Dema Dimbaya Humanitarianism and Disaster Relief Scholarship

Due to the opportunities I’ve had to experience life internationally, from the US to Switzerland to now Sierra Leone, I’ve observed firsthand the drastic differences in health and wealth between and within regions. More specifically, I've been struck by the intersections among poverty, ignorance, and disease. These can create a detrimental feedback loop that ruins families and communities through issues such as child mortality. What started for me as a community service opportunity has morphed into an undying passion to contribute my insights into driving down the current under-five death rate in Sierra Leone, currently estimated at 122 deaths per 1,000 live births. Through my volunteering with CHAMPS* and FOCUS1000**, groups that seek to reduce under-five child mortality in Sierra Leone, I've been able to better understand the underlying issues and make my own modest contribution through Social Behavioral Science and community action. These activities have helped highlight both my passion to help, and my relatively limited capacity to make a meaningful difference. Receiving this scholarship would allow me to complete my studies in Economics and Psychology with a lessened financial burden and afford me the increased flexibility to fit in my volunteer work back in Sierra Leone between job experiences and internships over each summer. In both my AP Psychology and AP Microeconomics studies, I was introduced to different elements of the processes behind human decision-making. This was one of the first concrete examples I found of the intersection between economics and psychology and got me thinking about the application to my volunteer experience. I believe that the triad of poverty, ignorance and disease can be tackled by influencing behavior change that helps lift the socioeconomic status of affected families. Through my volunteering, I have not only had the opportunity to visualize concrete examples of interdisciplinary links I have encountered in my studies, but to discover completely new ones. Field workers like Solomon illustrated to me the uses of Health Economics, which focuses on managing and maintaining resources for projects for sustainable implementation. Additionally, the psychological changes needed in the members of communities affected play a huge part. Without them, people begin to accept tragedy as normal due to psychological trauma and become complacent rather than being receptive to solutions. While my worldview has been shaped by my life experiences in diverse cultures and economic contexts, my desire for a college education has been influenced by a passion to instigate change. Although I am fully aware that I cannot single-handedly solve the problems in Sierra Leone or other parts of sub-Saharan Africa, I am convinced that college will bring me closer to like-minded professors, colleagues and mentors who will help me further nurture these ideas. Through clubs like 180-degree consulting, I will be able to practice consulting for nonprofits in a guided environment before taking my learnings back to Sierra Leone. In the four years I spend in undergrad, I seek to not only learn practical skills for the workforce but to continue learning to think in new ways. Whether this is by being challenged by new concepts or through discourse on social issues with fellow students, college is a place where I can foster my passion for learning and develop it into a force for good. * Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance ** Facilitating and Organizing Communities to Unite for Sustainable Development

While partaking in community service and disaster relief has helped me improve in innumerable ways, my inspiration for doing so was not derived from that outcome. Volunteering creates a positive, long-lasting, and even life-changing experience for others. Providing this to someone in what is more times than not one of the most unforeseen and scariest times of their life is worth more than anything I could gain out of doing it for me. Volunteers are also a key resource for increasing a communitys' response capacity. A plan provides clarity for response personnel and a means to share critical, time-sensitive information with the public. The more information put out lessens the shock factor destruction has on the people affected. Being a part of something so much bigger than me alone is what keeps me coming back. In the past, I have worked alongside community service and disaster relief programs doing whatever they had scheduled and needed extra hands with. This mostly consisted of cleanup and revitalization efforts. However, natural disaster assistance goes beyond helping to repair homes in flooded or destroyed areas. It's also about catering to an individual's interpersonal needs. In the upcoming future, I plan to take my volunteering to a level that also combines my career interest. With me being an aspiring clinical psychologist, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Disaster Preparedness, Response, and Recovery program will allow me to contribute more to disaster relief while working in the field of mental health. It is not uncommon for people to show signs of stress after exposure to a disaster making it important to monitor the mental and emotional health of those affected. Although everyone reacts differently to disasters, some of those affected may suffer from serious mental or emotional distress. Finding treatment in a timely fashion will help individuals minimize these negative outcomes. To be a humanitarian is to be selfless. It means helping people who are suffering. It means helping save someone's life. My contributions to the humanitarian aspect of life are not at all for me. Volunteering is something that does not discriminate when it comes to age and ability which is why I do not plan on stopping even in old age. I’m forever dedicating my life to helping those in need because when you change a person's life positively it's inspirational. This inspiration can then spark them to do the same as me and over time a community of individuals willing to help others for the greater good is built. It’s a goal that can take longer than any of us can live through, but it is a goal that will continue long after we are gone.