In the Kings Graduate School/Monroe College Commencement Awards Virtual Ceremony held August 28, 2021, Jemma Azille-Lewis, Coordinator of the Child Abuse Prevention Unit under the Ministry of Youth Development and
Empowerment, Youth at Risk, Gender Affairs, Seniors Security and Dominicans with Disabilities, has excelled in the area of Public Health.

Azille-Lewis captured the awards for excellent performance, achievement of a perfect 4.0 G.P.A and her thesis titled ‘The Impact of Housing on the Physical and Mental Health of Recipients of the Housing
Recovery Project in the Commonwealth of Dominica’ was awarded the 2021 Thesis of the Year.

Azille-Lewis is from the community of Cottage and has been the Coordinator of the Child Abuse Prevention Unit for the past 11 years. She also holds other educational degrees in Mass Communications and Journalism and Criminal Justice in which she also excelled with honors.

When asked what this new achievement means for her she stated: “I am indeed humbled to have achieved these awards. Of course, it came with a lot of hard work during a time that I thought to myself…What else could go wrong? Receiving the award for thesis of the year really came unexpected as I thought that anyone but me would receive this. It was such a challenging time to work on this research paper, having travelled to 3 countries in a space of 6 months, during a pandemic and at the same time managing myself both mentally and physically due to some challenging situations. However, I give thanks to God for seeing me through because to this day, I say this was not done by my own will power but it was definitely God! I only wish my mom was here to witness it.”

We often hear of persons who achieve excellence amid dire circumstances and Jemma Azille-Lewis is one of these individuals. Having dealt with serious personal challenges occurring during her studies, which could cause anyone to give up, being able to accomplish these remarkable achievements during this COVID-19 era is highly
commendable.