Sixteen-year-old Lamberte Nyabamikazi has spent her life thousands of miles away from the comfort of Emory.

In the small east African nation of Burundi, genocide robbed her of her innocence as she watched much of her family be brutally murdered by slashing machetes.

When the militiamen came banging on the doors of her family's home, she ran as fast as she could. She ran in fear and to save her life.

Running was her only emotional release, and her talent flourished. But because of the war and poverty devastating her country, she could not get the training her talent merited.

Until now.

The DeKalb International Training Center was established this year for athletes like Nyabamikazi to help them achieve their potential in both Olympic competition and in life.

The program, based in suburban Atlanta, will house, train and educate the best athletes from around the world, while promoting hope, education, triumph and reconciliation. Much of the training will take place at and around Emory, led by Emory coaches.

The student-athletes will attend high schools and colleges in the area, including Georgia Perimeter College, George State University, Georgia Tech and possibly Emory.

According to Marc Daniel Gutekunst, co-chairman and chief executive officer of the DITC, the programs aims not only to help the athletes but also their war-torn native countries.

In November, the first 57 athletes will arrive to begin their journey to the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.

There they will compete for their struggling home countries, which include Burundi, Rwanda, Madagascar and Sao Tome and Principe.

"We cannot stop these wars, but we can give these kids a chance to at least contribute to reconciliation," Gutekunst said. "In countries where there is genocide like this, people are one behind their athletes. It's like all of sudden they're one nation."

Gutekunst's co-chairman for the program is Ambassador Andrew Young, a former mayor of Atlanta and U.S. congressman.

Prince Albert of Monaco is the honorary chairman of the DITC, who, Gutekunst said, acts in the capacity of a chairman but cannot have that title because he is a head of state.

Gutekunst, Young, Prince Albert and other prominent DITC board members and trustees, including U.S. Senator Max Cleland (D-Ga.) and DeKalb County Chief Executive Officer Vernon Jones, attended the DITC's grand opening at the Woodruff P.E. Center last month.

"The highlight of Prince Albert's visit to Emory's campus and our campus was the true sense of involvement here," Gutekunst said. "He appreciated the warmth of the people and their commitment to make the DITC a reality."

A dream realized

Gutekunst said the impetus for the DITC began six years ago at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

It was dedicated in May 2002, and the first few athletes arrived this summer.

The DITC has an intended capacity of 140, but Gutekunst said he wanted to keep it small for the first year, limiting the field of athletes to 57.

Doing so, he said, would allow the still-growing program to most effectively manage the group.

The program is anticipated to bring a new dimension of humanity to DeKalb County.

"It will bring the world to DeKalb County through these athletes who are training for the Olympics," Jones said.

Since the program's inception, everyone involved has been selflessly dedicated to it. Gutekunst, a former Emory faculty member, has not received a paycheck in more than two years, as he has devoted all his time to the DITC.

But he credits his co-workers equally with the program's progress.

"This is a team effort," Gutekunst said emphatically. "No team member is more important than another."

Emory's varsity swimming Assistant Coach Jessica Berkowitz, who is one of the coaches active in the program, said this selfless commitment is vindicated now that the athletes are arriving.

She said many were skeptical six years ago when this was a dream of massive proportions. Those who were unaware of how invested Gutenkust was in the program could not imagine it would materialize.

Others still thought it would happen, but that the program's leaders had selfish intentions.

Neither factor threatened the development of the DITC, because the leaders have been so passionate about it since the beginning, Berkowitz said.

"I don't know which is harder: recognizing the opportunity or having the blind faith to carry it to reality." she said. "It's just the right thing to do, to bring goodness into the world."

'An obligation to humanity'

Disadvantaged athletes from around the globe already have opportunities to get free training and education: Many Division I colleges and universities offer them scholarships.

But the stipulations are strict.

The athletes must be competent to attend American college classes. They must be of age to attend college, and after training in the United States they lose their national identity.

If they make the Olympics, they will be competing on behalf of the United States.

That's how the DITC is different as the only facility of its kind in the world.

Gutekunst said all the athletes will have the opportunity to compete in the Olympics.

Coming into the program however, there is a wide array of athletic ability. The athletes themselves are anywhere between 14 and 24 years old.

All athletes training at the DITC will compete for their countries in international competitions, something Gutekunst said is essential to the program's success.

"What is most important is we will promote national dignity and national pride," he said.

Most of the athletes do not yet speak English either, Gutekunst said, so they would not fare well in a typical university setting.

Gutekunst, who is of French descent and grew up in Rwanda, is fluent in both French and Swahili, allowing him to communicate with them.

During the athlete's training they will stay at the recently renovated Brook Run, a 102-acre facility in Dunwoody.

They will have their own rooms, equipped with computers and Internet access.

The athletes will have a kitchen, cafeteria and lounges available and all will have the opportunity to call home once a week, thanks to donations from area companies including Cingular and Coca-Cola.

Medical care, a luxury foreign to Nyabamikazi, will be easily accessible and free of charge to all athletes in the DITC.

The athletes will also be paired with families in the area, so they feel a sense of home and comfort, Jones said.

With these amenities and the caliber of the staff, Gutekunst said he is confident the athletes will succeed, but he said they still have "awful scars" to deal with.

While they are here, many of the athletes will work with Atlanta students in order to compile records of the genocide they endure in a manner that will hopefully prove cathartic.

The records will be circulated to schools facilitating a cultural understanding.

Gutekunst said he hopes the program will allow both foreign athletes and Americans to learn the respect of humanity, a kind of lifelong knowledge.

In doing so, Gutekunst said he and his team are not willing to compromise on the treatment of the athletes.

He said he will not accept excuses from his staff. They are in it to produce results, and they will unequivocally provide these athletes with the best the United States can offer, particularly care and hope.

Nyabamikazi has already experience hatred, misery and pain first-hand.

When she arrives in Atlanta next month, she will finally have a chance to succeed.

And in her time here, the Atlanta community will become her home, and the people here her second family.

According to Gutekunst, that is exactly how she will be treated.

"This is about respecting people regardless of their religion, color, education or money," he said. "We don't want any less for these kids than we want for our own kids."