Jemimah Nasara
Cottey College
Pursuing her desire to affect change for women and children through interfaith service, Jemimah Nasara, a student at Cottey College in Nevada, MO, provides leadership for several programs on and off campus. She collects and organizes distribution of donated clothing and toiletries to local women, children, and fellow students in need through the campus Diversity Closet located in the college chapel. Each Friday, she visits elderly women in a local senior care facility and volunteers to provide activities on the weekend through the campus Cross-Generational Sharing program. During summer and winter breaks, Ms. Nasara has provided leadership for interfaith community programs in Kansas, Nebraska, and Kentucky working with underprivileged children in small, rural communities. To celebrate International Day of the Girl, she provided leadership as a mentor to middle and high school aged girls during an intensive day long workshop on empowering young women and inspiring them to pursue leadership skills and assume leadership positions. As a volunteer with a local domestic abuse shelter for women and children, she creates change by improving the lives of others and educating the community about social issues that face women and children in an abusive situation.
Personal Statement
I became involved with issues of poverty and inequality after watching my mom assist an elderly couple. As a social worker, she inspired me to think about individuals who were struggling with issues of poverty and homelessness and to help them any little way I could. Through church, I began to volunteer with the children's department where I would assist with Sunday school. In college, I am involved in interfaith-based service activities on campus. These activities allow me to grow as a leader while working collaboratively with others on interfaith and diversity programs. Currently, I volunteer at a shelter for women and children of domestic abuse. In doing so, I am learning to understand their behaviors and work with them to better be aware of their needs. Also, as I work with different issues, I gain an understanding of the problems people face within society. My goal is to work alongside others to create the change that society needs; it all begins with one person who is willing to make a change. My overarching goal is to later work with underprivileged women and children in my home country, Nigeria.
