Student lives strong connection to Third World

BY WENDY ELLIOTT

welliott@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

Julia Keech wears an outline of the African continent around her neck. It is a measure of the connection she feels to the Third World.

An international development studies student at Dalhousie University, this Grand-Pre native spent part of her summer at a refugee camp in Kenya. She was one of a team of eight students and two faculty members who volunteered for the project.

The six-week trip was a learning opportunity arranged through World University Services Canada (WUSC). Each year, Canadian university students support student refugees. WUSC is getting ready to welcome its 1,000th student refugee since initiating its student refugee program 30 years ago.

Now going into her final year at Dalhousie, Keech became involved with WUSC in her first year. She has made some fast friends from Africa as a result.

The Kenyan visit was designed to meet with students about to come to Canada and to gain an understanding of what they had endured. Keech says the learning will aid the local committee to welcome incoming student Majak Kuol.

Sent to a huge, dusty refugee camp

Chosen through a national competition, Keech was sent to the huge, dusty Kakuma refugee camp, which is home to some 60,000 people.

Situated in northwestern Kenya, life in Kakuma is challenging. Refugees stream in from Sudan, Somalia, the Congo and Ethiopia fleeing political persecution and warfare.

The Dalhousie team worked with 55–60 students who are coming to Canada. Most were located in Kenya, but a few came from Malawi and Thailand, she noted.

Kakuma is where Sudanese student Yong Jacob Deng lived before coming to Halifax last August. He is one of the people who inspired Keech’s passion. She hopes to bring Deng to Wolfville this fall to speak about his experiences.

Keech’s two visits to Africa have convinced her that Canadian students can make a difference. Through WUSC, she believes, “you’re helping people as they arrive and adjust to life; you feel you really can make a difference.”

Utilizing Dalhousie’s study abroad opportunities, Keech studied Spanish in Cuba in 2005. Last year, she spent a term in Dakar, Senegal. Earlier, the Wolfville Rotary Club sent her to France on an exchange.

She hopes to write her honours thesis about immigrant and refugee resettlement in Nova Scotia.