Dr. Jim Peck, PSU graduate student Anis Zaman, and photographer David Ewald have all spent time in Kutupalong mega-camp where over a million Rohingya refugees are currently living after fleeing genocide in their home country of Burma/Myanmar. Join them for a conversation on what their experiences were in providing aid and medical care to Rohingya refugees and David's project to put cameras into the hands of Rohingya refugee youth.  Free and open to the public.

This program is presented in collaboration with the photography exhibit Exiled to Nowhere by documentary photographer Greg Constantine, on view at the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education until June 11. This exhibit documents not only the plight of the Rohingya and how the tactics taken over time have led to the near destruction of this community, but also shows how, in spite of all that has been done to destroy them, the Rohingya continue to find a way to survive and persevere regardless of the ground beneath their feet.

Jim Peck, M.D. is Adjunct Professor of Surgery at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) for the Divisions of Vascular Surgery. He was a private practitioner in Portland since 1981. He has been on 17 humanitarian missions. He has worked for Doctors without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) in Liberia, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and South Sudan. In the January & February of 2017 and May & June 2018 Jim was at Mother of Mercy Hospital in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. He will return to Sudan in October 2019 until December. He was in Bangladesh for the Rohingya refugee in January and February of 2018 and 2019 with Medical Teams International.

Anis Zaman was born and raised in Bangladesh. He has worked with the United Nations in Liberia as a peacekeeper and observer. He has also worked as a peacekeeping trainer in Indonesia. Anis is currently working on his masters in Conflict Resolution at PSU. As part of his masters, his thesis is on ‘The Rise of Religious Nationalism in Myanmar’. Anis is the co-founder of the Bangladesh Student Association (BSA) in PSU and is involved with volunteer and leadership programs in Portland.

David Ewald was a founding partner of the product design studio, Uncorked. David helped the formation of Safecast, a non-profit focused on radiation & air-quality monitoring started after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. He teaches, both as an adjunct professor at the University of Oregon, and as a lecturer for other institutions such as ArtCenter, Portland State University, Oregon State University, and Pacific Northwest College of Art. David is an accomplished photographer who blends his love of storytelling and social impact, most recently in shaping a photography storytelling project alongside the Rohingya community.

Sponsored by: Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, Never Again Coalition, PSU’s Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Medical Teams International