Tamasha Hussein Opens a Narrow Door

Tamasha Hussein is a student at the UBC School of Nursing and is a new permanent resident of Canada. Both roles have been granted to her courtesy of her own hard work, determination, and World University Services Canada (WUSC).

When she was only six, Tamasha’s family had to flee from the Democratic Republic of Congo because of ongoing conflicts there. They settled into life in the Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi where Tamasha grew up over the next twelve years. Opportunities to leave are few. “You have to fight very hard to get an opportunity to get out of the camp,” she says. “If you stick in the camp… you only go to high school, and normally with girls most of the time you don’t even make it up to high school.”

But there was one glimmer of hope. In grade two, Tamasha’s teacher told them he would be replaced with a new teacher. He had applied to WUSC and been selected to leave for Canada. The WUSC program has been been in place for 40 years, providing support to refugee students to attend university. Today, 130 students each year are sponsored with tuition, allowance, and permanent residency in Canada. Inspired, Tamasha set a goal for herself right there in primary school: “To study very hard, apply for the WUSC program, and end up in Canada.“ But competition for the few spots is global and fierce. “I had to fight with a lot of very qualified people…[it’s] like going through a very narrow door and you just squeeze other people for you to pass through.”

In 2018 she learned that her efforts had been successful. By 2019 she was at UBC, telling her story to the CBC in August, and in November giving the inaugural interview to The Torchbearers, a podcast featuring first generation students attending UBC. Those interviews tell the story of overcoming challenges, remaining undaunted in the face of bureaucracy, creating community while battling culture shock, and accepting the challenge of mentoring a younger brother through the same process.

Tamasha’s story also touches on her hope to make her family proud by becoming a healthcare professional. Happily, she was successful in entering the nursing program, too. “I would be very proud if I had somebody in my family that is already at the university…but I’m the first one in my family and I am here. “ Indeed she is.

October Influenza Vax Blitz in Downtown East Side

BSN Students administer flu shots in the Downtown East Side “Influenza Blitz” in October, 2021. NURS 362 Term 4 students who joined in include
Jessica Hummel, Julie Sou, Sam Gallant at Hastings and Main, Caitlyn MacLennan, Angela Kim, Stephanie Wu near Pigeon Park.