In the fall 2021 semester, Camosun partnered with World University Service of Canada (WUSC) to bring nine refugees from Kenya to Victoria through HIRES, an employment-linked sponsorship pathway program. The students completed an eight-week Hospitality Management program at Camosun to prepare them to join workplace sponsorships in Tofino.
During their time in Victoria, these new students took the initiative to organize a fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders (DWB), raising—with the help of the Camosun College Student Society—$2,500, which will be used to provide aid for countries who need a helping hand.
“We wanted to do something for the society; we wanted to give back,” says Fatuma Mumin, one of the students in the HIRES program.
Mumin explains that the idea for the fundraiser came from a talk during their English Language Development (ELD) class. Instructor Judith Hunt was leading a discussion about Terry Fox, who raised money for cancer research.
“One of the discussion questions was, ‘If you were to do a fundraiser, what would you do, and who would you do it for?’” says Hunt. “As soon as I said that, they were super eager and enthusiastic about being able to raise money for somebody in need, and so with all their enthusiasm, I said, well, if you want to, we can do a fundraiser. I’ve never done one before with a class, but it just seemed like the motivation was so strong it seemed like a good thing to do.”
Another student in the HIRES program, Mohamed Abdinasir, says that they collectively chose DWB as the charity they would support because of how much the organization has helped them in their home country.
“We are all from Kenya, and everyone has seen Doctors Without Borders helping those in need, so it’s an organization that we’re familiar with,” says Abdinasir. “We’ve been refugees, and we know how important it is to have medical aid and basic things where it’s needed most, like poor countries. Everyone was touched by that, and we said, ‘Let’s do it.’”
Mumin says that they only expected to raise a small amount and they were astonished to see how much support they received.
“To be honest, we had very little expectations from the fundraising, actually,” says Mumin. “For me, I thought if we get something, it’ll be like $200—I did not have that much expectations from it. But it actually exceeded our expectations, and luckily, we got $2,500 from the fundraiser.”
Hunt says that since the money was being raised by selling $2 bags of candy, people’s additional generosity was what resulted in such an incredible sum.
“People were extremely generous; a lot of people came by and gave much more than $2; they gave $10 or $20 or $40, or $100, or, in one case, $750, which was an amazing donation,” she says. “We raised $2,000 and then Camosun College Student Society put in an extra $500, so $2,500 altogether. It was amazing.”
Abdinasir believes that he and his colleagues have been treated excellently since their arrival.
“We found more than we expected; people are so good here,” he says. “Particularly the Camosun community welcomed us so well. We felt at home. Each and every one of us is glad to be here, and we enjoy it; so far, so good.”
Abdinasir also says he’s very proud of what they’ve been able to accomplish during the short time since they arrived, and he’s optimistic for the future.
“We’ve been here in Canada for just three months, and we already did a donation, and we felt good, and the future looks bright,” he says. “You can do so many things together. Everyone is very proud of that fundraising. We really feel proud of Camosun, and we feel like Canada is our home now, and we’ll thrive here.”