American Magazine | Spring 2007
Peter’s Gift
“For most people, death is the end. Peter’s death was the beginning of life for people all over the world.”
Elizabeth Alderman read the e-mail again, soaking up every word and allowing the emotion to wash over her. This warm August day would have been her son’s 30th birthday; the note, from an Iraqi doctor, was one of the brightest spots on an especially dark day.
“That e-mail reaffirmed the work we’re doing to honor Pete’s memory,” says Alderman. “On that day, it meant the world to me.”
Elizabeth Alderman and her husband, Stephen, used the $1.4 million they received from the federal government’s Victim Compensation Fund to start the Peter C. Alderman Foundation to honor their youngest child, who died on 9/11 in the World Trade Center. The foundation helps victims of terrorism and mass violence reclaim their lives by giving indigenous physicians—like the Iraqi doctor—the tools and training to treat emotional illnesses.
“We couldn’t do anything to help Peter, but we could help the ‘walking wounded’—victims who had survived terrorism,” says Elizabeth Alderman.
More than that, says Stephen Alderman, “Peter died too young to leave his mark on the world. The foundation that bears his name “leaves an indelible mark that Peter existed on this earth.”
Fostering capacity
After Peter, Kogod/BSBA ’99, died, his mother needed a reason to get up in the morning.
Elizabeth Alderman had two choices: “Put one foot in front of the other, or spend the rest of my life in bed.” She opted for the former and soon discovered that helping others to heal would help her to do the same. “We live now for this work,” she says.
Under the guidance of Dr. Richard Mollica, director of the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma and a leading expert in the treatment of depression, the Aldermans have developed a training program for caregivers from the war-torn countries of Afghanistan, Rwanda, and Bosnia. They have also established mental health clinics in Cambodia and Uganda that treat thousands each year.
The first clinic bearing Peter’s name opened in Siem Reap, Cambodia, in 2005 and has treated more than 4,000 patients. To chip away at the 14-month waiting list, the Aldermans opened a second clinic 18 miles away, in Soutr Nikum. Together, the Cambodian clinics cost about $22,000 a year to run.
Many of the medical personnel who staff the clinics are graduates of the Aldermans’ master class, held each fall in Orvieto, Italy. The week-long session, led by mental health experts from around the globe, gives participants the skills to diagnose and treat people suffering from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Spirituality, work, and altruism are keys to helping people reclaim their lives. Those three touchstones are also reflected in the clinics, which partner with local religious institutions to offer therapy, and with local businesses to provide jobs.
“Many of these people have developed the incapacity to live,” says Stephen Alderman, a retired radiation oncologist. “So it’s not a reasonable goal to make them happy. We just need to get them functioning. Our goal is to get the men working and the women taking care of their families.”
The task is daunting under the best of circumstances, but it’s especially difficult given that psychiatry is nearly non-existent in many countries. Uganda, for example, boasts a population of 26 million people and 12 trained psychiatrists—three of whom are graduates of the foundation’s master class. Of Iraq’s 100 mental health professionals, three received training through the foundation.
To help combat the shortage of psychiatrists in conflict-ridden areas, the Aldermans require that each master class participant share his or her knowledge with 10 other people, from government officials and physicians to village wise men and spiritual leaders. Through that expanding network, the Aldermans estimate the training has reached more than 400 people around the world.
“Mental health cannot be treated by charity,” says Stephen Alderman. “We are fostering capacity.”
An inspiration
A week after Peter died, more than 200 of his friends gathered at the Alderman home in Armonk, New York, to celebrate his life. Childhood friends, former AU classmates, and his coworkers shared laughs and exchanged hugs, toasting Peter with champagne and beer—his drinks of choice.
“They needed to be with each other, and they needed to be with us,” says Elizabeth Alderman.
“Peter made you feel better about yourself,” says his mother. “He was our sunshine.”
Peter’s memory also continues to shine bright in the hearts of his friends, who, in 2005, started their own organization to support the foundation. Each year, Friends of Peter Alderman hosts a fund raiser in Manhattan; last year’s event netted more than $30,000, and this year’s benefit is expected to bring in more than $50,000.
“It’s a testament to Peter’s character,” says Elizabeth Alderman. Peter would be “extraordinarily proud” of the work his family and friends are doing in his name.
Growing beyond 9/11
Of the 310 nonprofits that emerged in the wake of 9/11, only 10 percent still exist today, according to Philanthropy News Digest. The Alderman Foundation, which is now headed by Peter’s older sister, Jane, has not only survived, it continues to thrive.
“We were born of 9/11, but we also like to think we’ve grown beyond 9/11,” says Stephen Alderman.
Looking toward the future, the Aldermans hope to expand their network of doctors, open clinics in Rwanda and Peru, and publish the data that’s now beginning to emerge from their work in Cambodia and Uganda. And that’s not all.
“My vision is that we’ll become like the American College of Cardiology, and hold annual meetings where doctors who deal with mass trauma can come together, present papers, and discuss their work,” says Elizabeth Alderman. “I believe it can happen.”
For now, though, the Aldermans are treasuring the small victories.
Elizabeth Alderman recalls a moment from a master class. After the group finished eating dinner, a Rwandan doctor put on some African music and began dancing. Soon after, several other African doctors and a Bosnian woman joined him, and within 15 minutes, everyone was on their feet.
“These are people who’ve experienced really horrendous things,” recounts Elizabeth. “And yet, here they are—blacks, whites, Asians, Muslims, Jews, Christians, Sunni, and Shiite—dancing together and, for a few minutes, forgetting the rest of the world. It was a microcosm of what the world should—and could—be like.
“It was quite a sight; Peter would’ve loved it.”
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