Issue link: http://latinschool.uberflip.com/i/510699
around school 10 Around School Five years of Latin in Rwanda Rarely a day goes by that Lynden Lee '13 doesn't think about Rwanda: the incredible resilience of the people, a boy named Fiston who befriended him and became his shadow, the gorgeous sunrises over Kigali and the committed health workers who were saving lives, as well as his own intention to return one day to work alongside them. In 2012, Lee participated in the Latin in Rwanda program, which partners with Women's Equity in Access to Care and Treatment (WE-ACTx), an international community-based HIV/AIDS organization that provides health and social services. Lee returned to Rwanda in 2014 with the program as an alum. Currently a student at Boston University, he is applying to medical schools with the hope that he eventually will go back to make a difference in a more significant way. "Rwanda is a second home to me now, and the people there are my family," Lee said. "I promise that I will spend time in Rwanda again some day. I promise that I will be with my family once again. I promise I will let them know how happy they make me." Lee's feelings about his Rwanda experience are hardly unique among Latin in Rwanda alumni. Although as one of Latin's Global Initiatives the program is small, with no more than a half-dozen students participating each year, its impact is immense and enduring on both the students and the individuals in Rwanda whose lives they touch. e program was born out of a response from students to a visit to the school by Dr. Mardge Cohen, the founder of WE-ACTx, in 2005. Inspired by her work, Latin students worked together to raise nearly $12,000 through the sale of handmade dolls. According to Ingrid Dorer Fitzpatrick, director of Global Initiatives, when Cohen returned to the school a second time in 2009, the conversation changed. "I remember Jeremy Porter ('11) taking us by surprise when he asked Mardge, 'What can we do in Rwanda?'," Dorer Fitzpatrick said. Within a few weeks, Cohen submitted a proposal outlining the need for a summer camp that would provide programming for young children served by WE-ACTx. Over the winter and spring, Latin students raised $10,000 to set up the camp and start a training program for counselors. en, in the summer of 2010, Our students really think about ways that we can support the efforts that help to change lives over the long term." – Ingrid Dorer Fitzpatrick, Director of Global Initiatives around school 10