By Rajiv Shetty

"In today's conflicts ninety percent of the victims are civilians. Every year war takes or seriously affects the life of millions of women, children, and unarmed men worldwide."

Dr. Gino Strada is the founder of Emergency, a medical outreach organization devoted to the rehabilitation of children injured by land mines and antipersonnel weapons. Emergency's mission is to promote a culture of peace and nonviolence, to foster human rights, and to bring medical and other humanitarian assistance to noncombatant victims of war and natural disasters.

Dr. Strada's struggle alongside Kate Rowlands, a Welsh nurse and Emergency's chief of medical operations, to start and operate basic hospital facilities in war torn Afghanistan was the subject of an award winning documentary “Jung (War) in the Land of the Mujaheedin,” and a PBS Point of View, “Afghanistan Year 1380.” Dr. Strada was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts in Afghanistan.

Dr. Strada was a specialist in heart transplant surgery but in 1988 redirected his experience to emergency surgery and the care of war victims. From 1989-1994, he worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in conflict zones in Pakistan, Ethiopia, Peru, Afghanistan, Somalia and Bosnia. This field experience motivated Dr. Strada and a group of colleagues to establish Emergency.

	Emergency Website
	Event Poster

The good doctor is a 55 year old heavy smoker with a quadruple bypass. The quadruple bypass was a kind of indirect gift to Strada by Saddam Hussein. In 1996 Strada was in the Emergency hospital (its first) in Sulaimaniya, in northern Iraq, when the Iraqi army started a strong offensive against the Kurds. The flood of injured soldiers forced the surgical staff to work 18 hour shifts at the operating table, until Strada had a heart attack and had to be transferred by jeep 400 km to Turkey and finally be flown back to Italy.

Emergency maintains an independent, non-profit, neutral, non-political and humanitarian profile, and helps civilian victims of war without being hindered by bureaucracy. Overhead costs at 6.16 percent on total spending of $89,655,622 USD (1994-2004) attest to the organization's efficiency and the passion of its volunteers.

Today, Emergency operates seven hospitals in areas of conflict in Cambodia, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Nicaragua, Angola, Sudan and Sri Lanka. Thirty First Aid posts, in heavily mined areas or close to the front lines, are connected to the Emergency hospitals. Programs in Rwanda, Eritrea, Algeria and Palestine were concluded with a handover to local health authorities.

In addition to trauma, plastic and reconstructive surgery, medical activities include obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, pediatrics and primary health care. Rehabilitation activities include physiotherapy, upper and lower limb prosthesis and orthoses production, vocational training courses, setup of small business cooperatives for the disabled and social programs for widows and orphans. To date, surgical and medical assistance and rehabilitation has been provided to more than 1,500,000 patients.

Pedestrian Explosions
Green Parrots, A War Surgeon’s Diary, is Dr. Strada's prize-winning account of personal experiences doing relief work in Afghanistan, Northern Iraq, Cambodia, and Sierra Leone. "Green Parrots" refers to a kind of diabolical bomb particularly destructive to children because it resembles a toy.

From its founding in Milan in 1994, Emergency has sought to ban the manufacture of antipersonnel mines and weapons in Italy. While Emergency has succeeded there, new challenges arise elsewhere: the Bush administration seeks to end a 10 year hiatus in American landmine production by spending 1.3 billion dollars to produce two new types of landmines starting 2007.

In 1994 the U.S. called for the ”eventual elimination” of all such mines and in 1996, President Bill Clinton said the U.S. would ”seek a worldwide agreement as soon as possible to end the use of all antipersonnel mines.” More so than on other fronts, the Bush administration's reversal of American progress in this matter is regrettable. The bitter fruit of November 2004 will now include the 'Spider' and the 'Intelligent Munitions System'. How intelligent is a device that, more often than not, blows the legs out from under civilians of all ages?

Sweet Struggle
On Monday, October 24th 2005, 'Peace, Love and Chocolate' brings together twelve of New York's finest pastry chefs at BLVD in New York's Nolita district to celebrate Emergency's hard work with the delicate sweetness of their gourmet creations. The event is co-sponsored by BLVD and Paris Gourmet's Cacao Noel chocolate brand, and organized by Emergency's creative New York volunteers. Whether your interests lie in world peace, the love of inspiration, or simply heavenly chocolate, you are sure to be delighted by the party. The guilt of the gourmand can be easily averted with the peace of mind bought by an entrance donation in excess of the minimum $25.

PEACE, LOVE and CHOCOLATE
Monday 24, 2005 7-10pm
BLVD, 199 Bowery
New York, NY 10002
212-982-7767

Tickets:
$25 minimum donation(cash only)
(21 and over)

If you are not able to come celebrate 'Peace, Love and Chocolate' but would like to contribute to Emergency's Surgical and Rehabilitation centers, you can do so in the following ways:

* By credit card using PayPal at www.emergencyusa.org

* By personal check under the name of EMERGENCY-USA sent to:
EMERGENCY-USA, 10592 Perry Highway #112, Wexford, PA 15090, USA

* By bank transfer to: EMERGENCY-USA Citizens Bank / Pittsburgh
Account N. 620-196-0221, Routing N. 0360-76150.
For international wire transfer: Swift Code CTZUS33