Sandy Kemp Memorial General Assembly Scholarships By Renée Smith

It gives Doctors for Global Health great pleasure to announce the founding of the Sandy Kemp Memorial Scholarships. To recognize individuals who are demonstrating a commitment to DGHÕs principles and mission, these scholarships will be awarded each year to several select attendees of the DGH General Assembly.

“A Spanish professor at Davidson College, Dr. Sandy Kemp taught her students far more than language. She exposed them to a world beyond their own.”

A Spanish professor at Davidson College, Dr. Sandy Kemp taught her students far more than language. She exposed them to a world beyond their own by taking groups to El Salvador and Nicaragua to allow them to see for themselves the unjust living conditions of the poor who comprise most of the population in these countries and help her students understand that we North Americans are in many ways greatly blessed, but are not more deserving or better than others. The daughter of missionaries, Sandy developed a sense of justice that caused her to lead a life of dedication to improving the lot of the impoverished. She did without luxuries, driving an ancient Volkswagen Beetle, and choosing to travel via long hot bus rides over airplane trips when attending conferences, so she could use her money for more important endeavors.

Left to right: Hal Clements, Lanny Smith, Sandy Kemp and Cherry Clements in a small-group discussion at the 1998 DGH General Assembly.

Sandy died March 30, 2000. A founding member of DGH, she served on its Board of Directors until her death and was a major financial supporter. She always had sage advice to help DGH grow. She was a mentor to many of us. Before her death she established a charitable uni-trust so that her estate would be distributed to projects in Nicaragua through the agencies of the United Methodist Committee on Relief and the Quixote Center. Her frugal life style enabled her to leave more than a million dollars to improve the lives of the Nicaraguan people. SandyÕs influence will forever live with DGH. Her life made a difference. The first recipient of the Sandy Kemp Scholarship is a direct legacy of SandyÕs. As a Davidson student he knew her well, and we see her influence in projects he has undertaken. Congratulations to Nick Mantini on receiving the first-ever Sandy Kemp Memorial Scholarship. The other four recipients for the 2002 DGH General Assembly also show dedication to making this a better world. They are Nimi Dev, Riza Falk, Randy Frederick and Evelyn Erickson. Congratulations to them all.

We encourage you to donate to the Sandy Kemp Memorial Fund, so that next year we can offer even more scholarships in her memory.

In This Issue:

DGH in El Salvador: The Health Risks of Pesticide Use
DGH Profile: Shirley Novak
What We Do and Why We Do It
2002 DGH General Assembly
Human Rights In the Arts
The Only Nicaraguan Stone
Sandy Kemp Memorial Scholarships
DGH Announcements