Adam Reger | Freelance Writer

I wanted to share a piece I wrote for the most recent issue of Pitt Magazine, the University of Pittsburgh’s alumni magazine.

I’ve had the pleasure of writing for Pitt Magazine for the better part of a decade, but I can easily say this is one of the most inspiring—and, fair warning, upsetting—stories I’ve ever written for the magazine.

It’s about current graduate student Hanifa Nakiryowa, a Ugandan woman who in 2011 was the victim of an acid attack. She’s overcome incredible hardships not only to survive but to make a new life for herself and her daughters in the U.S., going through Pitt’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs with the aim of bringing that knowledge back to Uganda to help run the Center for Rehabilitation of Survivors of Acid and Burns Violence (CERESAV), the nonprofit she founded to help other acid-attack survivors.

Hanifa was a pleasure to speak with and my editor and I had an incredibly difficult time getting the piece down to the prescribed word count—there was so much more to say about her, everything she went through, and everything she has accomplished despite long odds. I really appreciate the editors of Pitt Magazine giving me a chance to talk with her and share this story, and it’s fantastic that PittWire, the university’s daily news site, is sharing the story.