File: TTInterview11162016
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Q: So to start with can you tell me a bit

about the ACSSU?

A: So the ACSSU

student union it's a non-profit

organization registered in Canada

and it's situated at about five

different campuses. We have

chapters at Mcmaster, Brock, Western, York,

U of T,

and so basically we give a voice to

Syrian students

across the the nation and we raise

awareness about the

Syrian heritage as well as promoting

higher education like amongst our

members,

as well as awareness about human rights

issues such as like what the event is

being held right now.

Q: And can you tell me about the event that

you're holding on campus?

A: It's called the life of a Mesopotamian

refugee.

We choose the word Mesopotamia because

it encompasses the native people that

are

to Iraq and Syria and Turkey and Iran.

Assyrians are spread

across all of these countries and so the

whole purpose

is to raise awareness about what's

currently going on in

Iraq and Syria especially towards

minorities which is why we have this

symbol of a nune. This was

placed on the houses of people that are

that were christians

during the ISIS invasion in 2014 so

giving

us this whole title of Mesopotamian and

students sleep outside in a tent

in an effort to raise awareness and

emulate the life of a refugee by not

eating

or drinking unless given by donation.

Sleeping outside in the cold

and standing pretty much on their feet

all day long trying to gather

like funds and collect donations to send

back to the displaced peoples.

Q: And how would you say this experience

has helped you to better understand how

refugees live?

A: This experience has shown me that

you will face rejection. You will face

positive

interactions with people. However you

should not be discouraged but the

rejection kind of reminded me of

the neglect the negligence that the

entire international community is

putting towards these minority groups

and so I got to feel that a little bit

as well as the cold condition.

Not being able to go home, not

showering, not eating, or drinking unless

given by donations. So those are a little

bit.

Q: And where do your funds go? A: The funds

will be

given to an agency called the Catholic

Near East Welfare Association.

This organization is a charitable

organization registered in the

Government of Canada

that operates in the Middle East.

Primarily given

projects to, to support minority groups.

However they help all people in terms of

their psychological needs,

their you know medical needs, if they

need any,

food or water, rebuilding

churches. Things like that this is what

the organization does and that's where

the funds will be given.

Q: So why did you choose this charity

specifically? A: So this charity -

for us we are majority

Assyrians and we have a lot of family

that are in the

in these areas that are Christians and

they directly support Christians. So this

is why

we have chosen this charity. However they

do support

all like, anybody of any faith. However we

just know that you know through this

charity that our people will also get

the

help. Q: And what have you accomplished so

far?

A: So far we have, I mean in terms of funds, I

can't give you a guaranteed number.

I want to say somewhere close to like

eight thousand dollars,

through like online and both on Mcmaster

and York or sorry, Ryerson campuses.

But we have gotten the word out and

that's what's most important is

to let people know that in these past

few years since ISIS has come around

there have been many many lives that

have been affected directly and

they those people don't want to flee.

These are people that want to remain in

the homeland because they want to

maintain their history and it's

now being rebuilt. You know Iraqi

forces and as well as other militias

have

tried to regain those cities that were

taken over

and demolished. So a lot of things

are being restored in this process so

getting

people to be aware of this is very

important. Q: So what is your fundraising

goal?

A: Our goal is thirty thousand dollars.

However you know in the past it's just

because we've constantly every year

gone up in terms of our funds collected.

So we last year,

raised twenty eight thousand and four

hundred fifty dollars. We figured that we

would just shoot higher

so we're aiming for thirty. However

you know so far it's been really great. I

know that the Canadian community has

been overwhelmed with

the refugee sort of intake here

so a lot of people have already donated

in terms of that. So

whatever we get is great. I mean just

raising awareness is also a big goal of

ours.

Q: And how can people help support your

cause?  A: So people can support it

by obviously donating. However also just

letting people know about

who we are. There are minorities

people don't even think that there are

Christians in Iraq and Syria.

So this is something that we'd like

to just educate the community about.

Q: Okay, well thank you so much for your

time.