Dave Whiteside, an account executive at Hubbard One, went above and beyond the usual call of volunteerism by accompanying a group of surgeons as an operating room assistant in a remote part of Haiti called Font-des-Blancs. Together, the team performed life-saving obstetric and gynecologic surgeries on local women.
Whiteside, fly swatter in hand, was tasked with keeping the operating room as hygienic as possible in the sparse conditions, and attempted to keep mosquitoes and flies away from the patients.
The hospital itself is perched in a mountainous area of western Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, and is located about five hours from the capital of Port-au-Prince. It is the only existing infrastructure standing in this rural region and is a lifeline for Haitians from miles around who walk for days in order to receive treatment there.
Whiteside told the story of a 25-year-old woman with a 12-pound fibroid tumor who had walked two days to come to the hospital and have it surgically removed by the team of three surgeons. After undergoing major surgery with only a local anesthetic, she rested for two days at the hospital under the care of her mother before embarking on her journey back home on foot with 60 stitches in her abdomen.
“In the U.S. tumors would be removed when they are the size of a peanut,” said Whiteside. “We saw women carrying tumors in excess of 13 pounds. Beyond the pain these women endure, very often these genetic conditions rob them of the opportunity of ever becoming a parent. In Haiti, a woman’s role is to be a mother; women who aren’t able to bare children are unwanted and ostracized. Thanks to the surgeries, we were able to restore this dream of parenthood to many young women and truly change their lives.”
The team performed 19 operations in four days and worked relentlessly from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. everyday to save the lives and relieve the intense suffering of the courageous local women.
“It was a truly humbling experience,” Whiteside said. “People in Haiti lead very hard lives, with none of the comforts that we are used to in the U.S. Many have no electricity, no drinking water, no transportation and of course no air conditioning; yet they are joyful and positive and so grateful for the help we were able to provide.”
Posted by Albanne Abraham in:
Company Current | Voices |
No Comments |
On Tuesday, Sept. 28, representatives from Thomson Reuters, the University of Minnesota and the Center for Victims of Torture (CVT) got a rare opportunity to meet Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court at an event in Minneapolis to celebrate the 25th anniversary of CVT.
Moreno-Ocampo, whose inspiring career includes prosecuting top military commanders for mass killings and large-scale human rights abuses, captivated the audience with stories from his ascension to the post of chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. (Click here for video of some of his remarks).
He offered a brief glimpse into some of his ongoing cases, such as the prosecution of President Omar al-Bashir from Sudan, accused of genocide, and former President Jean-Pierre Bemba of Congo, charged with organizing massive rape operations in the Central African Republic.
Moreno-Ocampo stated the importance of furthering the rule of law in order to combat social injustice and punish those guilty of crimes against humanity.
He then called on the legal professionals to rally against injustice and human rights abuses. He said, “We need you in the world. We need you to work with other countries to explain how to use the rule of law. This is the American dream, how to use the rule of law to help live together.”
The rationale is simple, he explained. No real change is possible without the promotion and expansion of the rule of law worldwide. Only then can we hope that atrocities won’t be repeated and that criminals will be brought to justice and punished for their actions, be they country leaders or simple citizens.
Douglas A. Johnson, executive director of the CVT, introduced Vin Caraher, president of the U.S. Core Legal business unit of Thomson Reuters, Legal, and thanked him for the company’s commitment to the rule of law. Johnson said, “We depend on it. We depend on the rule of law to stop torture, but also to bring people to measure, to be accountable for what they did and to prevent it from happening in the future.”
Caraher illustrated Legal’s dedication to the advancement of the rule of law by sharing some of the company’s key philanthropic programs such as the Do Justice program which facilitates pro bono work by law firms; its support of the Jack Mason Law & Democracy Initiative, which provides law books to libraries and schools in Africa; and TrustLaw, a program of the Thomson Reuters Foundation that serves as a global hub for free legal assistance and information about anti-corruption, and brings together the needs of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) around the world and law firms looking for opportunities to do pro bono legal work.
These programs aim to ensure that Thomson Reuters, Legal, lives up to its mission of “helping the legal system perform better, every day, worldwide,” and supports the work of human rights advocates like Moreno-Ocampo in order achieve a better, more just place for the next generation.
Posted by Albanne Abraham in:
Company Current | Events |
No Comments |
The U.S. Constitution is one of the most powerful and impactful documents in existence. It literally touches every American’s life, and has since its creation in 1787. Recently, I had the opportunity to view the document first-hand as part of a new exhibit, “We the People: The First Official Printing of the U.S. Constitution,” sponsored [...]
Earlier this week, we released our 2011 Annual Report in an interactive format available online at thomsonreuters.com. Along with information on the company’s financial performance as well as business unit overviews, this year’s annual report contains a variety of dynamic content including interviews with our new business leaders as well as stories of how we [...]
We’ve got a great episode for you this month, kicking off with our “Chaos in the Courts” segment that, believe it or not, is yet another story about the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas. Since our March podcast, another person has fallen victim to the establishment’s trademark bypass burger.
Then in our “On the Blawgs” [...]
