Benmun Damul (27), from Nigeria, is completing a master’s degree in public health, specializing in global health, at Vanderbilt University. Benmun hopes to combine this education with her psychology background to address mental health challenges of women and children in low-resource settings on a community, rather than individual, level. This desire was stimulated by her time volunteering, where she “began to understand just how interconnected we all are, and that human behavior does not exist in a vacuum of individuality”.
Benmun founded the NGO Mental Health Naija, a platform to educates her community about pertinent mental health issues such as postpartum depression, sharing mental health resources, discussing mental health policy, and how to leverage community strategies for treatment and support. Through Mental Health Naija, she also supports undergraduate women with tuition scholarships. As a member of the Girl’s Brigade, Benmun invests in the girls in her community by serving as a mentor and teaching them entrepreneurial skills that will form lifelong skills. She has also volunteered at the Girl Child Advancement Initiative, an organization that seeks to bridge the financial, social, and cultural obstacles young girls in Nigeria face. Through her work we see a lifelong devotion to the bolstering of women and children in her community.
In the immediate future, Benmun plans to pursue a PhD in clinical psychology focusing on assessment and treatment tools for mental health in low-resource settings. Through academic research and teaching, she plans to further contribute to the field of mental health and women’s health.
