Survivors of Torture

It's been a long time since my last post, but until this weekend, I thought I had a good enough reason. House guests occupied my time for the entire month of August and the beginning of September. Then I was sick. All illnesses were a "a long way from the heart" as the saying goes, but were enough to incapacitate me: oral surgery, allergic reaction to medications(yes, that does happen even if Charlie Sheen has given this some bad press), and a wretched bronchical cold. This is the first weekend my husband and I were going out with friends in a long time.

The Unitarian Church in Bridgehampton, Long Island, was hosting a book reading and lecture by Dr. Danielle Ofri and together with another couple, we planned to attend.Dr. Danielle Ofri is an essayist whose writings are primarily observations on her experiences as as a physician and professor at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. The hospital serves a large immigrant population, some of whom are in the Survivors of Torture Program sponsored by Bellevue. Unfortunately, we didn't make it, but again, I have a good enough reason. The Thai restaurant in Sag Harbor was crowded so we ran late. Then we couldn't find the church on the dark country roads. We just gave up and came home.

Since I missed the reading, I thought I would at least start her newest book,

Medicine in Translation

. The first essay is about a young Nigerian man who had been tortured by the "cults" while at university in Nigeria. These cults were originally fraternities founded by Nigeria's only Nobel Laureate and their purpose was to advocate for freedom. They have devolved into gangs perpetrating intimidation and torture. The young man's father was a minister who apparently converted a cousin of a local bad news governor and in retaliation, the minister's family was marked for death.

The young man was beaten, had his ear cut off, and finally had acid poured down his throat. Although he survived, he was kept hidden for many, many months so that no further violence would erupt. Eventually he made his way to America through the Survivors of Torture Program. Despite numerous skin grafts and esophogeal reconstruction, he was horribly scarred and his eye sight was severely compromised. Yet when Dr. Ofri met him, he was primarliy seeking assistance in rematricularing at a university so he could complete his studies in engineering. He was anxious to move on with his life. His scars were not going to stop him.

And yet, I thought I had a good excuse to put Help Healing Happen on pause. I was sick, after all. What a joke; what a shame.