Foundation Born From 9/11 Tragedy Helps Those Scarred by War

GULU, Uganda, Sept. 9, 2008— -- I met Liz and Steve Alderman and their daughter, Jane, at a party in New York a couple of years ago, through a friend who's the kind of gifted host who puts guests at ease by giving them a tidbit about each other that will likely spark conversation.

In the Aldermans' case, it was that a story they had seen on "Nightline" had prompted them to start a foundation training mental health professionals and opening clinics in former war-torn countries.

The foundation has a tragic beginning: Their 25-year-old son, Peter Craig Alderman, was killed on Sept. 11, 2001. He was working for Bloomberg LLC and was attending a conference that morning at Windows on the World, the restaurant at the top of the World Trade Center. Sadly, he arrived early for the conference.

Liz and Steve told us about the last messages Peter sent and how his sister, Jane, and other friends were e-mailing, asking, "Are you OK?" and "Where are you, Peter?"

Seven years later, as the Aldermans shared this story at a refugee camp in Northern Uganda, Liz choked up a bit as she related one of his last messages: "I'm stuck. The room is filling with smoke." Liz and Steve finished in unison, "I'm scared."

In a private moment, Liz said she always wondered how parents who lost a child kept living, or even managed to get up every day. She said it's because you have to. They wanted to find a way to honor Peter, to let the world know he lived and was loved. But they couldn't decide how. A vest pocket park? A university chair? All considered and discarded.

But one night, about nine months after Peter died, they saw a Bill Blakemore piece on "Nightline" about the "walking wounded" -- people scarred by war, in places where psychiatry is taboo, in short supply, frowned upon. Bill was interviewing Dr. Richard Mollica, a psychiatrist, a professor of medicine and the head of the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma. From that, the Peter C. Alderman Foundation was born.

With the $1.4 million in victims' compensation they received, the Aldermans endowed the foundation. They fundraise or pay out of their own pockets for the four clinics they have opened so far. Two are in Cambodia, another two in Uganda. By partnering with the host government, it can cost the foundation as little as $35,000 a year to run a clinic.

In July, "Nightline" producer Deborah Apton and I went with Liz, Steve and Jane Alderman to Uganda. We flew to Kampala, Uganda's capital, then boarded a comfortable coach for the five-hour bumpy ride north to Gulu. We were going for the official opening of their second Ugandan clinic.