What are some specific goals you hope to accomplish as Miss Black USA?
I am currently working with the Royal Victoria Hospital in Banjul, the capital of Gambia, to help build a children’s surgical center. This cause is very important to me, but the disease that affects Gambians more than any other is diabetes. People often think that AIDS is the most prevalent disease everywhere in Africa, but in Gambia, diabetes affects a large number of people. I hope to help increase awareness and also encourage Gambians, and US citizens as well, to be screened for diabetes. In the United States alone, there are an estimated 6 million people with undiagnosed diabetes. If I am able to reach out to some of those people and guide them to receive an accurate diagnosis, that would be wonderful. 3. Have your trips to Gambia changed your perspective on diabetes? Certainly. It seems to me that in the United States, it is not necessarily such a big deal to be diagnosed with diabetes. We have an attitude of, “OK, I have diabetes, that’s fine, here is what I can do to control it.
