May 12, 2006
Kimberly Chapman

Kimberly Chapman

On Sunday, graduate Kimberly Chapman and her Mom, Kathie Barton, will be together on Mother’s Day for the first time in 10 years. Soon afterward, they’re going to Kenya, where Mom will experience her daughter’s passion for global health and social justice firsthand.

Chapman will earn her master’s degree in public health at the School of Public Health’s commencement at 1 p.m. Sunday in Memorial Hall. Barton will come from the family residence in Kelowna, British Columbia, for the ceremony.

Chapman’s choice of a college so far from home was one thing that kept them apart, but the biggest factor was her trips abroad on public service missions. In Kenya twice in the last year, she is the first and continuing chairman of the board for Carolina for Kibera, a nonprofit group that serves a community believed to be East Africa’s largest urban slum.

Last November, Time magazine recognized the student-founded organization as one of 10 heroes of global health – initiatives that can serve as models for others. The group, based in UNC’s University Center for International Studies, operates a youth sports league, a health clinic, a training and discussion program for girls and a solid-waste and recycling program. All told, Chapman said, the group serves 7,000 to 8,000 people in Kibera, which is near Nairobi.

Chapman plans to stay in Chapel Hill, continuing on with Carolina for Kibera and her job at the UNC Center for AIDS Research. She earned a bachelor’s degree in health policy and administration from UNC in 2000, having attended on a Morehead Scholarship. The four-year merit award covers all expenses and provides four summer enrichment experiences.

After her freshman year, Chapman worked in Zimbabwe with Students for Students International, which raises money for and awards scholarships to seventh-graders who would not otherwise be able to attend school. The next summer, she worked with the Chicago AIDS Foundation, and the next, in Thailand, with Family Health International, on issues related to AIDS.

“I credit UNC for mentorship, encouragement and resources to get out there in the world and do some of these projects,” Chapman said. “I’ve had the opportunity to travel” and see the effects of health care disparities. “Once you’ve had an experience like that, these are not just statistics, but people you care about.”

Chapman also has worked with World Camp, started as a student organization at UNC and now independent. The group holds health education camps for children in Malawi. This summer, it will expand to Honduras.

Soon, Canada will meet Kibera as Chapman shows her Mom some of the results of her Carolina experience. Chapman can be reached at (919) 260-1090 or kcahpman@unc.edu.

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For further information please contact Ramona DuBose either by phone at 919-966-7467 or by e-mail at ramona_dubose@unc.edu.

 

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