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When convocation rolls around, Ashley
Heaslip will be on the other side of the
world, following her two great passions
in life: refugee rights and HIV/AIDS
prevention in Africa.
It’s work that dominated her free time
at UVic and it’s a cause that will take her
into graduate studies, thanks in part to a
$26,000 U.S. Ambassadorial Scholarship
from Rotary International.
Heaslip left May 29 for the refugee
camps of Kenya, Tanzania and Benin
(near Nigeria). She’ll spend the better
part of the summer representing the
Victoria aid and advocacy group Working
to Empower.
It’s a natural extension of her campus
life. Working toward her political science
degree with a minor in professional
writing, Heaslip put in 20 hours a week
as a volunteer with the UVic chapter of
the World University Service of Canada
(WUSC).
An energetic, self-described “type-A”
personality, Heaslip brought new life to
the WUSC group. It had just two or three
active members when she got involved;
there’s now a team of 40 students. In
recent years, refugee students from Ethiopia,
Afghanistan and Sudan—“selfless,
amazing people”—have come to UVic
because of WUSC, the latest being engineering
student Jok Gai of Sudan.
Another sponsored student, Haimanot
Eshatie from Ethiopia, “became like
a sister” to her. It’s that sort of intense
personal connection with the young
people she’s met through WUSC that
motivates Heaslip. It’s what drives her
forward—whether that means holding a
garage sale to raise $1,200 for her relief
work or campaigning to persuade students
to dig into their wallets to provide
more support for refugees.
One of Heaslip’s big breakthroughs
with WUSC came this spring when students
voted by a wide margin to increase
the fees they’re levied for the student
refugee program. It means two WUSC sponsored
students will come to campus
each September, compared to the prior
limit of one student every two years.
Heaslip’s time in Africa this summer
will include a visit to the United Nations
Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. She’ll
help prepare the 35 new students who
will leave the camp to begin new lives at
Canadian universities, including UVic,
this fall.
“I need to experience that place,
even if it’s only for a split second, to
really know where the students have
come from.”
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