New York, NY – January 26, 2005 – On Thursday, January 27th at 7:30 p.m., Virtue Foundation, in collaboration with Refugees International and The International Rescue Committee, will present a panel discussion and film on “Extreme Poverty in a Prosperous World: The Quest to Achieve Sustainable Humanitarian Efforts.” All proceeds of the event, to be held at the Caspary Auditorium at The Rockefeller University, will be donated to the victims of last month’s Tsunami disaster.

Having just returned from an extended medical mission to Cambodia, Dr. Ebby Elahi, an oculofacial and reconstructive surgeon in Manhattan and Director of International Affairs at the Virtue Foundation, joins Ken Bacon, President of Refugees International, and George Biddle, Senior Vice President of the International Rescue Committee, to discuss how to establish viable infrastructures in regions long impacted by political turmoil and isolation from the global community.

The event will also feature the premiere of select segments of a documentary film shot entirely on location during Dr. Elahi’s recent Cambodian mission. The film, Stolen Faces, chronicles in part the amazing journey of a young Cambodian mother and her baby who were victims of a callous acid attack, a growing form of violence perpetuated by poor socioeconomic conditions and ineffectual law enforcement. Stolen Faces is intended to provide audiences with a better visual understanding of the scale and magnitude of the devastating problems facing many people in Southeast Asia today.

Virtue Foundation is a public charity dedicated to raising awareness about prevalent global issues while initiating an open dialogue about our rights and responsibilities within the global community from an ethical, moral, and humanitarian perspective. The Foundation is also involved in various humanitarian endeavors such as the education and training of physicians and nurses, as well as the organization of medical expeditions to underprivileged regions of the world.