Monica now feels free, beginning a new life (4 photos)

Monica Manalio is happily adjusting to life in Canada as a university student.

Manalio, born in Rwanda, spent most of her life in a refugee camp in Malawi before arriving in Canada in Sept. 2017 as a first year Algoma University student.

“When I came here I was nervous, thinking ‘how am I supposed to live in a new country without friends and family,’ but when I came here I made friends who supported me with everything and I started enjoying life as a student,” said Manalio, enrolled in her first year of study in Algoma’s Social Work program.

“Now I can see my future is good, because living in a refugee camp you always live in fear,” Manalio said, speaking to SooToday.

“Any time, any day, they can send you back home where there is no peace, but when you are in Canada you feel your future is well organized, you are free, you can go where you want. In a refugee camp you cannot leave without permission.”

“Here, I feel free and I feel my goals will be achieved and I’ll be able to help my family to come here. My dream is to become an international social worker, helping refugees and children in refugee camps.”

“Now, I’m starting my life,” Manalio said.

Women face many issues worldwide, but it’s an extra challenge for women to gain access to post secondary education in other countries around the world.

With that in mind, Algoma University’s World University Service of Canada (WUSC) representatives held a fundraiser dinner Saturday evening at the post secondary school for the WUSC Shine a Light campaign, with the goal of achieving gender equality in education.

“A lot of women are expected in certain countries to take on household duties, to clean, cook and take care of siblings, so they miss classes, they fall behind because they don’t have time to go to school and they end up dropping out. There’s discrimination and so we want to focus on changing those attitudes and help women catch up to where they should be,” said Sarah Forrest, Algoma University’s WUSC strategic planning coordinator.

WUSC is an Ottawa-based organization which works through Canadian universities to bring refugees to Canada to gain access to a post secondary education, a WUSC committee within each Canadian university.

WUSC has various programs, which include Canadians going abroad to help others, but its Student Refugee Program (SRP) operates in Canadian communities.

Manalio and Monzer Khawande, a Syrian man who was a refugee in Jordan before coming to Algoma, are currently benefiting from SRP funding.

Both students are in their 20s.

“In the refugee camps there are educational institutions but there is actually a lot of testing to be chosen to come to Canada, and it’s a very strenuous process to even qualify, so it says a lot about the students who came here because they are chosen out of thousands of students,” Forrest said.

WUSC beneficiaries have their first year of university tuition fees paid for (at a domestic student rate), along with accommodation, a transit pass and a laptop provided by WUSC funds.

All Algoma students have an ancillary fee which goes toward WUSC funding.

“It’s a really great opportunity for me to get involved in global issues. I’ve done international development work in China and Ghana. Sometimes you have to actually leave the country to feel like you’re making a difference at the global level, and for me to be able to now do that work at home is such a privilege,” said Forrest, a fourth year student enrolled in Algoma’s Community Economic and Social Development (CESD) program.

Bassel Alkosani, a Syrian man who came to Sault Ste. Marie from a refugee camp in Lebanon in January 2016, is now in his third year of computer science studies at Algoma University.

Alkosani, who came to Canada through WUSC, was on hand Saturday and delivered a brief speech to those in attendance at the dinner, mingling, smiling and clearly feeling comfortable after leaving his experiences in the war-torn Middle East behind and enjoying life in Canada.

He works at the George Leach Centre part time while studying, and helps recently-arrived Syrian refugee families adapt to life in Sault Ste. Marie. 

“Sault Ste. Marie is my hometown right now. People are really friendly and supportive. I really love it here and I’m not thinking of leaving after graduation. If I find a job here I will stay here,” Alkosani smiled, joking about how he has adjusted to what he called Canada’s “winter dress code.”

Saturday’s dinner event was sold out, with 50 people attending at $20 a head, the funds specifically going to the Shine a Light campaign.

At sundown, Saturday’s guests dined by candlelight, in keeping with the Shine a Light theme.