TEDxNyarugenge is pleased and excited to reveal its second speaker: Arlene Del Rey Griffith Brown.
The eldest of seven, Ms. Brown was born December 9, 1930 in Commodore Pennsylvania a small coal mining community. She is the mother of five, grandmother of 17 and Great Grandmother of 14.
The majority of her life was spent as a housewife & mother, nurse, substitute teacher and finally as a group leader in a local electronics plant. As she says, “I was a very ordinary person doing ordinary things.”
She feels that “From the beginning I was in training for the life I would lead after I retired from the work force. A life dedicated to serving needy, abused and abandoned children in Rwanda.”
Ms. Brown grew up in a time when electricity, flush toilets, running water, paved roads, phones, television and computers were not common. She knew how to live without these things and “so the move to Rwanda was not such a hardship as it would be for youngsters today.”
At age 65 Ms. Brown traveled to Zaire, currently the Democratic Republic of Congo, and spent three months working in refugee camps around the town of Goma. She believes that “children are the victims in any conflict.”
Seeing the plight of the Rwandan children in Zaire, she was determined to return some day to make a difference in their lives.
After her first trip, she returned to the luxury that is America.
In 2006 after several trips to Rwanda Ms. Brown sold my home, car & all my possessions and made the move to Rwanda to spend the rest of her life. Her heart for orphans, and the most vulnerable children made this move necessary.
Urukundo Foundation & Hope Made Real is the product of many who joined Ms. Brown in this mission to give hope to both the children and adults in Rwanda and to make their future brighter.
TEDxNyarugenge is honored that Ms. Brown is our first confirmed participant. The next speaker for August 9th event will be revealed in two weeks.
TEDx is a program of locally organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. TEDxNyarugenge is bringing to Rwanda a night devoted to “ideas worth spreading”. A panel of remarkable speakers will give short talks designed to inspire big ideas and provoke critical thought.
The August 9th, 2013 event will be held at The Office, Kigali’s co-working space, located in Kiyovu, and will be centered around the theme “Bold, Brave, and Ambitious”. One hundred attendees will be eligible to win tickets through creative competitions.
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