The tragic Westgate attack has claimed lives of 62 individuals who are not just a mere statistic but personalities, characters, loved ones who have stories to tell through their lives.
Elif Yavuz, who recently graduated with a Phd from Harvard’s School of Public Health and her partner, Ross Langdon – an Australian architect – were killed during the Westgate terror attack on Saturday.
According to the Boston Globe, the couple traveled the globe together to work on humanitarian causes. Elif was recently working with the Clinton Access Initiative based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and had just hosted Bill Clinton last month who was visiting some of the health projects.
Peter Adams, a close friend of the couple posted on his blog a tribute to Ross and Elif.
“There just was no dark side to Ross that I ever saw in the twenty or so years I knew him. He designed – pro bono – an aids hospital in Kenya. Being in his early 30’s, he had already given a TED talk. In Uganda he designed and supervised a unique eco-village employing only local labour,” said Adams.
Adams also revealed Elif was due to deliver the couple’s first baby Ross in two weeks.
“For me, and a big reason for today’s grief, is that Ross and Elif symbolized the sort of people doing the Work. They were agents-of-change in the best sense. Both had dedicated their lives to working for a peaceful world. Both had so much to offer.”
“I will eventually pick up the pieces and continue on with the sort of work they themselves were so involved in: bringing about change to a tattered world based — not on religious grounds or economic gain — just a pure love for all of humanity and the natural world.”