ICTJ in the News

July 4, 2005

Project's Name Honors Student

Hartford Courant

by Benjamin Alexander-Bloch

NEW HAVEN -- Yale University's Artemis Project pays tribute to the humanitarian work and spirit of Artemis Christodulou.

Christodulou, 27, a graduate student at Yale, laid the groundwork for the project before suffering debilitating injuries in a car accident in Sierra Leone on May 23, 2004.

"The Artemis Project is a sidebar to her life ... to carry on the noble work that she did," said Daniel Feldman, a graduate student in Yale's comparative literature department.

Christodulou, whose family is Greek, began her career at Yale as an undergraduate. Before her accident, she was nearing completion of her Ph.D. at Yale in comparative literature.

"She is very effervescent," Feldman said. "She is one of those Yale people that have incredible knowledge and vivaciousness."

Ethel Higonnet got to know Christodulou nine years ago, in their freshman year at Yale. Higonnet graduated from Yale Law School this year.

Higonnet and Christodulou took leaves of absence from Yale during the 2003-04 academic year to work on projects associated with Sierra Leone's investigation into war crimes there. Christodulou worked on Sierra Leone's National Vision project, a collection of essays, slogans, plays, poems, artwork and installations by Sierra Leone residents, according to the project's website.

The hope is that by displaying works of art on struggle, forgiveness and hope Sierra Leone residents can overcome some of the trauma resulting from the nation's civil war.

"Each country may have its own way of dealing with past atrocities and the memories of them," said Geoffrey Hartman, a professor of comparative literature at Yale. He said Christodolou "was working on a vision for the future of Sierra Leone."

In May 2004, while briefly back at Yale, Christodulou began discussing with Hartman the idea of a central archive of truth commission documents.

According to those involved in the Artemis Project, it was Christodulou's initial work that helped spark broader discussion of the project. She researched the idea and began talking to interested parties at Yale, but returned to Sierra Leone 10 days later to finish work on the National Vision project.

When her accident occurred, Christodulou was looking for a location to display the National Vision collection. Christodulou's vehicle lost traction in rough terrain and hit a clay wall, according to her younger brother, Manolis Christodulou. She suffered a severe brain injury and is paralyzed.

She was in a coma after the accident for about a month. She has since begun to recover, and can now read flash cards, nod her head and make some sounds, said her mother, Kalliope Christodulou, who lives in Massachusetts.

"As a human being, she was very philanthropic," said Manolis Christodulou, who runs the family's pizzeria in Central Falls, R.I. "She accomplished great things, whatever she put her mind to, but didn't do it for fame or acknowledgment. ... She did it for goodwill."

Manolis Christodulou said his family receives frequent phone calls from Sierra Leone residents. The callers say Artemis "is one of the most important people for their society ... and they cry ... and they try to express how much [she] has done for them."