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Didier Okende (R) at Africa Night with special guests Dalhousie President Richard Florizone and his daughters
 

Didier Okende’s last few years have been so busy that he has to pause to recall all of his experiences. Okende, about to receive his Bachelor of Commerce degree, arrived in Canada from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2003. Since then he has travelled, volunteered, and worked with various organizations.

 “I was a finance executive for the local WUSC committee at Dal and the International Student Association,” he says. “Then I was the co-founder of the African United Soccer Team in Halifax. Then I was volunteering for the Dalhousie African Student Association....” Okende majored in Managing People and Organizations, and has obviously been putting his degree to work.

Sponsored by the World University Service of Canada (WUSC), Okende began his degree in 2003. He quickly started volunteering. Unfortunately, finances and his educational background presented Okende with some challenges. “My background education was in the French system,” he says, “so coming here and studying in English was a very big challenge.” In 2007, Okende stepped away from his studies. In the next few years, he worked for WestJet and American Express Travel in Calgary, Statistics Canada in Gatineau, and JP Morgan Chase Canada in Ottawa. He continued to volunteer, doing administrative work for the Congolese Catholic community in Ottawa as the Secretary General, where he and a friend created a soccer team, Umoja Hope, to help at-risk youth. He also coached with the Ottawa International Soccer Club. “Coaching them is not only about soccer,” says Okende, “it is also about ethics and respect, it’s about making sure that they do their homework and stuff like that, trying to point them in a good direction.”

When he was able to return to Dalhousie in 2013, Okende became President of the Dalhousie African Student Association (DASA). He had already volunteered with DASA as an organizer and performer for their annual Africa Night, which is co-produced with Saint Mary’s University. As President, he took the event to new heights. “I tried to bring something new to Africa Night, and to use the leadership and knowledge that I got from school,” explains Okende. He appealed to Dalhousie president Richard Florizone for more funding for the major event; not only did Florizone increase the funding, he attended Africa Night himself.

In helping the organizations around him, Okende has picked up new skills and had valuable experiences. During his second Commerce co-op, his employer, Nova Scotia Business Inc., hosted the Global Micro Credit Summit in Halifax. “I got to work with a CEO because I could speak so many languages,” recalls Okende. “I was welcoming VIPs, such as Queen Sophia of Spain, Peter MacKay and the 2006 Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus. It was a very good experience to meet so many high-profile people from different places.”

Okende now volunteers with the Halifax Refugee Clinic, and is contemplating his future. “I really want to stay in Canada,” he says; he is considering a graduate degree at Dalhousie or another Canadian school. Having been, among other things, a student, credit analyst, travel counsellor, volunteer coordinator, soccer coach, performer, finance executive and youth mentor, Okende has a wealth of experience to help him in any future career.