N AI ROBI , K E NYA
H A R A R E , Z IM B A B WE
Melinda (McClung) Aleme (’00, MA ’14)
Christopher J. Chetsanga (’64)
Regional Program Director and Cofounder, Lighting the Ethiopian Path
Professor of Biochemistry, University of Zimbabwe
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I learn something new every day about the injustice that has created extreme poverty and a lack of freedom and dignity [in the world]. Fortunately, I also learn new ways that God has prepared me for this vocational journey as I go. Fighting for change and creating meaningful systems that promote change with those who have overcome [hardships] has meant confronting my own fears and resting in the provision of a loving creator. The co-creation of an organization that empowers the oppressed and the resulting understanding that has deepened in a God that makes change possible are the achievements that I hope will live beyond my lifetime.
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MATAGALPA, NICARAGUA
At 83 years old, professor Christopher Chetsanga continues to lecture in biochemistry at the University of Zimbabwe, training future generations of young scientists. Among a long list of breakthroughs and findings, Chetsanga’s research has focused on DNA and RNA structural and functional details as they relate to cellular metabolism and disease development. Chetsanga, who serves as a fellow of the African Academy of Sciences and the World Academy of Sciences, discovered an enzyme that repairs damage to DNA caused by cancer-causing chemical agents. “My scientific career has been characterized by efforts to advance mankind’s higher goals in science,” he says. In 1993 Chetsanga was appointed by the president of Zimbabwe to serve as the director general of the country’s Scientific and Industrial Research and Development Centre and served in that capacity until 2003. His leadership in education also contributed to the establishment of the Zimbabwe Academy of Sciences in 1994, where he served as the school’s inaugural president for two five-year terms.
M A P LE R IDG E , C A NA DA
Bradley ChristiansonBarker (’05)
Jonathan Butcher (MA ’12) Cofounder/Chief Operations Officer, The Lily Project While serving a rural Nicaraguan community with the country’s Ministry of Health, Jonathan Butcher became aware that women living in rural villages did not have satisfactory access to health services and were in danger of life-threatening diseases that modern medicine had reduced significantly in other countries. Butcher and his local partner—who lost her mother to cervical cancer in 2008—set out to make an impact on the staggering statistics by launching the Lily Project, an NGO devoted to women’s health. By employing the World Health Organization’s standards and procedures regarding cervical cancer early detection and treatment, Butcher and his team have saved more than 500 lives since 2015. Furthermore, through an innovative health education program utilizing a simple, coloredbead bracelet, they have brought holistic-based sex education to more 15,000 young girls.
Pastor, Open Door Church Bradley Christianson-Barker describes the Open Door Church as a place of refuge for those disenfranchised by other churches—some for their questions or theology, some for their gender identity or sexual orientation, and others for their socioeconomic status or family makeup. A few years ago, Christianson-Barker led the Open Door Church congregation through conversations around LGBTQ issues, pairing individuals’ personal testimonies with biblical passages and historical context in an effort to nurture a more inclusive church.
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The challenge at Open Door is to consistently ask the question, ‘How do we disagree and still maintain our love and respect for one another and our wholeness as community?’ These conversations were no different. Our values centered in God’s love led us to a truly welcoming posture of hospitality as we recognized that the image of God is found not only in the individual, but also in the diversity of our community.
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magazine.pepperdine.edu
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