In light of the recent Haitian earthquake, Jennifer Tierney will be speaking on behalf of Doctors Without Borders (DWB) today at 7pm in Kemper Auditorium.
Tierney will discuss DWB’s work in pursuing neutrality and the challenge that the doctors face when dealing with political unrest and the aftermaths of natural disasters in the countries they work in.
Sophia Jia ’10, President of the International Club, helped coordinate efforts to bring Tierney on campus. She said, “Tierney will give an account of Doctors Without Borders’ first 20 days in Haiti. She’ll talk about what they did, how the doctors were able to help, and many other topics.”
Tierney is the Development Director for the US office for Doctors Without Borders’. Doctors Without Borders is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1971 in Geneva, Switzerland with the vision that all people have the right to medical care.
On its website, the organization states that its mission is to aid and assist “countries where health structures are insufficient” through collaborating with local authorities.
Alessandra Powell ’11, a member of the International Club, said, “Any qualified doctor can volunteer, and DWB sends them to different countries. Typically, the doctors have to be ready to deal with the worst circumstances.”
Besides serving as the Development Director for DWB, Tierney used to work for a different organization called FINCA International, a micro-finance non-profit organization. She is also a candidate for a Masters in Humanitarian Affairs and Human Rights at New York University.
Jia said, “Doctors Without Borders is a really great organization, which works really hard to provide medical care for people in need. They only receive money from individual donors, they don’t accept money from the government.”
“According to Jennifer Tierney, DWB treated 11,000 patients and performed 1,000 surgeries within the first 20 days,” Jia continued.
Tierney will have dinner with students and faculty in the Mural Room in Paresky Commons prior to the presentation.
Powell said, “The purpose of the dinner is to allow students and teachers who are interested in DWB’s work in Haiti as well as their work in general to ask Jennifer Tierney questions that they might not be able to during the presentation.”
“In light of the topic of Tierney’s presentation, Haitian snacks, provided by Dr. Emmanuel Odjo, Instructor in French will be served at the dinner,” said Powell.
“The International Club posted up flyers,” said Jia, “so that students who are interested in having a one on one can RSVP for the dinner. Of course, if people are interested and they didn’t RSVP, I’m sure they’ll be able to watch her speak in Commons.”
International Club found out about Tierney through Deborah Chase, Instructor of English, who knew Tierney beforehand.
Powell said, “Tierney is a really fun and exciting speaker, so I think the presentation will be very interesting and I hope everybody will have time to go.”
Jia said, “We have planned to bring Tierney since the end of Fall term, but when the earthquakes in Haiti happened, she said to us, ‘why don’t I focus on Haiti, since it is more relevant now.’”