Stories from the Field 3 [1]

This episode of Stories from the Field features Abdallah Boumediene from ACCESS in Michigan, and Aaron/Hari Acharya from HealthRight in New York, speaking about what brought them to work in the field of torture treatment. Boumediene talks about how he came to ACCESS from a background in healthcare administration, but how his work with the torture survivors program at ACCESS was colored by his own experiences in Algeria during the French occupation. Boumediene's memories were difficult for him, but inspired him to greater efforts in healing, advocacy, and leadership of the National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs. Acharya talks about his work with HealthRight's Human Rights Clinic, which provides forensic evaluations to torture survivors. As for many people, Acharya's path to this work was a personal one, originating in his own traumatic experience being evicted from Bhutan. While resident of a refugee camp in Nepal, Acharya began working with an NGO to document torture wounds and refer survivors for mental health services.