Arcadia University Hosts Deogratias ‘Deo’ Niyizonkiza of Strength in What Remains, Oct. 13
Glenside, Pa.—Sept. 8, 2011—Arcadia University hosts Deogratias ‘Deo’ Niyizonkiza, founder of Village Health Works and the main character in the critically acclaimed book Strength in What Remains, by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder, on Thursday, Oct. 13, at 7:30 p.m. The free lecture will be held in Stiteler Auditorium, located in Murphy Hall, and is open to the public. Arcadia University is located at 450 S. Easton Road, Glenside, Pa.
Strength in What Remains was selected as Arcadia University’s summer reading for freshmen and transfers students. Kidder tells the story of ‘Deo,’ who survives a massacre at the Burundian hospital where he was a third-year medical school intern, and in 1994 arrives in New York, penniless and without speaking one word of English.
Despite the hurdles he incurs —low-paying work as a grocery store delivery boy, illness and homeless, Deo, with help from new friends, enrolls in Columbia University to study biochemistry and philosophy. After graduating from Columbia, he goes on to Harvard University’s School of Public Health, where he works with Dr. Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners In Health. Continuing his education at Dartmouth Medical School, he takes a hiatus to found Village Health Works, a Burundi-based organization found on the humane principle that all people, including those most impoverished, deserve access to quality healthcare in a dignified environment.
Deo is the 2010 recipient of the Women Refugee Commission’s Voices of courage Award, which recognizes individuals who have overcome immeasurable odds and give back to their communities.
About Arcadia University: Arcadia University is a top-ranked private university in metropolitan Philadelphia and a national leader in study abroad and international education. Arcadia University promises a distinctively global, integrative and personal learning experience that prepares students to contribute and prosper in a diverse and dynamic world. The 2010 Open Doors report ranks Arcadia University No. 1 in the nation among regional universities in the percentage of undergraduate students studying abroad. U.S. News & World Report ranks Arcadia University among the top regional universities in the North, as one of the top study abroad programs in the nation, and a “Top Up-and-Coming” school. The Physical Therapy program is ranked seventh in the nation.
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