WORLD UNIVERSITY SERVICE OF CANADA...
Transcript of WORLD UNIVERSITY SERVICE OF CANADA...
WORLD UNIVERSITY SERVICE OF CANADA
STUDENT REFUGEE PROGRAMPROVIDING REFUGEES WITH THE SKILLS TO REBUILD THEIR LIVES
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PROVIDING REFUGEES WITH THE SKILLS TO REBUILD THEIR LIVES
You step off the plane, your feet touching the ground of a country
you’ve never seen until now. Despite all the orientations, language
exams, and brochures, you still feel unprepared, uncertain. As you
look around to get your bearings, you spot your name painted on
signs held up by a crowd of excited Canadian students.
After spending 19 years confined in a Kenyan refugee camp with
over 300,000 people, a new chapter of your life begins. These
students, members of a WUSC Local Committee, have enabled
you to come to Canada to study. They will accompany you back
to campus and share with you the intricacies of supermarkets, the
hazards and hilarity of snow, and what to do with a computer.
Many will become your peers and best friends, ready to face daily
challenges and leaping into rewarding adventures—together.
This scenario plays out annually as WUSC student volunteers on campuses across Canada greet young refugee students. These volunteers have spent up to two years raising funds and preparing for their arrival.
Read on to discover how you can support and take part in this important and unique program that’s changing the world one life at a time.
THE STUDENT REFUGEE PROGRAM (SRP)
• established in 1978
• the only youth-to-youth sponsorship program in the
world that combines refugee
resettlement with higher
education
• enabled over 1200 refugees to enroll in Canadian
colleges and universities
• taps into the spirit of volunteerism to provide
post-secondary education
opportunities for bright
young student refugees
A 2010 WISE AWARDS FINALIST:
SHORTLISTED FOR THE TOP 10:
A world-renowned program, helping refugee students and their communities
This document was printed using 100% recycled paper
Cover Photo: Thon Simon Kuany Mineral Engineer, Former Sponsored Student
Photo courtesy of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited
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BRINGING HOPE TO REFUGEE CAMPS AND REFUGEES TO CANADIAN UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES
The Student Refugee Program brings hope and self-empowerment through the transformational effect of education. Whether through war or political repression, young women and men are often forced to flee their home country, only to face the harsh conditions of life in a refugee camp. Opportunities for higher education are virtually non-existent, leaving many bright and talented students unable to achieve their academic or professional goals.
A Child’s Dream of EducationIn Kenya - inside camps like Kakuma (population 80,000) and Dadaab, one of the largest refugee camps in the world (population 500,000) - young people begin to prepare for the SRP as early as junior high school, studying intensely in the hopes of being admitted into the SRP. Hundreds of students apply in their last year of high school and on average 60 are selected annually. Following their selection, another full year is needed for intensive language training, academic preparation, and the immigration screening process before sponsored students start their long journey to their new home. In Canada, they are supported by their student peers who help them adapt and succeed in school and life.
WUSC opens a door for these young, bright individuals to create a better life for themselves, their families, and their communities.
COMPLETING THEIR POST-SECONDARY PROGRAM
• 85% of sponsored students find work in their
chosen fields, including
engineering, law, education
and social services.
• As a result of the opportunity
presented by the SRP,
overseas partners reported a sense of hope in the camps, with decreasing school
dropout rates and positive
life decisions.
Source: “Fostering Tomorrow’s Global Leaders: An Evaluation of the WUSC Student Refugee Program” (2007). Alfred Orono Orono
Lawyer, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Former Sponsored Student“My experiences as a child soldier could have destroyed me, but instead fuelled a passion for
championing human rights. In 1993, I finally escaped my captors and spent two years in various refugee
camps, until I received the news that a group of young students at the University of Alberta were giving me
a chance to pursue my post-secondary education through WUSC’s Student Refugee Program. At a time
where I felt powerless, I was given a chance for a better future for myself, my family and my community.
I had the drive to survive the horrors that I had seen and lived as a child and teenager, and finally I had
an opportunity to change the outcome of my life.”
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YOUR SUPPORT CHANGES LIVES
Canadian student volunteers raise and/or leverage 87% of the funds needed to operate the program. Additional funds are needed to help prepare the refugee students in the camps and get them to the campuses. YOUR DONATION CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
THE STUDENT REFUGEE PROGRAM A TWO-STEP PROCESS
STEP 1:
FROM REFUGEE CAMP
TO CANADIAN CAMPUS
STEP 2:
SUPPORTING THE SPONSORED
STUDENT ON CAMPUS
KEY
ACTORS
WUSC and overseas partners
(eg. Windle Trust Kenya, Jesuit
Refugee Services, UNHCR,
Goverment of Canada)
Student volunteers
(Local Committees and WUSC
Ottawa)
KEY
RESPONSIBILITIES
• Provide expertise on immigration
processes
• Develop and fosters partnerships
• Select and prepares refugee
students for their arrival in Canada
• Raise awareness
• Fundraise to cover a minimum
of 12 months of education
& living expenses
• Welcome and provides ongoing
social support
FUNDING
SOURCES
Grants, the SRP Contribution Fund,
individual donors, and WUSC
Annual levies and waivers from
the institution, local fundraising
intitiatives, and individual donors
Supporting the Sponsored Student in CanadaEducation and living expenses include: Tuition•Residence/housing•Food•Booksandschoolsupplies•Travelloanrepayment•Transportation•Clothing•Personalexpenses•Livingexpenses
From Refugee Camp to Canadian CampusIn-Canada volunteer support includes: Coordinationofplacementsandimmigration•Training
workshopsforstudentvolunteers•Materialtoraiseawareness•Ongoingguidancetovolunteers•Program
monitoring,evaluationandreporting•Monitoringofsponsorshipsandstudents
Overseas preparations for refugee resettlement include*: Teachers•Languagetests•Languagetrainingmaterial•Partnertraining•Application,interviewandselectionprocess
*These activities may differ in each refugee camp
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The sponsored student regains a vital lifeline to a positive future — an opportunity to pursue his or her post-secondary education in safety.
Canadian student volunteers are exposed to a different culture, learn about the history and political situation in another part of the world, and have the opportunity to become leaders who are effecting change.
The university or college campus benefit from a shared cross-cultural experience that stimulates mentorship & community involvement, and a broader perspective is brought to the classroom
Displaced refugee students remaining in camps are offered a beacon of hope for a better future, sending the message that education is important.
Local communities welcome the sponsored students and gain a valuable and contributing member of Canadian society.
The world discovers a durable solution for refugee settlement, promoting peace and peace-building in countries of origin.
You have an opportunity to make a difference.
For more information, contactLynneLeBlancat [email protected] or 613.761.3684.
THE PROMISE OF A NEW GENERATION
• Volunteers develop commitment and confidence in civic
engagement and community
leadership.
• 64% of volunteers
continue to be active
on global issues
because of their
experiences with WUSC.
• 81% of past volunteers
vote in federal elections. Source: “Fostering Tomorrow’s Global Leaders: An Evaluation of the WUSC Student Refugee Program” (2007).
SUSAN BISSELLChief of Child Protection, UNICEF “During my days at Trinity College I met a young man from Sudan, the first student ever sponsored
at that school through the Student Refugee Program. Listening to his story, I discovered my inherent
passion for humanitarianism. Our discussions inspired me and my life’s work.”
BE PART OF A PROGRAM THAT’S MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Every time a sponsored student arrives on a Canadian campus, who benefits?
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VICKY SAMUELNurse, North Bay General Hospital, Former Sponsored Student In 1994, nine-year old Vicky Samuel and her family escaped the Rwandan genocides. While living in
refugee camps in the Democratic Republic of Congo and then Tanzania, Vicky and her sisters were often
denied schooling because they were not citizens. Vicky’s family sought asylum in Malawi, where they
stayed at the Dzaleka Refugee Camp. With the help of the Jesuit Refugee Service and the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), she was able to obtain secondary education and apply for
the Student Refugee Program (SRP). She attended Nipissing University in 2004 andreceivedaBachelorof
ScienceinNursing.Inadditiontoworkingfulltime,VickyalsotakespartinBigBrothersandBigSistersof
Canada as a mentor.
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WORLD UNIVERSITY SERVICE OF CANADA 1404 SCOTT | OTTAWA, ON | K1Y 4M8 613.798.7477 | 1.800.267.8699 www.wusc.ca | [email protected]
CHARITABLE REGISTRATION NUMBER: 11960 4848 RR0011
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