Lynn English grad gets scholarship

LYNN-From farmland in Cameroon to the biology program at UMASS Lowell, Lynn English High School graduate Delphine Acha has come a long way since her father died more than 10 years ago.The family tragedy was a life changing experience for Acha that eventually led her to America and provided her the drive needed to seek a quality education so she can return to her homeland as a doctor.For the second straight year, Acha has been awarded the Puritan Lawn Memorial Park Education Foundation Scholarship, recognizing her commitment to education and community service.Born in Cameroon in 1989, Acha was one of eight children born to a family of farmers in the country’s capitol. The family’s lives were rocked in 1997 when her father died, leaving her mother to care for the family herself.They owned a house of their own, so living arrangements were not a problem, but making money was as her mother struggled to raise the family herself.”My mom didn’t have to worry about paying rent, but it was still difficult because she was not educated and all she knew how to do was farm and work,” Acha said. “But either way we survived.”When Acha was 12 her mother and brother were granted asylum to the United States, leaving the other children behind. Just over two years later in 2003, Acha and two of her brothers followed her mother to Lynn where Acha began attending school at Lynn English High School. Soon after, two more of her sisters came to live with the family, while two of her older, married siblings stayed in Cameroon to raise their families.Acha learned English while living in Africa, so the language barrier was not too difficult to overcome, but she said it is American culture that she had a hard time adjusting to, especially in Lynn where most people are not friendly with their neighbors.”The biggest thing for me was having to sit inside the house so much,” she said. “In Africa everyone’s doors are always open and you go and visit your neighbors during the day. Here is different. It is cold and you barely know your neighbors.”Acha has achieved a lot in her adopted country, doing well in school and giving back to the community as a volunteer at The Kingdom Hall and Lynn Public Library. At the New American Center, she helps elementary and middle school children with their homework and teaches English. She worked hard in her three years at English so that she could attend college, and began looking in to scholarships from the guidance office.She first won the Puritan Lawn Scholarship in 2007, and if she is able to keep her grade point average above 2.75 in school she is eligible to re-apply every year. She has already found out she will be receiving money again in 2008.Her goal is to get a degree in medicine and return home to help children in Cameroon, where health care is not always available.”The reason I want to become a doctor is I want to help people because I see what is going on in the world, especially Africa, and health care for people is very limited,” she said. “I am very involved in my community here and I want to do the same in Africa.”Acha said she is working with UMass Lowell to start an internship at a hospital to gain more experience this summer.