June 20 is World Refugee Day, it celebrates the courage and strength of those who have been forced to flee their home country and escape conflict or persecution.
“St. Paul's is proud to play a lead role in the management of the Student Refugee Program (SRP),” said Richard Myers, Principal. “Support for refugees aligns closely with both our academic programming in International Development and our overall institutional mission.
“On top of that, we love having SRP students as part of our College community. They are talented and courageous young people and they add a great deal to the life of the College.”
We recognize today as an opportunity to build empathy, raise awareness and understanding of the struggle’s refugees face and celebrate their resilience toward rebuilding their lives.
Administered by the World University Service of Canada (WUSC), the SRP started in 2006 by a group of University of Waterloo students and is part of WUSC’s network of more than 50 university and college campuses across Canada.
We are also expanding our ties in supporting refugee matters by working closely with another community partner, Reception House (RH). One of the most recent initiatives has involved having RH host youth innovators from GreenHouse to solve challenges within their organization.
To learn more about SRP and our students, read some of their stories below: