With the aim of addressing young people’s educational struggles third year student at Kampala International University in Tanzania, Dismas Charles Meya founded the New Hope Organisation.
The organization was established in 2016 and comprised eight students from different universities with a single view to solving health and socio-economic problems faced by their communities. The organisation initially sought to address educational challenges by conscientising students to choose careers that will bring positive changes in their communities.
The organisation fundraised to support students that could not afford basic school materials, and conducted motivational talks at high schools to inspire the learners to aspire to more for their lives.
To tackle poverty, New Hope Organisation helped street children, widows and mothers with entrepreneurial skills. The organisation raised seed money on their behalf to help them with capital to fund their initiatives.
Under the leadership of Dismas who is studying towards a Bachelor’s degree in Medical Lab Sciences – New Hope Organisation works with other health institutions to provide awareness about HIV/AIDS, communicable and non-communicable diseases.
Dismas is also the vice president of the Kampala International University in Tanzania Students’ Organization. Dismas recalls that he has always been in a leadership position, even as far back as primary school. He believes he is a natural leader and it is a quality he plans to maximise fully to positively impact society and the community he lives in.
To this end, he organised a career Expo under the theme “Professions with Purpose” and invited successful people from different fields to provide guidance to high school learners.
Dismas attributes his success to hard work and learning from challenges, being persistent no matter how tough things get. He dreams of reducing the impact of communicable diseases in his community and believes his organisation is best placed to achieve that dream through galvanising university students to make a difference.
In the next five years, Dismas wants at least 70% of Tanzanian youth to be conscious of their environment and the challenges faced by their community, and also to realise that they can assist their communities through accessing information made available by the New Hope Organization.
He is motivated to keep on going, because the change he is dreaming of has not materialised as yet. His vision is to have a strong team that he can work with, and to have offices around Tanzania in order to maximise his reach.
Influenced by former United States President Barrack Obama, Dismas aspires to be an influential leader. To this end he avoids negativity and works with all people without prejudice. He believes in giving more than one receives and creating one’s path rather than following where others have been.
Through his organisation, Dismas would like to see more youths and young people become actively involved in developing their communities. Young people, especially university students, should ensure that they use their studies and knowledge to address the socio-economic challenges they face. This, he believes, is the key to building a stronger and economically viable SADC region.
He is inspired by seeing different people and different organisations passionately helping communities in their chosen areas of interest.
