By Dave Groves, staff writer
Humanitarian, nurse and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Baroness Caroline Cox will return to the campus of Oakland University to share her harrowing, yet inspirational, experiences in efforts to provide a voice and a better life for millions of liberty-deprived and forgotten people around the world.
The presentation, set for at 3 p.m. on Thursday, April 23, at Meadow Brook Hall, will be hosted by Oakland’s School of Nursing. It is free and open to the public.
Cox’s work began in the former Soviet Union where, with her help, the child care system was reformed and foster care and adoption services were established. She moved through the Iron Curtain, living out of a Jeep, where she was under gunfire and missile attacks.
She then moved on to Armenia during the genocide in Nagorno-Karabakh, where she witnessed homes torched, children mutilated and young men beheaded, yet was inspired by the Armenians’ dignity, courage, faith and willingness to forgive. By her 60th trip, the violence had ended, but the reconstruction was only beginning.
Serving as a nurse and witness for the tormented, voiceless people in Burma, Indonesia, Nigeria and Darfur who are raped, enslaved and murdered, Lady Cox continues to traverse the globe to make these transgressions known.
During one visit in Darfur, Lady Cox and a seasoned journalist found a displaced catechist roaming amid the carnage, where he had witnessed his church attacked, brothers killed and sister enslaved. In his despair, he pleaded that they felt alone and asked, “Doesn’t the church want us anymore?” Distraught by this question, they sat down and wept.
Lady Cox has made more than a hundred journeys to gutted, war-torn countries. Believing that “one person may not be able to do much, but doing nothing is not an option,” she has delivered humanitarian aid directly to the front lines of war, where she has inspired hope and compassion to thousands.
She is vice president of the Royal College of Nursing in the United Kingdom, has become one of Britain’s most outspoken activists for human rights, is a defender of human rights in the House of Lords, United Kingdom, and is a distinguished educationalist and author. She is also the chief executive of Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust.
In light of her never-ending endeavors to improve the human condition, Cox merited nomination as a Nobel Peace Prize candidate.
In honor of the baroness’ visit, the REACH Institute will host “A Dinner Honoring the Lady Caroline Cox” at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 22. The event is open to the public. For more information or to make reservations, call (248) 370-2799.
For more information regarding Cox’s speaking engagement, call Colette O’Connor at (248) 370-4070 or email
oconnor@oakland.edu.
