As a second-year international student applying to the International Relations program, a Jumpstart Leader, International Students Association executive, and a student ambassador, Anne-Sophie Deman has a busy schedule. She is also a founder of Tanzania Heart Babies Project and will spend three weeks in May climbing to the base camp of Mount Everest.
Tanzania Heart Babies Project is a student-led initiative at UBC in collaboration with the Lions Club in Dar es-Salaam. In Tanzania, about one in 200 children is born with congenital heart disease and life-saving surgeries are unavailable in the country. Tanzania Heart Babies Project seeks to raise funds to subsidize surgeries in India at a cost of $2,500 per head. This year, the UBC Tanzania Heart Babies Project set a goal to raise $25,000 for 10 surgeries.
“We needed to think of something big to attract the attention of donors,” Anne-Sophie remarked. She had already been considering hiking to the base camp of Mount Everest with second-year Sauder student and president of the Tanzania Heart Babies Project, Malaika Kapur, and Tugce Balik, an aspiring International Relations major. “We decided to combine these goals, since they are both health-related, and climb for a cause.”
The physical challenge that Everest presents inspired Anne-Sophie to turn the hike into a fundraiser.
“We are challenging our physical health to raise awareness about the challenges that children with congenital heart disease face every day,” Anne-Sophie commented. “The Everest Campaign is a fundraiser, but it is also about raising awareness about a condition that exists and the children who are not receiving treatment.
Anne-Sophie keeps busy, but she sees her co-curricular activities such as the Everest Campaign as an escape from her academic studies, rather than an additional stress.
“I don’t see the meetings that I attend as something ‘to do,’ but instead as something that I enjoy doing,” Anne-Sophie said. “It is my place to relax so I can be energized and excited about my involvement, and then focus on schoolwork when I am at home or in class.”
In particular, the Everest Campaign has presented Anne-Sophie with an opportunity to combine her passions. So far, the initiative has raised $23,000 and the project’s goal has doubled to $50,000 for 20 surgeries.
“I am always up for an adventure, and I love the outdoors,” said Anne-Sophie. “The climb is something I am looking forward to both personally and because it’s for a great cause.”
