The Ruth Larson Nursing School Scholarships

Purpose: To assist deserving students from the Diamond Mission School in Moharicamp, Dirpai, Dhemaji, Assam, India with costs of attending nursing school

Geographic Scope: Assam and Nagaland, India

Eligible Nursing Schools:

• Christian Institute of Health Sciences and Research in Dimapur, Nagaland, India
• Nurses' training program at Baptist Christian Hospital in Tezpur, Assam

Source of Eligible Students:

• Diamond Mission School in Moharicamp, Dirpai, Dhemaji, Assam, India

Heritage: Honors the life and work of the late Ruth Naomi Rask Larson, who provided emergency triage first aid, nursing services, and pharmaceutical drugs in Baligaon, Dhemaji District, Assam in the 1950s and 1960s

Award Amount: Scholarships intend to cover approximately 50% of the cost of tuition, board, and incidentals for accepted students

Selection Criteria:

• Academic record or testing that indicates a good chance of success in nursing school training and subsequent career upon graduation
• Additional consideration given to financial need

Funding Structure:

• Timberline Board administers the Scholarship as it furthers Timberline's purposes, including focus on affecting young lives through education with a sense of global community
• Restricted Larson Scholarship Fund established for donations and distributions
• Contributions are tax-deductible

Historical Context:

• Ruth Larson was the sole practicing triage emergency first aid provider in the larger Baligaon area of Dhemaji District in the 1950s-1960s
• Worked in a frontier area isolated by rivers from greater Assam Province
• Provided emergency first aid, triage assessment, and basic drugs with guidance from Dr. Joseph Schoonmaker
• Her husband, Dana Larson, provided transportation for emergency cases to Baptist Christian Hospital in Tezpur (10 hours away by primitive river ferries)

Application Documents:

• Full Scholarship Agreement with expanded biographical sketch of Ruth Larson available upon request