Monday marked the start of the Canadian International Development Agency’s (CIDA) International Development week across Canada.
In Regina, the University is hosting a series of discussions and events on female empowerment and gender equality, which is this year’s theme.
“This event is free, it’s open to everyone. The main goal is to raise awareness on campus and throughout the community about issues that face so many other different people outside the borders of our comfort zone,” said Yaya Siggins, the vent coordinator with the University of Regina.
The kick-off launch showcased a number of local organizations with international reach.
The World University Service of Canada sponsors two refugee students each year to come study in Canada.
One of the students came from Thailand, where she was living as a refugee from the Rwanda Genocide.
She said the opportunity to come to Canada changed her life around.
“I was really excited, it meant hope. I just though that I would never get to university and being a refugee, you don’t have a country, you don’t have any kind of legal status, you don’t have health care, you don’t have anything. For the first time in ten years, I was a legal person,” said Patience Umereweneza, who is studying health sciences at the University of Regina.
It’s the first time the University of Regina is celebrating International Development Week.
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