Breaking the ice

July 23, 2008

Julia Keech and girls in the camp play an ice-breaker game.

Today was an extremely fulfilling and exciting day! We met the 2008-2009 WUSC students who will be coming to Canada and what a moment it was indeed! I could hardly contain myself as I walked into the room and saw the 39 keen smiling faces so full of delightful enthusiasm and anticipation. This was the moment I had been waiting for since I first heard word of my acceptance into the seminar and they were just as anxious and excited about meeting us as we were to meeting them! 

This was the first of many meetings we will have with the students but today was essentially a time for us to get to know each other and an opportunity for them to ask us questions about their new life in Canada.   

We sat in a giant circle in a one-room meeting house located in the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) compound and introduced ourselves. The students were all so well spoken and all so incredibly inspiring. I couldn’t stop thinking about what a remarkable experience this has been for me, and to top it off, I had the chance to meet our Dalhousie University-sponsored student for this upcoming year, Majak Kuol. Majak is a gentle and gracious young man from southern Sudan who hopes to pursue a career in medicine at Dal. I am hoping Majak will have an opportunity to share his story with the Dalhousie community back home, so others may have the chance to be inspired by him as much as I have been.

Julia and girls who live in Kakuma.

Of course, as anyone one would expect, preparing for a new life in another country has its fair share of questions and these students were not about to let shyness get in the way when it came to inquiring about life in Canadian universities. As one student who will be attending York University pointed out, “I need to know what to expect. Life on the streets of Toronto will be a big change from life on the streets in Kakuma.”

Between questions on climate and food (a big concern for them), available courses and having girlfriends, our advice and supply of information for these students can only go so far.  The effectiveness of the information shared within this orientation will come with actual experience. It goes both ways really. Based on the stories and descriptions former sponsored students at Dalhousie explained to me back in Canada, never could I have fully understood what life was really like here in the camp until I actually set foot in and saw for my own eyes what goes on here in Kakuma.

I can’t wait to have further conversations with the students. We have arranged for them to take us into the camps on Sunday to establish a closer relationship with them and to gain a better understanding of life in the camp. Until then, I remain content that our presence in the camp is making a difference in providing these students with some further clarity and comfort about the incredible and challenging journey on which they are about to embark!

Dalhousie student Julia Keech was one of eight students chosen from across Canada to participate in the World University Service of Canada’s (WUSC) Refugee Study Seminar in the Kakuma Refugee Camp this summer. While in Africa, Julia kept a journal detailing her experience in the refugee camp, located in the northwest region of Kenya.