Founder of NuDay Syria to keynote 'DEIS Impact

Nadia AlawaPhoto/courtesy, NuDay Syria

Nadia Alawa.

Nadia Alawa, who started an aid organization for Syria out of her New Hampshire home, will tell her story and discuss the humanitarian needs of Syria in the keynote address at this year’s seventh annual ‘DEIS Impact, a weeklong festival of social justice.

Not long after civil war broke out in Syria, she began collecting medical supplies, food and clothes to be shipped to Syria. These efforts eventually became NuDay Syria, a multimillion-dollar non-profit organization that focuses on bringing housing and food to displaced families with single mothers or wounded family members in Syria. In October, Brandeis students volunteered with NuDay Syria, packing a shipping container of donations to go to Syria as part of Waltham Group's community service day.

Alawa’s address, "One Person at a Time, One Humanity Closer: Tackling the Syrian Crisis from New Hampshire” will be held Tuesday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m., Shapiro Campus Center Theater. The event is free and open to the public with no tickets required.

'DEIS Impact is a collaboration of the Brandeis Undergraduate Student Union and the International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life, with support provided by the Louis D. Brandeis Legacy Fund for Social Justice and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

This year’s festival features five open classes related to social justice taught by Brandeis faculty as part of 'DEIS Impact College, along with dozens of events sponsored by student clubs, faculty members and academic departments.

Programming includes:

  • Social Justice Case Challenge: The Waltham Group and Hiatt Career Center partner with UNICEF USA and City Year to host a case challenge for students. Students will be presented with real challenges faced by our employer-partners. On the day of the event, students will be divided into small teams to work collaboratively to propose solutions to a designated challenge. Student teams will present their recommendations.
  • Modern Day Slavery and Trafficking: A Survivor’s Story: 15,000-17,000 men, women and children are trafficked into the United States every year. They are brought into the country seeking a better life and instead are faced with a living nightmare. From physical to emotional abuse, stripped of identities and no compensation, survivors of slavery and trafficking have incredibly moving stories to tell. Hear from a survivor of modern-day slavery and human trafficking, see for yourself how slavery still exists in the U.S. and the world, and find out what you can do to help stop it.
  • Modern 3D Printing Meets Disabilities: How are emerging technologies enabling the future of social justice? Come explore the world of 3D printed prosthetics and learn how 3D printing is helping children and their families who cannot afford constant replacements of their prosthetics as they grow. Become part of a global community that is using technology to help thousands of children around the world with affordable 3D printed limbs. Have some snacks, learn about the 3D printing movement, and help build 3D printed prosthetic hands! No experience with 3D printing required.

‘DEIS Impact College courses include:

  • Conquests, Resistance, and Cultural Transformation in Mexico and Central America, an open session of the anthropology course ANTH 119a with Charles Golden
  • International Environmental Conflict & Collaboration, an open session of the environmental studies course ENVS 118b with Charles Chester
  • Slavery in the Roman World, with its modern implications, an open session of the classical studies course CLAS 192B with Bernadette Brooten
  • Sustainable Economic Development Strategies, an open session of the graduate level Heller School course HS 289F with Nader Habibi and Can Erbil
  • Conservative Political Thought, an open session of the politics course POL 187B with Bernard Yack.

A complete schedule and additional information about events can be found on the DEIS Impact website.

Watch Nadia Alawa's TedxTalk: "How a New Hampshire mom created change in Syria:"

Categories: Humanities and Social Sciences, Student Life

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