American Islamic Congress Boston Center Presents:
Refugees: Mental and Physical Health Consequences
Boston University School of Public Health: International Health: IH Blast: In 2012 there were 15.4 million refugees worldwide. Throughout the year an average of 23,000 people each day are forced to leave their homes and seek protection elsewhere. It is estimated that 48% of refugees are women and girls. Refugees have fled their country of origin and cannot return due to fear of persecution. It is imperative to be aware and understand the hardships surrounding the lives of refugees in order to best help them succeed. (Dosomething.org)
AIC Boston Center would like to invite you to an interactive discussion- Women in Health: Refugees: Mental and Physical Health Consequences on November 14, 2013 at 6:30pm. The three speakers, including a medical professional, an NGO worker, and a lawyer, will provide an in depth look at the realities surrounding the lives of refugees. The audience will receive an overall review of the crisis, impending medical issues, as well as an overview of the legal process of resettlement in United States.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
6:30 pm
38 Newbury Street, #702, Boston MA 02116
FREE and Open to the Public
RSVP here: http://refugeeevent.eventbrite.com
Speakers:
Linda Piwowarczyk -MD, MPH (Co-Founder of the Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights)
Dr. Piwowarczyk is a psychiatrist at Boston Medical Center, board certified in Psychiatry and Internal Medicine. She first began working with refugees in 1993, as a Fellow in International Psychiatry at the Indochinese Psychiatry Clinic. Dr. Piwowarczyk also completed an internship at the Geneva headquarters of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. She specializes in the mental health evaluation and treatment of refugees and torture survivors, and is currently the principal investigator for a grant funded by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, addressing, in part, the holistic treatment of survivors of torture. Since 2002, Dr. Piwowarczyk has served on the Executive Committee of the National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs and was elected NCTTP President in 2011. In 2009, she was awarded the Sarah Haley Memorial Award for Clinical Excellence from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. In 2005, she was awarded the Local Legends Award from the National Library of Medicine that honors female physicians and with BCRHHR colleagues, the Kenneth B. Schwartz Compassionate Caregiver Award Honorable Mention in 2007. A Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, she has presented on the topic of torture, locally, nationally, and internationally and has published several articles in various medical journals.
Cheryl Hamilton (Associate Director for External Relations at Refuge Point)
Since graduating from Clark University, Cheryl Hamilton has devoted her to career to refugee resettlement. Her first job in the field involved helping to manage the unexpected migration of 2,500 Somali refugees to her hometown in Maine – an event that garnered national attention in 2002. Later, she traveled throughout the United States leading refugee employment trainings on behalf of RefugeeWorks, a program of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service in Maryland. Eventually, Cheryl returned to Maine to work for the Center for Preventing Hate before accepting a position with RefugePoint in September 2011 where she manages communication and development activities. A relentless storyteller, Cheryl also wrote and performed a one-woman show entitled Checkered Floors based on the Somali resettlement to Maine, which she retired in 2012.
Wassem M. Amin (Associate Attorney at Dhar Law)
Wassem is an Associate Attorney at Dhar Law, LLP, where he also heads the Firm’s Africa and Middle East Development initiative, maintaining the Firm’s current relationships and seeking out potential business partnerships on the continent. Wassem recently earned his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from New England Law|Boston.
As part of his pro bono initiatives, Wassem is working on establishing an international non-profit to aid in the reformation of his home country, Egypt. His efforts have been featured by his law school in an article, which can be read here. Wassem was a Law Clerk at Dhar Law LLP before joining the Firm as an Associate. Prior to working at Dhar Law, LLP, Wassem was an intern at a personal injury firm in Boston, where he gained extensive experience in aspects of civil litigation.
Wassem also has over eight years of experience in international business consulting, where he focused his efforts as a consultant on procuring and negotiating multi-million dollar contracts for American clients in the Middle East. Wassem is fluent in Arabic and holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Business Administration with concentrations in Finance.
