September 11, 2012 -- Updated 2203 GMT (0603 HKT)
Patrick, a former child soldier, received treatment at a PCAF clinic and was able to care for his family.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Elizabeth and Stephen Alderman: Our youngest son, Peter, was killed on 9/11
- After his death, they knew they had to leave a mark that Peter existed
- They set up the Peter C. Alderman Foundation to help people affected by terrorism
- Elizabeth, Stephen Alderman: Peter would be proud of the work that bears his name
Editor's note: Elizabeth and Stephen Alderman are the founders of the Peter C. Alderman Foundation.
(CNN) -- Our youngest child, Peter, was murdered on
September 11, 2001, while attending a conference at Windows on the World
at the World Trade Center. He was 25 years old when he died.
When the towers fell, we
were in France, on vacation to celebrate Steve's 60th birthday. Peter,
our daughter, Jane, and our son Jeff and his wife, Tobey, had all been
with us for a week before flying back to the U.S. on September 8.
On the day of the
attacks, we were terribly upset after hearing the news. But at first, we
were not worried about our kids. Jeff and Tobey lived in Tulsa. Jane
lived in D.C. but her job was nowhere near the Pentagon. Peter worked in
midtown Manhattan for Bloomberg LP. But since he traveled throughout
the city for his job, we became concerned.
Elizabeth and Stephen Alderman
Peter Alderman
We desperately tried
calling our kids but could not get a line out of France. It wasn't until
late in the day that we learned from Jeff that "Pete was there." The
next day, Michael Bloomberg, who became mayor two months later, called
to tell us that Pete was dead. My world stopped, and it still is totally
out of kilter.
Not Peter! Pete was all
laughter and sunshine and love. He wasn't uncomfortable kissing his
mother or father in public, or hugging his sister for no reason at all.
He and Jeff traveled to fun places and laughed and laughed. Not Peter --
he was too full of life.
Our mark on this Earth is
our children. After his death, we knew we had to leave a mark that
Peter existed and the world would be a better place because he lived.
In searching for a way to
honor his life, we learned that 1 billion people, almost one sixth of
humanity, have directly experienced torture, terrorism or mass violence.
Victims are left with lifelong emotional wounds preventing them from
leading productive lives. In sub-Saharan Africa, the incidence of
traumatic depression and PTSD exceeds that of HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB
combined.
9/11 1st responders get cancer coverage
Peter loved life; he was
compassionate and caring. There was nothing we could do for Pete, but
returning survivors to life in his name was the perfect memorial. In
March 2003, we created the Peter C. Alderman Foundation.
People often ask: "Why are you dealing with traumatic depression and PTSD when there are so many greater problems in the world?"
Our response is simple:
Billions of philanthropic dollars go into fighting HIV/AIDS, malaria and
poverty. But if people don't care whether they live or die, they will
not follow through with their medication regimens, walk that extra mile
for potable water or take advantage of microfinance. If you can restore
hope, a person is less likely to strap on dynamite and kill innocent
people.
Our foundation started
by training indigenous health workers, but we quickly learned that
training by itself was not sufficient. We needed to provide a framework
in which professionals could work. To that end, our foundation runs
eight trauma clinics in Cambodia, Uganda, Liberia and Kenya.
Establishing
public-private partnerships with local governments, our foundation
trains, supervises and pays its staff; the government provides clinic
space, in-patient beds and psychotropic drugs. Our foundation's average
annual cost per clinic is $30,000.
More than 30,000
children have been abducted in Uganda, and many of our patients are
child soldiers, like Patrick. He has been treated in our Kitgum clinic
for two years. Now he no longer has nightmares or flashbacks. He can
sleep through the night and hold down a job. He no longer thinks of
suicide. He has even named his new baby after his counselor at the
clinic.
Our foundation sponsors an annual African training conference on traumatic depression.
At July's fifth annual
conference in Tanzania, attended by 500 mental health professionals from
22 countries, an imam from Somalia rose to say the opening prayer. He
only spoke Arabic. When translated, we learned that he had said a prayer
for Peter. Tears streamed down my face as I realized we were truly on
the way to leaving that mark for Peter.
The work has kept us
functioning and given us a reason to get out of bed every day. Nothing
can erase our pain, but our passion to leave a profound and indelible
mark that Peter existed on this Earth has propelled us forward.
Peter would be very proud of the foundation that bears his name.
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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Elizabeth Alderman and Stephen Alderman.
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