaccination Rates Among Hard-to-Reach Populations in New York City" at 12 PM today, January 29, as part of PMA Social Justice's Journal Club.

Format is informal presentation and discussion.

Location details below.
Friday, January 29th at 12:00 PM
Room 102 (1st Floor Russell Hall).
Gottesman Libraries at Teachers College, Columbia University.

For more information on this meeting, please contact kop2101@columbia.edu.

Tues, Dec. 2nd: Presentation on Healthcare Issues in Haiti

Social Justice Medicine is pleased to announce that on Tuesday, Dec. 2nd, Dr. Stan Schaffer will give a presentation, "Childbirth in a Haitian Village - should where you live determine whether you live?"

Bio:
Stan Shaffer MD MTS
Neonatologist and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Missouri School of Medicine and E. Grey Dimond Program in International Medicine. A founder of Maison de Naissance, a birthing home in rural Haiti which is exploring social and medical solutions to high maternal and infant mortality. Columbia students are assisting with house calls, GPS mapping, a census, and development of a Health Atlas for Maison de Naissance. Plans are being developed for an associated project in the Dominican Republic.

We invite you to attend this exciting presentation on Dec. 2, 2008
between 12:30-1:30pm in room 652 Schermerhorn. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Andrea Palestro, via email at amp2152@columbia.edu.

Birthing Kit Assembly Party

Come help assemble birthing kits this Monday! We are going to assemble the birthing kits for Sierra Leone and Liberia at Mount Sinai Medical Center. However, if you are on campus, we are going as a group from campus.
What: Birthing Kit Assembly Party
Date: Monday, November 10th
Time: We are meeting as a group on campus at 6:00 or you can meet us at 7 pm.
Where: Meeting spot is Columbia's West Gate at 116th and Broadway
You can also meet us at Mount Sinai Medical Center's Klingenstein Pavilion - 1176 Fifth Ave 9th floor

Please let me know if you can come so we provide enough food and drinks!

Bar Night Fundraiser!!!!!!!!

You are invited to the Saving Mothers Research Team Bar Night Fundraiser/Mixer to benefit our Sierra Leone/Liberia birthing kit project. This is a great chance for you to enjoy a few drinks while supporting a great cause. This is also a fabulous opportunity to meet and mingle with doctors at Mount Sinai Medical Center since this is concurrently their faculty and staff mixer.

100% of your donation will go towards the Sierra Leone/Liberia birthing kit project. This November, we will be distributing clean delivery kits to women in rural areas of these countries to promote cleaner births and reduce maternal and neonatal mortality. For more information and/or if you'd like to make a separate donation online, please visit: www.savingmothers.org

Invite your friends and come mingle with your classmates!!!!
Friday, November 7^th, 2008
The Copper Door Tavern
272 Third Ave (between 21^st and 22^nd Streets)
Your $25 donation covers open bar from 9-10 PM
And half-priced drinks from 10 PM -12 AM
There will be a raffle for prizes such as Met's game tickets and more!