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LOCAL
The Champion, Thursday, June 18 - 24, 2015
DELPHYNE LOMAX MbtokMCOA, Weed
Delphyne Lomax has al
ways had a passion for help
ing others and volunteering.
She volunteers for several
organizations in DeKalb
County and has been rec
ognized as volunteer of the
year by the South DeKalb
YMCA.
Lomax first started vol
unteering as a team mom 24
years ago when her son was
playing basketball. She said
she would round up parents
and assign them snacks
and drinks to bring for the
games.
She’s become involved
k
with many nonprofit organi
zations through networking
for her business.
“A lot of people I’ve met
along my life journey have
started their own organi
zations, and I find myself
volunteering because I know
they have good causes,” she
said.
Each year, Lomax col
lects, sorts and packs do
nated items for shipment to
Montego Bay, Jamaica, as
part of an annual mission
trip coordinated by DeKalb-
based nonprofit Uncondi
tional Love for Children,
Inc. While in Jamaica, she
works with local schools,
churches and communities
in programs such as self
esteem and parenting. An
accomplished songstress,
Lomax is often called upon
to lead the group in praise
hymnals.
She also helps with fun
draising efforts for Students
Without Mothers, a non
profit organization that gives
scholarships to students
who’ve lost their mothers
due to unfortunate circum
stances.
This year the organiza
tion awarded three high
school students with $4,000
toward their college ex
penses.
“I really believe in giving
back,” Lomax said. “Giving
back can really bless others.”
Students Without Moth
ers has made Lomax grateful
for having her mother. She
added that her favorite part
about her involvement with
the organization is working
with interesting people.
“I love the people that
you meet and the lasting re
lationships,” she said.
-Chenoa Tyehimba
If you would like to nominate someone to be considered as a future Champion of the Week, please contact Andrew Cauthen
at andrew@dekalbchamp.com or at (404) 373-7779, ext. 117.
Decatur hosts international fellows
by Carla Parker
carla@dekalbchamp.com
The Vietnam War has been
over for more than 40 years, but the
country of Laos is still dealing with
the after-affects.
According to the U.S. Depart
ment of State, more than 2.5 mil
lion tons of U.S. munitions were
dropped on Laos. Up to 30 percent
of the bombs dropped over Laos
failed to detonate. The explosive
remnants of war continue to impede
development and cause hundreds
of casualties a year, according to the
Department of State.
A few of those casualties includ
ed family members of Thongvone
Sosamphan.
“My family, my grandparents
[were] killed when he tried to re
move the bomb from his village,”
Sosamphan said.
The 26-year-old has been work
ing on humanitarian mine action
and development in Laos since
2011, and she later became a mem
ber of the Young Southeast Asian
Leaders Initiative (YSEALI).
The YSEALI program was
launched in 2013 to strengthen
leadership development and net
working in Southeast Asia. Through
a variety of programs and engage
ments, including U.S. educational
and cultural exchanges, regional
exchanges, and seed funding, YSE-
Sosamphan
ALI seeks to build the leadership
capabilities of youth in the region,
strengthen ties between the United
States and Southeast Asia.
It was through the YSEALI pro
gram and the International City/
County Management Association
(ICMA) Professional Fellows Legis
lative Process and Governance Pro
gram that led Sosamphan and Ngan
Nguyen of Vietnam to Decatur.
Nguyen works as an official
of the International Relations De
partment of the Vietnam Womens
Union (VWU). She is program of
ficer of projects on prevention of
human trafficking, hygiene and
water system for poor communities,
wheelchairs for disabled persons
and scholarships for poor female
students.
Decatur was selected as a host
community for the ICMA Profes
sional Fellows Legislative Process
and Governance Program for Co
hort 1 from May 2-30. The program
brought emerging leaders from
around the world to the United
States for an intensive fellowship
designed to broaden their profes
sional expertise, promote local
government partnerships, establish
networks and create international
relationships.
During the 30 days, the two in
ternational fellows saw how Decatur
government operates. Sosamphan
said her country receives funding
from United States, however, “we
don’t have a sufficient response to
the need of the people.”
“We could have done more, but
we don’t have the right skill for that,”
she said. “Corruption is a big prob
lem. I’m here, hoping that with city
of Decatur, to see how you promote
transparency when you get taxes
from people.”
The two fellows spent time
in each governing department in
Decatur to see firsthand how a gov
erned body operates.
“My impression is the city re
ally provides a high standard of
services to the people,” Sosamphan
said. “The people are so dedicated.
Everyone is so friendly, relatable and
opinionated.”
The city of Decatur is an ICMA
member. Decatur City Manager
Peggy Merriss is a former ICMA
president, and was the first woman
president, according to Decatur
Public Information Officer Casie
Yoder.
“She’s still very involved in the
organization,” Yoder said. “They
put out this call to cities across the
country asking if any of us would
be willing to host two of the profes
sional fellows who are coming over
through [YSEALI], We’ve never
done this before, and we thought it
would be a great opportunity to play
host and to learn something at the
same time. It’s definitely a two-way
street with that.”
Sosamphan said the goal of the
fellows is to process everything they
have learned and discuss how to ap
ply it to their work.
“At the end of our stay here we’re
going to develop an action plan on
what would be the next step,” she
said. “We came here with a com
munity challenge, and we have to
pick out one topic that we can relate
to our work and fit to the theme of
the program. My case study is pro
gressing and supporting people with
disabilities because there are many
victims linked to the war. They are
still waiting on assistances from the
government.”
Healthy
Swimming
Tips #1
Keep uour germs out of the pool to Keep uour friends and family healthy.
DO: DO NOT:
Wash uour hands before uou prepare food or eat and swim if you have diarrhea or are
after using the restroom or changing a diaper vomitincj:
For more information: visit www.cdc.gov/healthyswimming or call the DeKalb County Board of Health’s
Division of Environmental Health at 404.508.7900.